As Christians, we often find ourselves getting distracted by worldly things, and that is what chapter 2 of the Screwtape letters is all about. In the beginning of the chapter, Screwtape tells his nephew that his patient has become a Christian, but that there is still hope for them. The main areas that Screwtape advises Wormwood to attack the man in are his perception of the church and taking advantage of his spiritual immaturity. Screwtape says that, "all the habits of the patient, both mental and bodily, are still in our favor." This is describing how, despite the fact that all Christians are set free of their sin, people are not magically set free from the bad habits of their sin. For example, a drug addict will not instantaneously become a spiritual person, because his mental addiction has not been defeated yet. I think this can be applied to any sin, and even though our sins are forgiven, God leaves breaking the habit up to us.
This chapter also helped me realize that I am easily distracted whenever I’m at church. For example Screwtape says “provided that his neighbor sings out of tune or has squeaky boots or double chins….” I was really surprised as I was reading because I always stare at people’s shoes and I am easily distracted by obese people. I think it is very wrong to judge people based on their appearance so this part of the chapter really made me realize that I should be focusing on what the preacher is saying instead of focusing on the appearance of other people. Furthermore in this particular chapter, Screwtape goes on to talk about the patient’s state of mind. He states that the patient can still come to the Devil’s side. This part of the chapter made me realize that no matter how long you have been a Christian, the devil is still going to try to tempt you to come back to Satan’s side. Another thing that really caught my attention was the fact that Screwtape refers to God as the enemy. “The Enemy takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into what He calls His "free" lovers and servants-"sons" is the word He uses, with His inveterate love of degrading the whole spiritual world by unnatural liaisons with the two-legged animals.” In this quote, Screwtape is mad because he resents the fact that God doesn’t need to make people fear him in order for them to convert to Christianity. This also reminded me of the fact that God loves us so much and that he is by far more powerful than the devil.
Screwtape also states in this chapter that the only thing that his nephew has to do is keep the patient keeps focused on the other Christian’s faults and sins. This part of the chapter made me realize that I have to start focusing more on my relationship with God and stop judging other Christians so harshly because I have probably made worse mistakes.
Overall, this book has truly given me a better understanding on the devil’s thoughts about God and Christians. This is the most relatable chapter in the book, it helped me see that I is still a lot of work to do in my relationship with God, and that is why I think this is the strongest chapter in the book.
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