{"id":5152,"date":"2018-09-06T11:04:12","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T19:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5152"},"modified":"2018-09-06T11:04:12","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T19:04:12","slug":"the-screwtape-letters-twenty-six-through-thirty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/09\/06\/the-screwtape-letters-twenty-six-through-thirty","title":{"rendered":"The Screwtape Letters: Twenty-Six Through Thirty"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Screw\u00adtape Let\u00adters by C.S. Lewis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through three books by C. S. Lewis, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged sum\u00admer-read\u00ading-project-2018<\/a>. The sched\u00adule is online<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019re almost done. Next week\u2019s read\u00adings will be very short indeed. You might even want to fin\u00adish them off now \u2014 they will take you a few extra min\u00adutes at most.<\/p>\n

These pas\u00adsages caught my eye this week:<\/p>\n

In let\u00adter 27, the demon says of humans<\/p>\n

\u2026their kind of con\u00adscious\u00adness forces them to encounter the whole, self-con\u00adsis\u00adtent cre\u00adative act as a series of suc\u00adces\u00adsive events. Why<\/em> that cre\u00adative act leaves room for their free will is the prob\u00adlem of prob\u00adlems, the secret behind the Ene\u00admy\u2019s non\u00adsense about \u201cLove\u201d. How<\/em> it does so is no prob\u00adlem at all; for the Ene\u00admy does not fore\u00adsee<\/em> the humans mak\u00ading their free con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions in a future, but sees<\/em> them doing so in His unbound\u00aded Now. And obvi\u00adous\u00adly to watch a man doing some\u00adthing is not to make him do it. (Let\u00adter 27, pages 264\u2013265)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like this, but I\u2019m not sure I agree with it com\u00adplete\u00adly. The last half I\u2019m def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly on board with. The first half makes me hes\u00adi\u00adtant. God rest\u00aded on the sev\u00adenth day, but Lewis makes the demon say that all of human his\u00adto\u00adry is the con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion of the act of cre\u00adation. There\u2019s a beau\u00adti\u00adful insight hid\u00adden in there, but I think the way Lewis word\u00aded it falls out\u00adside the bounds that Scrip\u00adture per\u00admits. I\u2019d be more com\u00adfort\u00adable with some\u00adthing along these lines, \u201cOf course they can find an unbro\u00adken series of caus\u00ades lead\u00ading up to the con\u00addi\u00adtion they desired \u2014 the Ene\u00admy saw their request being made simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly with His answer to their prayer man\u00adi\u00adfest\u00ading two weeks lat\u00ader even as He began form\u00ading the con\u00addi\u00adtions that would lead to its answer a month before they even became aware of their need. There is a sense in which it is all Now to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019ve offered some writ\u00ading advice to Lewis, I\u2019m off to give some invest\u00ading advice to War\u00adren Buf\u00adfet. But first, the next mis\u00adsive (let\u00adter 28).<\/p>\n

Lewis has Screw\u00adtape offer a com\u00adplaint about humans and time.<\/p>\n

How valu\u00adable time is to us may be gauged by the fact that the Ene\u00admy allows us so lit\u00adtle of it. The major\u00adi\u00adty of the human race dies in infan\u00adcy; of the sur\u00advivors, a good many die in youth. It is obvi\u00adous that to Him human birth is impor\u00adtant chiefly as the qual\u00adi\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion for human death, and death sole\u00adly as the gate to that oth\u00ader kind of life. We are allowed to work only on a select\u00aded minor\u00adi\u00adty of the race, for what humans call a \u201cnor\u00admal life\u201d is the excep\u00adtion. Appar\u00adent\u00adly He wants some\u2014but only a very few\u2014of the human ani\u00admals with which He is peo\u00adpling Heav\u00aden to have had the expe\u00adri\u00adence of resist\u00ading us through an earth\u00adly life of six\u00adty or sev\u00aden\u00adty years. Well, there is our oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty. The small\u00ader it is, the bet\u00adter we must use it. (Let\u00adter 28, page 268)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clear\u00adly, Lewis believes that infants and chil\u00addren go to heav\u00aden. I share this belief. As David said of his dead son in 2 Samuel 2:23, \u201cI will go to him, but he will not return to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Else\u00adwhere in the let\u00adter we see that this tick\u00adet to heav\u00aden for the young is so frus\u00adtrat\u00ading to demons that they some\u00adtimes endeav\u00ador to keep us alive, but I think that\u2019s not quite right. After all, John 10:10 informs us that the ene\u00admy comes to steal, kill and destroy. Nonethe\u00adless, Lewis is on to some\u00adthing here.<\/p>\n

This last excerpt (from let\u00adter 29) is my favorite for the week.<\/p>\n

This, indeed, is prob\u00ada\u00adbly one of the Ene\u00admy\u2019s motives for cre\u00adat\u00ading a dan\u00adger\u00adous world\u2014a world in which moral issues real\u00adly come to the point. He sees as well as you do that courage is not sim\u00adply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the test\u00ading point, which means, at the point of high\u00adest real\u00adi\u00adty. A chasti\u00adty or hon\u00adesty, or mer\u00adcy, which yields to dan\u00adger will be chaste or hon\u00adest or mer\u00adci\u00adful only on con\u00addi\u00adtions. Pilate was mer\u00adci\u00adful till it became risky. (Let\u00adter 29, page 270)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This, this, a thou\u00adsand times this. Act with courage. It takes courage to stand for Christ at Stan\u00adford. It takes courage to for\u00adgo a plea\u00adsure and risk giv\u00ading offense because of a deep con\u00advic\u00adtion. It takes courage to tell your friends cer\u00adtain truths.<\/p>\n

Some\u00adthing that encour\u00adages me (lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly encour\u00adages me \u2014 puts courage into me) is to reflect on this: Rev\u00ade\u00adla\u00adtion 21:8 tells us that the cow\u00adard\u00adly are the first group thrown into hell. It\u2019s a sober\u00ading thought.<\/p>\n

And this relat\u00aded point at the end of the let\u00adter speaks direct\u00adly to what I see as one of the chief fail\u00adings in mod\u00adern cul\u00adture:<\/p>\n

For remem\u00adber, the act of cow\u00adardice is all that mat\u00adters; the emo\u00adtion of fear is, in itself, no sin and, though we enjoy it, does us no good. (Let\u00adter 29, page 271)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So many peo\u00adple today con\u00adfuse feel\u00adings with action. For instance, they often seem to believe that feel\u00ading bad about some\u00adthing is the same thing as oppos\u00ading it. \u201cI saw those pic\u00adtures of starv\u00ading chil\u00addren and I felt bad. I should tweet about how hor\u00adri\u00adble hunger is.\u201d Do you know who is actu\u00adal\u00adly opposed to hunger? The peo\u00adple who send mon\u00adey or spend time to com\u00adbat hunger.  On the last day, Jesus is not going to say, \u201cAs you felt it for the least of these, so you felt it for me.\u201d Allow your feel\u00adings to inform your choic\u00ades, but do not con\u00adfuse the two.<\/p>\n

Be a per\u00adson of action and hell will hate you.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the last lit\u00adtle bit of read\u00ading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through three books by C. S. Lewis, I\u2019ll post my thoughts here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged sum\u00admer-read\u00ad\u00ading-project-2018. The sched\u00adule is online. We\u2019re almost done. Next week\u2019s read\u00adings will be \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u201cThe Screw\u00adtape Let\u00adters: Twen\u00adty-Six Through Thir\u00adty\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Letters 26 to 30, in which Screwtape riffs on both time and courage. And in which I correct C.S. Lewis.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[230,229,236],"class_list":["post-5152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources-reviews","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-summer-reading-project-2018","tag-the-screwtape-letters"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1l6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5152"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5158,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152\/revisions\/5158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}