I'm probably going to revise my approach here, but I'm thinking the best way to approach this is to cover a summary of the chapter, and then my thoughts on it, but from a literary perspective and (to the extent I'm able), a theological perspective, and then any over-arching thoughts.
Preface
Preface Summary
The preface, unlike the chapters I recall from reading this a decade + ago, is first-person from C.S. Lewis's point of view, where he explains that he acquired the letters through some esoteric means (which he declines to share), reminds the reader that his narrator for the rest of the book (Screwtape) is unreliable ("the devil is a liar") and that time may be messed up from a human point of view.
Literary Thoughts on the Preface
Screwtape Letters is a textbook epistolary novel, an authorial decision, Wikipedia informs me, which is sometimes made to add greater realism. I think it works that way here -- Lewis is being a bit audacious, doubly so since the work is clearly intended to have theological heft.
I think this is critically important to the book: for TSL to work, it's imperative that the reader view not view this as C.S. Lewis's personal perspective and take the viewpoint character seriously. An omniscient narrator in Lewis's voice would ruin that directly. By imagining the material as coming from a mysterious (and therefore more credible) third-party source, it helps distance the author from his work.
Lewis also caveats everything with the remark about the devils being liars, and time being weird which serves to remove objections someone might have on the grounds of any logical or theological inconsistencies which might come up.
I think these elements are subtle, but very effective in setting the stage for the novel.
He also starts of immediately by world-building, which is to say, illustrating the nature his universe: there is accessible magic "anyone" can learn, time is fluid within different realms, devils (like humans) are prone to wishful thinking, etc. While much of the novel itself feels like a gloating lecture (from a particularly unworthy and irritating source), the imaginative aspects of Lewis' cosmology add a lot of the enjoyment and in some cases humor and I can imaging him having a great deal of fun with them (more on this in the first chapter).
Theology of the Preface
Materialist and magicians are equally condemned, and the reader should avoid the esoteric -- except that Lewis obviously has a passable, working knowledge of those arts and is, himself, un-afraid to use them.
And, of course, if the reader is interested in the work beyond self-edification (in the sense of seeking moral improvement) -- which is to say, if you're reading TSL in part because you're interested in the characters or the diabolic cosmology (which Lewis clearly enjoys creating and finds both intellectually interesting and amusing) -- you're likely showing the "unhealthy" interest that Lewis warns about.
I want to be clear that I'm not calling Lewis a hypocrite here: I think it's obvious that he recognizes the mild inconsistency and has fun with it, here and is no doubt directing his warning and criticisms at himself as well as at the reader (I wonder if, in at least some cases, the 'unidentified' humans in the story are various versions of Lewis).
To the extent that humans are going to write about God or a theistic cosmology, I think we're likely to sin, either by falling short of portraying God with the appropriate grandure and glory or by committing some kind of heresy. Some religions prohibit images of God; although I think they do so for different reasons, I can certainly understand the thinking -- you're going to fail (and quite likely offend), so don't try.
I also think that a lot of aspects of Christianity don't work narratively very well, but that's a slightly longer post and well off-topic (I will say that I was surprised at how it made a Christian -- maybe Judeo-Christian -- a view of heroism Indiana Jones has when I watched it with my son for the first time after many, many years).
Anything Else in the Preface?
I like Lewis's authorial voice, here and in other essays I've read from him. He's a compelling writer.
Next up... Chapter 1!
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