This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

Stephen Townsend

Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy to the Holy See

Guest blogger for Nigel Baker

Part of UK in Holy See

15th March 2016

The Screwtape Letters

Mountains of Mourne 2 (1)bis
The Mountains of Mourne, Northern Ireland

On 14-16 March we are celebrating Northern Ireland. One of Northern Ireland’s best-known, and best-loved writers is Clive Staples Lewis, who was born in Belfast in 1898.

His most famous works are the Narnia series, following the adventures of the Pevensie children (based on a group of children who were evacuated to stay with him during the Second World War) and inspired by The Mountains of Mourne.  That series has a strong Christian theme running through it, but Lewis claimed: “it all began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion.  At first there wasn’t anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord.”

C Lewis Northern IrelandOne of his earliest works was The Screwtape Letters, a collection of letters from a senior devil (Screwtape) advising his young (and not very competent) nephew Wormwood on how to corrupt a human (only referred to as “The Patient”).  This book, published in 1942 (and dedicated to J R R Tolkien, one of Lewis’ great friends at Oxford and a fellow member of the Inklings literary group), turns many of our preconceptions of religion on their head by approaching them from the opposite direction.  Thus Screwtape recommends that The Patient, if he must pray, should do so in “parrot-like” fashion, whilst concentrating on some image rather than the ideals behind it.  There are other gems of advice: “all extremes are to be encouraged”, “jargon, not argument, is your best ally”, “the safest road to hell is the gradual one”.

The letters have a sly humour running through them.  Screwtape refers to “The Father” and “The Enemy” – although not as we would imagine them.  He gives his protégé advice on the temptations of lust, gluttony, pride and false humility.  Eventually the plans are for naught as the Patient is killed and goes to Heaven.  And Wormwood pays the ultimate price at the hands of his “increasingly and ravenously affectionate uncle, Screwtape”.

Lewis found The Screwtape Letters unpleasant to write, and refused to write a sequel (there was a short essay in 1959).  But he left us with an amusing, but withering, satire on human nature – worth a read even today.

About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

Follow Nigel