n e w c h u r c h l i f e : m ay / j u n e 2 0 1 7
their beliefs is brilliantly captured by C. S. Lewis in his classic satire, The
Screwtape Letters.
This is a collection of scurrilous letters written by Screwtape – a highly
placed assistant to “Our Father Below” – to his nephew and novice demon,
Wormwood. Screwtape is mentoring Wormwood on how to corrupt the soul
of an unsuspecting and well-inclined young man and to assure his damnation.
The implication is that this process can be that subtle and insidious for any of
us – unaware of the dragons (or Wormwoods) praying on us.
It is no coincidence that the apprentice devil is named Wormwood. The
name comes from Revelation 8:11, as the angels are sounding their trumpets:
“And the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters
became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were
made bitter.”
Apocalypse Revealed 410 says that a star here represents our own pride of
self-intelligence and that “wormwood” signifies the way that our intelligence
can be corrupted by falsifying the truths of the Word.
In one of his letters the devious Screwtape advises Wormwood: “Do
remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the
man from the Enemy [meaning God and heaven]. It does not matter how
small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away
from the Light and into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards
can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle
slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without
signposts.”
Screwtape, Wormwood, dragons – and not just fiery, scary dragons but