Summary
Having fallen in with a good woman, clever strategies must be developed to damn The Patient. Uncle Screwtape has been collaborating with Slumtrimpet (the Good Woman's demon) and they have cooked up an avenue of attack: the "most beautiful of vices." Spiritual Pride.Often a vice of girls (who, being sequestered, delicate things, rarely interact with non-Christians), a basic Spiritual Pride is the belief that unbelievers are "stupid and ridiculous."
Boys, who actually meet unbelievers, know better -- the things one prides ones self on are often cosmetic affectations.
But in this case, this boy (The Patient) may be vulnerable to an infection of Spiritual Pride because, finding himself in the company of advanced Christians, he may not realize what a rube he is and think himself at their level and -- most damagingly -- member of an elite club.
Further, when back amongst the heathens, he'll miss his girlfriend and find the non-Christians rather dull -- and imagine that it's because he's advanced beyond them, rather than because he's simply not in her presence.
Screwtape ends the letter with an admonishment that Wormwood not prattle on about the War; yes people are dying, but from a divine or diabolical perspective, it's irrelevant: they were going to die sometime.
Thoughts
Slumtrimpet
The demon names are evocative. They are almost-but-not-quite distasteful words smushed together, each suggestive of something rank and foul. With the exception of Wormwood (worm is good, but wood? Not disgusting). Screwtape is composed of, perhaps, a tapeworm and something bent. Slubgob is made of snot and slugs. Slumtrimpet -- a girl demon -- is clearly a slut and a strumpet and maybe part trumpet.Clearly tempters are assigned their patients and punished terribly for failing to damn them. Given that Slumtrimpet has a girl who's a devout Christian and all but committed to Heaven (although in Church of England theology, you apparently never know), I wonder what it's like to be her and how she's able to engage in collaborative strategy sessions with the threat of being tortured and eaten hanging over her...
Although who knows? Maybe Satan grades on a curve.
The Sin of Spiritual Pride
The Sin of Spiritual Pride is a heady mix of Tribalism and Superiority. We're Prideful if we think ourselves separate or superior to unbelievers. The Patient may be tempted to think of himself as on the level of his new Christian friends when he's really a mere barbarian, invited to their garden party because of his lady-friend.
Of course, he really is becoming superior (and those ahead of him are more-superior, still), and it's clear from the rest of the book that Unbelievers really do Say The Damndest Things...
But it would be a sin to think so. A Proper Christian is superior without claiming superiority. Quick to think himself below everyone while -- in practice -- being well above them.
In theory this is done by being quick to give all credit for one's spiritual superiority to God. Presumably the Advanced Christians in the story (the girl's relatives and friends) are aware of their status (no false modesty), but remain Humble and Abject by steadfastly refusing to take any credit for it.
My guess & experience is that in practice it's extremely hard to thread the needle: I think most people with any kind of focus on their Spirituality can't avoid some degree of us/them-ism and I'm-right-ism. I don't CSL could have written the book without a firm degree of certainty that he was both right and superior and categorically different from unbelievers, and even though I'm sure he reminded himself that he deserved no credit for this, I can't imagine that he didn't operate day-to-day as if he was righteous.
The picture isn't pretty. The routinely fail to understand the most basic messages their Lord and Savior is giving them. They routinely screw up the basic doctrine. They routinely act with hubris or fear or otherwise fail to graciously follow faith.
We read their stories and tell ourselves we're doing so much better than they are: we understand what we're being told. We get the parables and metaphors that confound highly-educated men of the times. We can see what was unclear to people living it.
And in that self-assurance, we develop our understanding of doctrine and spiritual cosmology, and on-and on.
So here's my pride: I find it unlikely that we're any smarter than the Apostles. I doubt that we're getting clarity where they didn't. I bet we're wrong about all kinds of things.
I think that we can be clear in practice about what God wants from us, but not in theory. I profoundly distrust arguments developed through Exegesis and Logic -- I think those tools are flawed. I find attempts to rationalize apparent inconsistencies (say between James and Paul, on whether we are saved through works or faith alone) to be profoundly unconvincing.
I think the tradition of careful analysis of scripture to find truth is a useful exercise, but when people put their faith in it, building a case Sola Scriptura ("On Scripture Alone"), they are engaging in the sin of Spiritual Pride -- assuming they can divine God's will through application of human logic.
In other words, I think we're wrong about all kinds of things, and I think a lot of the modern dialog is founded on a fallen tradition that attempts to apply poor tools to a hopeless task.
My Pride is that I discount a lot of our conclusions about doctrine, but it's not just founded in personal superiority -- it's also founded in fear. I find a lot of our faith terrifying, and I pray every night that we're wrong about it.
Of course, he really is becoming superior (and those ahead of him are more-superior, still), and it's clear from the rest of the book that Unbelievers really do Say The Damndest Things...
But it would be a sin to think so. A Proper Christian is superior without claiming superiority. Quick to think himself below everyone while -- in practice -- being well above them.
In theory this is done by being quick to give all credit for one's spiritual superiority to God. Presumably the Advanced Christians in the story (the girl's relatives and friends) are aware of their status (no false modesty), but remain Humble and Abject by steadfastly refusing to take any credit for it.
My guess & experience is that in practice it's extremely hard to thread the needle: I think most people with any kind of focus on their Spirituality can't avoid some degree of us/them-ism and I'm-right-ism. I don't CSL could have written the book without a firm degree of certainty that he was both right and superior and categorically different from unbelievers, and even though I'm sure he reminded himself that he deserved no credit for this, I can't imagine that he didn't operate day-to-day as if he was righteous.
The Apostles; My Spiritual Pride
Scripture gives us a vivid view of the followers of Jesus and shows us how people with direct access to the Living God operated.The picture isn't pretty. The routinely fail to understand the most basic messages their Lord and Savior is giving them. They routinely screw up the basic doctrine. They routinely act with hubris or fear or otherwise fail to graciously follow faith.
We read their stories and tell ourselves we're doing so much better than they are: we understand what we're being told. We get the parables and metaphors that confound highly-educated men of the times. We can see what was unclear to people living it.
And in that self-assurance, we develop our understanding of doctrine and spiritual cosmology, and on-and on.
So here's my pride: I find it unlikely that we're any smarter than the Apostles. I doubt that we're getting clarity where they didn't. I bet we're wrong about all kinds of things.
I think that we can be clear in practice about what God wants from us, but not in theory. I profoundly distrust arguments developed through Exegesis and Logic -- I think those tools are flawed. I find attempts to rationalize apparent inconsistencies (say between James and Paul, on whether we are saved through works or faith alone) to be profoundly unconvincing.
I think the tradition of careful analysis of scripture to find truth is a useful exercise, but when people put their faith in it, building a case Sola Scriptura ("On Scripture Alone"), they are engaging in the sin of Spiritual Pride -- assuming they can divine God's will through application of human logic.
In other words, I think we're wrong about all kinds of things, and I think a lot of the modern dialog is founded on a fallen tradition that attempts to apply poor tools to a hopeless task.
My Pride is that I discount a lot of our conclusions about doctrine, but it's not just founded in personal superiority -- it's also founded in fear. I find a lot of our faith terrifying, and I pray every night that we're wrong about it.
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