Catholicity, Orthodoxy, and Lordship
Screwtape articulates the fact that when the devil enters the realm of pleasure he is dealing with Enemy ground:
Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground…All the same, it is (pleasure) His (God’s) invention, not ours (Screwtape). –From Screwtape Letters, Letter IX
While C.S. Lewis’s interpretation of a demon writing letters of encouragement and rebuke to his nephew can be quite terrifying, the biblical reality is that the reality of Satan is even more terrifying. Satan was not only involved in the first cosmic betrayal of God and his newly created couple, but was continually involved in the affairs of humanity in a restricted, but relatively free fashion in the Old Covenant. In those days, Satan acted in contempt for God and his commandments. The Hebrew nation—graced with the protection of God—chose rather to follow the footsteps of the Father of Lies than to trust in their creator, Yahweh. The pages of the Old Covenant are replete with narratives where demonology, occult practices, idol worship, desecration of holy places, law-breaking, and a complete disregard for purity abound.
It is in the midst of this idolatrous context where Messiah descends. Though Israel was given a robust tradition rooted in the prophetic writings (which were filled with warnings about idolatry), she chose not to fulfill her calling as ambassadors to the nations. God—in his wisdom and providence—provided a way of redemption for his chosen nation. Instead of abolishing her, he re-made her. This re-making process meant that Israel was no longer an isolated nation, but a holy nation composed also of the Gentiles. With the walls of partitions broken down (Gal. 3:28), Paul refers to this Israel as the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). This new nation of holy priests now (I Peter 2:9) submits to One Lord through one faith and one baptism.
The Church–Jew and Gentile in Christ—does not battle the evil forces of this world as a solitary nation, but as a Holy Nation bound to One true Victor who will no longer fall for the whispers of the serpent in the Garden. This true and final Adam crushed the serpent (Heb. 2:14; Rom. 16:20), ascended into heaven, and rules and reigns from the right hand of the Father.
However, this reality is not an exhortation to idleness and passivity. Rather, it is a call to arms, because the Devil is still looking to devour the sons of men (I Peter 5:8), seeking to add weak men to enter into the fold of apostates (Heb. 6).
Augustine was fond of saying that the devil is bound like a dog, but a bound dog still bites if we dare by our sin approach him.
The words of the affectionate uncle, Screwtape should serve as a sober reminder that evil exists, and that the seduction of the serpent continues to be as poisonous as it was in the Garden. May our faith endure, and may it increase with each rejection of the wiles of the evil one.
C.S. Lewis concludes his 1961 preface by describing how he developed these profound themes of sin and temptation in the Screwtape Letters:
Some have paid me an undeserved compliment by supposing that my Letters were the ripe fruit of many years’ study in moral and ascetic theology. They forgot that there is an equally reliable, though less credible, way of learning how temptation works. “My heart”–I need no other’s–“showeth me the wickedness of the ungodly.”
Lewis argues that the reason he first deals with Judgment in the Psalms is because his generation “was brought up to eat everything on the plate; and it was sound principle of nursery gastronomy to polish off the nasty things first and leave the tidbits to the end.” These nasty tidbits are the legitimate and wise cries of a people dependent on their God to act on their behalf.
C.S. Lewis did not often attempt to interpret biblical passages. He was a scholar of literature. He begins his Reflections on the Psalms by making that quite clear: “This is not a work of scholarship.” This is a fortunate introductory remark, but I will add also that this is not a work of biblical scholarship. Lewis overlooks fundamental aspects of general theology, in order to reveal emotional observations from the Psalter. Though he notices the conspicuous presence of parallelisms in the Hebrew language and the beautiful nature of poetry, which Lewis consider to be a “a little incarnation,” yet, he fails to see the harmony of the Psalter with God’s redemptive history. The Psalms are not the utterances of an immature people, they are the breath of a people who understand history and its telos. They are not naive, or “almost childish,” they are the expectations of a people that their God will fulfill and bring to pass his promises of justice. He will vindicate them and bring them to green pastures. Though Lewis finds a purpose for these “terribble (imprecatory) psalms” in the devotional life, the reality is that they should be also used as tools and utterances from God’s people of all ages; not to remain in the privacy of Christian piety, but the public declaration of the Christian gospel.
A parishioner gave me a copy of Randy Alcorn’s collection of quotations about heaven, the new earth, and the life after death. The book is over 600 pages, and I can already imagine myself enjoying it for years to come. What will appear here for many months will be various quotations from the book. I hope they will be satisfying and provide a taste of heaven.
Everyone raised his hand to pick the fruit he best liked the look of, and then everyone paused for a second. This fruit was so beautiful that each felt, “It can’t be meant for me…surely we’re not allowed to pluck it.”
“It’s all right,” Peter. “…I’ve a feeling we’ve got to the country where everything is allowed.”
…the ransacking of the Witch’s fortress in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
The whole castle stood empty with every door and window open and the light and the sweet spring air flooding in to all the dark and evil places which needed them so badly.
(Mere Christianity, 1943, p. 81):
The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all the other kinds of union which were intended to go along with it and make up the total union.
In C.S. Lewis’ chapter Aslan is Nearer, Lewis focuses on Edmund’s repentance. Edmund has now discovered that Turkish Delight was no delight and that the Queen is no beauty. On their journey to kill the humans–Edmund’s siblings–Edmund begins to see glimpses of life in the deathly snow-infested land of Narnia. Satyrs and a dwarf are feasting; a new sign that the tide is turning in Narnia. But the witch wastes no time in turning the festive creatures into stone. Incidentally, “for the first time Edmund felt sorry for someone besides himself.” Edmund’s rebellion is melting–as the snow–and turning to something genuine and true. Edmund is returning home. However, it is not Edmund who states the obvious. In sight of the trees coming to life, it is the Witch’s slave–the dwarf–who exclaims, “This is no thaw…this is Spring! This is Aslan’s doing!” Even the wicked declare the overturning of their own empire.
Mr. Beaver identifies treason in Edmund:
“Then mark my words,” said Mr. Beaver, “he has already met the White Witch and joined her side, and been told where she lives. I didn’t like to mention it before (he being your brother and all) but the moment I set eyes on that brother of yours I said to myself ‘Treacherous.’ He had the look of one who has been with the witch and eaten her food. You can always tell them if you’ve lived long in Narnia; something about their eyes.”
Solomon elaborates on the eyes of sin when he writes: “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.” Edmund fits the prodigal picture quite well in C.S. Lewis. He finds the appeal of the wicked greater than righteousness. Mr. Beaver, on the other hand, has mastered discernment. He sees the wink of deceit.
I have arrived at a well-known passage in C.S. Lewis Chronicles. In the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe the Sons of Adam and Eve are seeking for a solution to rescue the lovely Mr. Tumnus. The Beaver quickly shatters their intention when they speak of the witch who turns people into stone. The Beaver, however, does not leave them hopeless. He believes Aslan is on the move. When Aslan arrives:
Wrong will be made right, Aslan comes in sight, At the Sound of his roar, sorrow will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
Susan appears troubled by such description and wonders whether Aslan is safe. “Safe?” said the Beaver…who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King.”
Such descriptions of the great King have been vastly quoted, and rightly so. C.S. Lewis penetrates into the real biblical analogies. He strips away the superficiality. Randy Alcorn observes: “God is good. But until we understand the truth that He is not safe.” The “safeness” of God is conditioned upon adoption. If we are in him we find his arms to be protective, but when we are against him, we have every right to fear God. Ecclesiastes 8:13 says, “Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them.” The Psalmist declares that God is our shield. Lewis understood this quite well. In this particular narrative he zooms in on meeting Aslan. By doing so, he answers the question How shall we approach God? To meet Yahweh demands fear. Biblical fear is realizing that Yahweh is King. When meeting a king there must always be a sense of awe. But the fear of Aslan is the beginning of wisdom. As we commune with the King we are safe; not the cavalier safeness provided by false gods–presumably the safeness Lucy had in mind— but the refuge and strength of Martin Luther’s God. When evil is prevalent we cannot afford an unceremonious God, but One who will act in perfect justice for His people.