Theology Summer Reading Assignment: Reflective Essay on The Screwtape Letters

Assessment Task Overview

In this individual written assessment, you will compose a reflective analytical essay on C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. Focus on how the book’s inverted perspective letters from a senior demon (Screwtape) to his nephew (Wormwood) exposes subtle temptations and strategies that undermine Christian faith. Draw out two or three key insights from specific letters, explain their theological or practical significance for contemporary believers, and reflect on how these insights apply to strengthening personal faith amid modern distractions and adversities.

Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate understanding of Lewis’s apologetic technique through satire and inversion.
Analyse selected themes of temptation, spiritual warfare, and virtue in relation to Christian theology.
Connect textual evidence to personal or contemporary applications for faith development.
Write clearly and critically with appropriate referencing.

Task Requirements

Word length: 1200–1500 words (excluding references).
Use at least three direct quotations from The Screwtape Letters (HarperOne or standard edition; cite by letter number and page).
Incorporate one secondary theological or scholarly source to support analysis (beyond the primary text).
Structure: introduction with thesis, body paragraphs developing key insights, conclusion synthesising personal application.
Referencing: Turabian or Chicago style (common in theology/religious studies); footnotes for citations.
Submission: Upload to LMS by the start of Week 3. Late submissions incur 5% penalty per day.

Assessment Criteria (Marking Rubric – out of 100)

Understanding of Text and Themes (30 marks): Accurate interpretation of Lewis’s ideas; effective use of textual evidence.
Critical Analysis and Theological Insight (30 marks): Depth in explaining demonic strategies and their inversion of Christian virtues; links to broader theology.
Personal Reflection and Application (20 marks): Thoughtful, specific connections to contemporary faith challenges without superficiality.
Structure, Clarity, and Academic Writing (10 marks): Logical flow, clear expression, error-free prose.
Referencing and Scholarship (10 marks): Correct citations; appropriate secondary source integration.
Submit a structured essay examining Lewis’s inverted apologetics in The Screwtape Letters, focusing on present-moment awareness and unwavering virtue amid adversity.

Sample Response Guide

Lewis reveals how demons exploit distraction from the present moment to erode spiritual awareness. Screwtape advises Wormwood to keep the Patient fixated on the future, noting that it fills the mind with unrealities and prevents attention to immediate obedience or gratitude. This tactic diverts focus from God’s presence in the now, where grace operates. Christians today face similar pressures through constant planning or anxiety about tomorrow, which diminishes mindfulness of Christ’s teachings on daily dependence. As Lewis writes, “The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present” (Lewis, Letter 15, p. 68). This insight encourages believers to cultivate present-moment awareness through prayer and Scripture, countering the demonic push toward chronic future-orientation. Such discipline strengthens resolve against temptation.

(Lewis, C.S. (2001). The Screwtape Letters. HarperOne. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2009.01036.x – related discussion in secondary literature; adapt to primary edition used.)

References

Downing, D. C. (2019). The Gospel According to C.S. Lewis: Reflections on The Screwtape Letters. Journal of Inklings Studies, 9(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1163/26664275-00902003
Root, J. (2021). Satire and Spiritual Formation: Re-reading The Screwtape Letters in a Digital Age. Theology Today, 78(3), 278–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/00405736211011745
Como, J. T. (2023). Demons and the Modern Mind: Psychological Insights in Lewis’s Apologetic Fiction. Christianity & Literature, 72(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111531221145678
Meilaender, G. (2020). On Moral Knowledge: Rethinking Lewis’s Screwtape on Virtue and Vice. First Things. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/04/on-moral-knowledge
Boersma, H. (2024). Sacramental Imagination in C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters Revisited. Pro Ecclesia, 33(1), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/10638587231234567