Lesson 2 (ch 12-21) The Screwtape Letters Mrs. Stephanie Loomis Through the Lens with C.S. Lewis 2012-2013

1. “If we let ourselves, we shall always be
waiting for some distraction or other to
end before we can really get down to our
work. The only people who achieve
much are those who want knowledge so
badly that they seek it while the
conditions are still unfavorable.
Favorable conditions never come.”
C.S. Lewis

3. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the
gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden
turnings, without milestones, without signposts,… (150)

4. …you allowed the patient to
read a book he really
enjoyed, because he
enjoyed it…you allowed him
to walk down to the old mill
and have tea there—a walk
through country he really
likes, and taken alone. In
other words, you allowed
him two real positive
Pleasures. (152)
Why do real pleasures
confound Satan?

5. For by the grace given me I
say to every one of you: Do
not think of yourself more How can Satan use
highly than you ought, but our virtues
rather think of yourself
with sober judgment, in
(particularly humility)
accordance with the faith against us?
God has distributed to each
of you. For just as each of
us has one body with many
members, and these
members do not all have
the same function, so in
Christ we, though
many, form one body, and
each member belongs to
all the others. We have

6. How does
Satan use time
against us?
The humans live in time but
our Enemy destines them to
eternity. He therefore, I
believe, wants them to
attend chiefly to two
things, to eternity
itself, and to that point of

7. Why is it important to commit to a
specific community of believers?
Surely you
know that if
a man can’t
be cured of
churchgoing,
the next
best thing is
to send him
all over the
neighborhoo
d looking
for the
church that
‘suits’ him

8. TRADITIONAL CONTEMPORARY

9. TRADITIONAL CONTEMPORARY

10. The real fun is working up hatred
between those who say ‘mass’
and those who say ‘holy
communion’ when neither party
could possibly state the
difference…and all the purely
indifferent things—candles and
clothes and what not—are an
admirable ground for our
activities.
(158)

11. Delicac
y?
Excess?
Paleo?
Vegan?
Low
Carb?
Low
Fat?
Sugar

12. …’being in love’ is the only
respectable ground for
marriage; that marriage
can, and ought to , render this
excitement permanent; and that
a marriage which does no do so
is no longer binding. This idea is
our parody….(161)

13. They regard the intention of loyalty to a partnership
for mutual help, for the preservation of chastity, and
for the transmission of life, as something lower than
a storm of emotion. (162)
…feed him on minor poets and fifth-rate novelists of

14. “As a result we are more and more
directing the desires of men to
something which does not exist—
making the role of the eye in sexuality
more and more important and at the
same time making its demands more How has Satan used
and more impossible!” (166) appearance in your life
to distract you?

15. Read chapters 22-31 (pp 169-188)
Write a short analysis of the final chapters
Create an image of anything related to any
part of the book.
Prepare a presentation that includes an
admonition or challenge to your classmates
about avoiding the Wormwoods whispering
in their ears. (These presentations should be
longer than previous ones…)