Analysis Of C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letter

Motive lies behind every action we take, and can often cause an action that is seemingly good to become immoral. The motives behind our beliefs are no exception, and as a result Christians are subject to immoral Christian belief; an immorality that lies in the motive and not in the consequence. When one devotes oneself to Christianity under desires other than to seek the truth and find God, the faith loses its validity and becomes one of mercenary affairs instead of Godly affairs. These desires take many forms and are laced throughout C.S. Lewis’ writings Throughout The Screwtape Letters, Lewis most explicitly states the desire to bolster a cause and rally a group together as an illegitimate motive for adopting Christian ideas. Lewis makes known his opinion of this motive in the letters when he has Screwtape describe how the twisting of Christianity into a mere cause to promote social justice is a valid way to invalidate a Christian’s faith (The Screwtape Letters, 126-127). In doing …show more content…
I am afraid that, because of my improper desires, I have become the man Lewis describes as “shirking”, as I no longer search for the truth of Christianity lest I either discover it to be false and lose the faith I value so much or discover it to be undeniably true, which would require me to change my perspective on what my faith is for (“Man or Rabbit”, 111). However, it is evident that this way of living is completely ignorant of the Christian doctrine and of Lewis’ perspective on false motives. Thanks to Lewis’ God-inspired writing, I’ve come to terms with this selfish purpose for my life and have begun to notice how this faith, which used to be a part of my self, must now become integral to my whole self for it to be authentic. Christ died and atoned for our sins so that I could flee from the desires of perfection to pursue honest relationship with