The topic that will be discussed in this essay is a difficult one to think through. The book, Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, is an epistolary novel that focuses on a series of letters that a demon sent to his nephew. His nephew was a young demon who had a “patient.” In this fictional world, a patient is a human that a demon is assigned to, in order to keep the human from learning the ways of Christ. The nephew, Wormwood, had a little dilemma. His patient became a Christian. Screwtape, the author of the letters, was trying to help get the patient away from God by sending advice in his letters. This book is very helpful in seeing how Satan pulls us away from our faith. The book shows the manipulation that Satan uses, the character flaws that Satan exploits, and the overall hatred that fills Satan and all of his followers. …show more content…
The first reason that Screwtape Letters helps show Christians how Satan pulls us away from our faith is that it shows that manipulation that Satan uses on them.
This book points out how thoughts, behavior, and even some of the people that are surrounding Christians can be inherently damaging to the Christian walk. The letters often speak about how Wormwood would talk to his “patient’ and make him think that his words were the patient’s own thoughts and beliefs. The book also pointed out how Satan can use the people around a Christian in order to manipulate their behavior towards others, most of the time damaging other relationships in the process. The second reason that was mentioned was that the book points out that Satan exploits a Christian’s character flaws for his own benefit. It has been said many times in the bible that humans are wicked and evil without salvation. So, Satan uses that as a way to pull Christians away from their walk. Previous traits and evil tendencies can also be used in order to put space between a Christian and his
faith. The final reason that the Screwtape Letters is a beneficial read is that it helps reveal the overall hatred that fills Satan and all of his followers. In many of his letters, Screwtape states that all humans are are animals and that they are stupid. He also expresses that the only reason that Satan tries to pull us away from God, is because he wants to defeat God. Satan’s main motivation for doing anything is evil and hatred. In conclusion, Screwtape Letters helps Christians realize the tricks that Satan uses to pull them away from their faith. He uses manipulation, he exploits their character flaws, and his motivation for doing all of these things is because he is full of hatred. This book could be very helpful to people who are young in their faith as it points out how they, as new believers, are manipulated.
“The patient or the human that is selected for Wormwood to hopefully damn to hell struggles with his newfound faith in Jesus Christ through small changes that come about his daily life. Little does the patient know that these changes are inflicted by none other than Wormwood and his malignant uncle. Lewis uses words that refer to The Holy Bible, without an exact usage of the Bible. To say the least you are actually reading several biblical principles completely unaware that a demon in fact is teaching them. For example John 10:10 of The Holy Bible HCSB says: A thief comes but to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” Screwtape teaches Wormwood how to subtly make the patient’s life miserable so that God or “The Enemy” however marvelous the gesture shows, has no effect on the patient’s life. After all that is the goal of each demon. (To have the patient reject God—die, and go to Hell). Wormwood is never allowed to make himself known to the patient; they want the human to s...
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan preacher of that time, had one thing on his mind: to convert sinners, on the road to hell, to salvation. It just so happened to be, that his way of doing that was to preach the reality to them and scare them to the point of conversion. Sermons of this time were preached to persuade people to be converted and to me it seemed that Edwards just had a special way of doing it. Just as people are being influenced by rhetoric appeals today Edwards used the same method on his congregation. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards positively affected his readers using pathos, logos, and ethos, while trying to convince the unconverted members of his sermon to be born again.
As many religious leaders before and after him, Edwards's source of inspiration and guidance is the Bible. His understanding of this cornerstone of New England society enables him to reinforce a persuasive dissertation with biblical quotes and passages; however, not all the quotes cited by Edwards support his interpretations exclusively. Often Edwards uses parts or sections of biblical verse rather than complete text because too much information might diminish the importance of his primary intent. These instances of manipulation occur in the doctrinal section where Edwards attempts to prove the basis of his application. "Cut it down, why cumbereth it in the ground?", Luke 13:7, is used by Edwards to illustrate God's justifiably immediate destruction of those guilty of sin. Absent from his selection is any mention of the moderation and patience that continues in Luke 13:8-9: "let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well." By omitting these verses of scripture, Edwards hopes to move his audience by his calling rather than at their own leisure. Another example of manipulation occurs as Edwards proposes that sinners are already Satan's property. In section five he states that Satan "stands ready to fall upon them and seize them...
In the Screwtape Tape Letters, Wormwood was the main character. He has graduated from devil Temptation College and is ready to begin his first assignment. Wormwood is given the task to distract his patient who has just been converted over into Christian lifestyle. With the help from his uncle Screwtape, they begin the process of conversion. Screwtape attempts to help wormwood stir his patient away from heaven. By giving Wormwood several suggestions first suggestion was to enter the patient's mind. Secondly, Wormwood was to influence and take him down the wrong path. Wormwood had several personality traits: such as destructive, dependent, and devious. He is constantly trying to get the patient off the right track for example, in letter number
Life is unpredictable, and through trial and error humanity learns how to respond to conflicts and learns how to benefit from mistakes. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a character who changes and gains knowledge from the trials he faces, but first he has to go through physical, spiritual, and emotional agony. In the midst of all the havoc, the young theologian is contaminated with evil but fortunately his character develops from fragile to powerful, and the transformation Dimmesdale undergoes contributes to the plot’s climax.
Nathanial Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin trough Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth who all affected by sin in different ways. Utilizing powerful symbols and light/dark imagery, Hawthorne conveys to the readers, through these characters, the power of how one’s response to sin can positively change an individual or gradually destroy one by spreading like a contagious disease and ultimately consuming the victim.
The allusion of Jim Casy as Jesus Christ serves the purpose of the novel, which is to encourage society to become self-reliant, rather than relying on a religion for guidance and solutions. The author emphasizes the true capabilities of each individual in destroying the corrupted aspects of society. Jesus Christ was a preacher, encouraging people to follow the religion, while Casy became an advocate for the reliance on humanity. Both of them remained passionate two opposing beliefs, yet their actions remain similar. This correlation supports the concept of self-reliance. Individuals have the capabilities of solving their own issue, and demolishing the corrupted structure in society, instead of asking for such solutions and answers. In fact, it is this reliance in God that prevents an end for the problems in humanity.
Milton makes Satan out to be a loveable likeable character that we can relate to, for a man of principle and a godly man why does he do this “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”Revelation 1: 8 in the King James Version John Milton’s Paradise lost is a poetic amalgam of vice and virtue it is an epic navigates the perils of right, wrong and the grey area that humans themselvesstraddle. An epic inherently conflicted at its very core stemming from the writer and the environment around him. He delves into the evil that is orchestrated by Satan and the divine directly by god himself. Milton delves deeply into Adam and Eve and the exodus from Eden, he creates a character within Satan that is so narcissistic so irreverent and so immoral all the while without malism andnot sadistic in its truest form. A character whose sole transgression Is a belief system that goes against his creator a belief that he is not good or evil but pursuing his own capital vices in reality transferring his unto the moderately innocent Eve and by extension Adam. “Th’ infernal Serpent. He it was whose guile stirred up with envy and revenge deceived the mother of mankind, what time his pride had cast him out from heav’n with all his host of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring to set himself in glory ‘bove his peers he trusted to have equaled the most high if he opposed and with amnitious aim against the throne and monarchy of god” PG4 34 Although Satan is the archetype of evil he is convoluted if not at the very least vocally conflicted about his place within the kingdom of heaven and the role that god has upon Satan. Satan is internally conflicted, he finds himself not subservient to god, he revels in his own narcissism he finds pleasure in carnal de...
Some of the motivations of Satan in this epic poem come from his loss of power and punishment by God. These motivations can be seen as both evil and heroic, especially depending on perspective. One of his motivations that can be seen as extremely dangerous would be that of keeping Satan’s pride intact. Because of this motivation, he caused the corruption of mankind. A motivation that is seen as less dangerous and evil and more heroic is that of creating a good situation out of a bad one. To always have a decent outlook on issues is something that is very important to all epic heroes, because without this characteristic, they could never be seen as a hero. All of Satan’s motivations keep this epic poem by John Milton very strong and allow Milton to gain his goal of being one of the
In our own Christian struggles, people tend to believe that it is simple as good evil. People don't realize however that in this fight, the Devil can infiltrate a seemingly normal, Christian Human Being, but it's true. Better yet, in our own walk with God the Devil lurks near to test what might look like a strong relationship with Christ. As shown in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," even a grounded, sincere Christian can have his or her faith tested.
One of the most challenging ideas of The turn of the screw is if the ghosts are real or purely the governess’s imagination. As haunting as the ghosts appear, the real fear is what society feared. Each one of the relationships between the characters indicates the violation of social class and hidden sexuality. With examples of pedophilia activity, relationships developing between people on different social classes, and children corrupted to adultery the narrative focuses on the dark themes. The inequality of social classes is emphasized through the characters’
As the reader reads of the horror of hell and Satan's struggle, the reader almost becomes sucked in like one of his minions. Milton portrays Satan's position as a sad state that is blamed on everyone else but himself, when in reality that's exactly whose fault it is, Satan's.
Knowing Christ 's character traits help us chose correctly. By looking at the fruits of the spirit as the 9 qualities that we all should show to be like Christ, helps us make the right choices in life. God develops and ripens these fruits by allowing us to experience temptations where we are faced with either growing more loving, patient, full of joy, grace, knowledge, self-control, etc, or by growing in the opposite direction. Life is a choice and God uses circumstances to teach us what He needs us to learn. Joy is based on our relationship to God and is not to be equated with happiness which is based on circumstances. The fruits of the spirit are developed in us as we become closer to Christ. Chaos and Peace, lies and truth, irritation and patience, are all opposites and signs we are either growing closer or further from our Master’s desire for us. Satan is predictable, he wishes to trip us up and use our weaknesses. First, he uses a specific pattern to do this in our lives, and one needs to be able to recognize it. He finds a desire inside of us, he suggest with a thought that we should pursue it, it starts in the mind and moves into the heart. Satan then will try to get us to doubt God’s word and plan for us. Next, Satan will lie to us to get us to believe that it will be okay and tries to convince us that there is no real consequence. Lastly, the temptation leads us into disobedience and traps us in the sin. To overcome temptation one needs to refuse to become intimidated in the first place. Understanding that we will never outgrow temptation helps us learn it is a process to become strong against Satan. Temptation from Satan is actually to be seen as a compliment because it is a sign that Satan hates those who are followers of Christ, is fearful of those trying to make a difference for Christ, and is
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil A Parable." Kinsella, Kate. Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 2002. 336-348. Print.
All temptations give people a chance not to be suffered but to be better. When growing through temptation it gives us the rights to choose the good from the bad, but to know this, we have to understand the characters of Jesus and developed them in our lives and that was the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we applied His characters, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self control and faithfulness we would make right choices every time whenever we have come across temptations (warren, 2002, p.130). (Mayhew, 2000, p. 131)Satan came to Jesus in the open wide desert and tempts Him and said, ‘Jesus you have come to this earth to stay as a normal human, but there is an easy way to satisfy your basic human needs.’ Satan‘s tactics are still the same when tempting us. He may te...