The Screwtape Letters: Lewis's View of Evil
Class: Literature of CS Lewis
Lewis’s View of Evil
The Screwtape Letters does not depict Evil in a spectacular way; rather it shows hell as an officious bureaucratic dictatorship. Lewis reveals that the slippery slope to hell is very unexciting and not at all obvious. The road to hell is paved with indifferent souls and not actively evil souls. Lewis shares with his readers that he does not believe that there is a devil that is the equal and opposite of God. Most people, not all people, desire to live good and fulfilling lives. For a person to commit an evil act, or at least fail to do good, there must be a degree of subtlety involved. Directly faced with committing a scandalous crime, most persons would turn away in horror. We are only convinced to do wrong when the wrong we do is not so obvious and does not bother our conscience too much. Therefore, every additional sin, no matter how small it seems, makes the next sin easier to commit and so much easier to justify. It is by this tricky road that some “patients” are lead directly to Hell. We do not see the entire road, we only see this small part of it, and one or two steps in a doubtful direction, does not seem very alarming. Yet the roads to both Heaven and Hell are long and challenging ones. It is all of the decisions we make that are taken and added together that will lead us to the end of our earthly journey. “If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.’ This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form.” (The Problem of Pain, p.16). God created man and gave him free will and so the human race lives life with the possibility of pain. If humans are absolutely FREE of being controlled by God, they are also free to inflict pain on others, and on themselves. If you really “dig” to the bottom of what is causing pain, it is
Lewis’s View of Evil
The Screwtape Letters does not depict Evil in a spectacular way; rather it shows hell as an officious bureaucratic dictatorship. Lewis reveals that the slippery slope to hell is very unexciting and not at all obvious. The road to hell is paved with indifferent souls and not actively evil souls. Lewis shares with his readers that he does not believe that there is a devil that is the equal and opposite of God. Most people, not all people, desire to live good and fulfilling lives. For a person to commit an evil act, or at least fail to do good, there must be a degree of subtlety involved. Directly faced with committing a scandalous crime, most persons would turn away in horror. We are only convinced to do wrong when the wrong we do is not so obvious and does not bother our conscience too much. Therefore, every additional sin, no matter how small it seems, makes the next sin easier to commit and so much easier to justify. It is by this tricky road that some “patients” are lead directly to Hell. We do not see the entire road, we only see this small part of it, and one or two steps in a doubtful direction, does not seem very alarming. Yet the roads to both Heaven and Hell are long and challenging ones. It is all of the decisions we make that are taken and added together that will lead us to the end of our earthly journey. “If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.’ This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form.” (The Problem of Pain, p.16). God created man and gave him free will and so the human race lives life with the possibility of pain. If humans are absolutely FREE of being controlled by God, they are also free to inflict pain on others, and on themselves. If you really “dig” to the bottom of what is causing pain, it is
Cited: Lewis, C. S. (2009-05-28). The Problem of Pain. Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Lewis, C. S. (2009-05-28). The Great Divorce. Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.