The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Week 10: Lewis as Apologist — The Craft and Purpose of Satire
Read or re-read the Preface of The Screwtape Letters alongside Lewis's essay 'On Stories' (if available). Key passage: Proverbs 26:5; Matthew 13:10–13.
This week we zoom out to consider why Lewis chose satire as his vehicle, how the inverted perspective functions as an apologetic strategy, and what this work owes to its particular historical moment in World War II England.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Lewis said that The Screwtape Letters was the most successful and the most hated of all his books — readers loved it but he found it oppressive to write. Why do you think inhabiting an evil character's perspective for an extended time might be spiritually draining? What does that tell us about Lewis's own spiritual seriousness?
2.Satire has a long Christian history — from Erasmus's Praise of Folly to Swift's A Modest Proposal. What does satire accomplish that direct argument or straightforward preaching cannot? What are its limitations?
3.The book was serialized in a church newspaper during World War II, and Lewis is clearly writing to people living under genuine existential threat. How does the wartime context sharpen the book's message? Would it feel different if written in peacetime?
a.What specific letters feel most shaped by the wartime setting?
b.Lewis's analysis of how war can serve either heaven or hell — driving people toward or away from God — seems deliberately even-handed. What does this say about his view of suffering?
Closing Prayer
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