Before and since my time in Oxford, I have immersed myself in the writings of C. S. Lewis. My re-reading of The Screwtape Letters has inspired me to create a summary of major themes from thirty-one letters sent by master demon Screwtape to his nephew, a novice demon named Wormwood.
I have often observed the demonic strategies portrayed on the pages of this brilliant book applied to my life and the lives of others. But I have also experienced and observed that when believers become wise about satanic devices and stay rooted in the word of God, we become overcomers in the kingdom of God. We can then pass on our wisdom and strength to others.
In that light and for that purpose, I will present both the strategies of demons as portrayed by Lewis and some of the scriptural truths that allow us to overcome them and live in victory!
Welcome to Part 1 of the series:
The Powers and Limitations of Demons
C.S. Lewis attributes significant power to demons to create all types of trouble for humans. They oppress, deceive, manipulate, re-direct, confuse, shame, and torment. They do this in the lives of unbelievers in hopes of preventing them from becoming Christians.
Once a person professes to be a Christian, according to Screwtape, similar demonic strategies are utilized but must be refocused and refined. The objectives emphasize sowing seeds of doubt, tempting Christians to engage in besetting sins and ethical compromises, promoting pride and peevishness, and making important relationships as difficult and conflict-ridden as possible.
Before we get into these specific objectives and strategies employed by demons, we must also understand that demons are limited in several aspects. Their power and knowledge never approach the power and knowledge of the Almighty God.
Limited power to fight against God. Demons are aware they lack adequate weapons to gain complete victory against their omniscient, omnipotent foe, our Creator. They are, like us, created beings, angels who fell from their original heavenly home and became entirely corrupted and evil.
Demons cannot hurt God directly, because of His infinite, unconquerable nature. He exists in a realm beyond their reach.
But demons can influence humans to turn away from God, in effect robbing God of eternal souls, and this is their greatest consolation. Their whole game is steadily increasing the numbers of humans who die in their sins and end up eternally in the proximity of the demons’ Father Below, Satan himself.
Satan and his minions work to manipulate the wills and circumstances of unsaved humans against faith in God. If they are unsuccessful and a person experiences God’s love, repents, and begins loving God with his whole heart and life, that person is lost to the devil forever.
Paul asserts that those who were driven by Satan to crucify Christ did not understand the implications of this salvation available to all because if they did, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(1 Cor. 2:8).
It is too late for the devil’s hordes to reverse the accomplishment of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ. Whosoever believes it and confesses it can be saved (Rom. 10:9) and live with God forever.
What they can do is wear us down with suffering, futility, and discouragement, or keep us married to the ways of the world, in which a person “feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.” (155)*
This brings us to another problem for Satan:
Limited understanding. The primary factor working against the doctrines and devices of devils is the love of God. Screwtape repeatedly expresses his befuddlement and frustration over God’s love for humans. It makes no sense to him; he considers the concept of agape love a contradiction in terms.
Screwtape explains that in the demonic realm, all transactions are based on competition, domination, and conquest. Theirs is a zero-sum game in which one party can win only when another loses. Hate and contempt are the only emotions in play, making reciprocal relationships impossible.
Screwtape laments that God’s economy operates by a different, inscrutable calculus:
“The good of one self is to be the good of another. This impossibility He calls love…We know that He cannot really love. Nobody can; it doesn’t make sense. If we could only find out what he is up to!” (175)
Lewis is wonderfully tongue-in-cheek here. We know what God is up to! He is reconciling fallen humanity to himself to join in the loving fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus sacrifices himself to make a way for miserable, hopeless mortals to come into the divine embrace.
What further confounds the demons is that God does not force mortals to accept the atonement of the Cross or pursue a love relationship with him. No, as ridiculous as it appears to demons, God gives them the freedom to choose to love him back!
Screwtape concludes in great disgust,
“He [God] really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself—creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His.” (38-39)
Demons cannot love. They can only conquer, absorb, and consume.
Secrecy. There is an old proverb about the work of demons: The secret of their success is the secrecy of their moves.
Responding to Wormwood’s question about keeping his patient ignorant about demonic presence and agendas, Screwtape agrees with this proverb for the most part.
Screwtape reveals that at certain times in history, demons have shown themselves more openly to humans, taking pleasure in “the results of direct terrorism.” (31) But in the era and culture of which they are speaking (mid-twentieth century Europe), “Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves.” (31)
(Arguably, we may be living in an era in which the devil’s ways are on full display because they are so widespread and embedded in our institutions. I wonder what C.S. Lewis would say if he were alive to see the current state of the world.)
This implies that when believers recognize through spiritual discernment that demons are harassing or tormenting them, the demons are vulnerable to an array of spiritual weapons we have been given to use against them.
Paul supplies a list of these weapons in Ephesians 6. They include a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, a helmet of salvation, a shield of faith, and a sword of the Spirit. In combination, these weapons are sufficient to put demons to flight, allowing believers to stand against all attacks and fiery darts.
Paul adds to this response strategy the importance of forgiveness in the body of Christ. When we follow Christ’s command to forgive one another, we block Satan from taking advantage of us, because we are not ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11). When we fail to obey Christ’s commandment, we open ourselves to bitterness and resentment, fertile soil for seeds of destruction.
We will see in subsequent parts of the series on The Screwtape Letters that Satan and his hierarchy of demons take many opportunities to wreck human lives. As we move forward, remember that they are limited in their power and their understanding of God’s sovereignty and love. And they must practice stealth, because once we are on to them, we are empowered from within to withstand all of their destructive plans.
In the final analysis, as the Apostle John put it,
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4)
*These are page numbers in my edition of The Screwtape Letters to indicate a direct quote from C.S. Lewis.
