Essay Questions

What is free will?

Screwtape mentions on numerous occasions the idea of free will and how it does not benefit them that human kind has free will. The idea of free will appears in the Bible as early as the book of Genesis where it is mentioned that when God created the first couple, he also left them the possibility of deciding if they wanted to remain faithful to God or if they wanted to follow their own path. After the primordial couple fell into sin, God talked with his people once more and made it clear that while they had the possibly of choosing their own path, there will be consequences. The idea of free will goes against the idea that a man or woman has its future planned even before they are born and thus they can do nothing about their actions or condition. The idea of free will makes the reader realize that everyone is responsible for his or hers own action and everyone must answer to God for their actions.

Why does Screwtape claim that praying to crosses of paintings will make a person drift away from God?

In many religions, certain objects such as crosses, paintings, objects that used to belong to holy men and even bones are considered as being holy. Because of this, many people pray to those objects and worship certain people from the past or present, such as priests, cardinals or maybe Biblical characters such as the Virgin Mary of maybe Jesus’s apostles. The reason why Screwtape claims that worshiping such objects or people is not helping a person get closer to God is because in the Old Testament, when God gave the Jewish people the ten commandments, he also told them that they must not worship anything or anyone else except himself. This was an important rule and when the Jew people built for themselves a gold calf and worshiped it they were punished and many died as a result. For many, praying before a cross of before a painting is breaking the second commandment and thus unacceptable for them. Also, by praying to material things, a person distances himself from God by putting someone or something between them.

What are secularism and puritanism?

The two movements are mentioned by Screwtape in the 10th letter and they both make reference to religious movements popular in England at a certain point in time. The term puritanism refers to the belief that religion ought to be pure and unaffected by any material things. Thus, the people who saw themselves as being puritans lead more than often a simple life, and had really strict ideas when it came to religion. The people who were secularists believed that religion and politics should be divided and that they must have nothing to do with one another. While the puritans had no problems criticizing other religions or religious organizations, the secularists were more temperate and had a neutral position when it came to which religion or religious group was the right one. Screwtape sees the secularists as working for him as they refuse to pick a side and thus are indecisive when it comes to religion.