Sin that Ensnares
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.” – James 1:14-15
In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis presents a vivid exploration of sin as a subtle, insidious force, gradually leading humans away from God. In this book, C.S. Lewis introduces Screwtape, a cunning senior demon, and Wormwood, his inexperienced nephew. Screwtape advises Wormwood on tempting a human “patient,” revealing the demons’ manipulative strategies. God, referred to as “the Enemy,” opposes their schemes, while the patient navigates spiritual struggles, embodying humanity’s battle between good and evil.
Through the correspondence between the senior demon Screwtape and his apprentice Wormwood, Lewis reveals how temptation often works not through dramatic acts of evil but through small, incremental moral compromises. As Screwtape warns, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
A key tactic of temptation is distraction. Screwtape advises Wormwood to fill the patient’s life with trivial concerns and busyness, ensuring little time for reflection or spiritual growth. By focusing on self-centered concerns, the patient becomes increasingly detached from God. Lewis highlights the corrosive nature of pride, which blinds individuals to their flaws and distances them from grace.
Sin, as Lewis portrays it, often involves distorting virtues into vices. Screwtape encourages Wormwood to corrupt natural virtues like humility, twisting them into false humility or pride. Relationships, too, become fertile ground for sin through misunderstandings and resentment, fostering isolation and bitterness.
By normalizing sin and making it appear ordinary, Lewis underscores the ease with which humans rationalize their actions. His work reminds readers of the need for vigilance and reliance on God’s grace to resist temptation’s quiet pull. As we continue our study in Proverbs, we will hear the call to resist folly. To not give into the “shortcuts” and “easy ways” that folly offers. Why? Because they don’t lead to life-abundant, and that is the thing that we are actually seeking. Sin and folly are not innocuous, they are corrosive and deadly. Only Jesus offers abundant life.