This is a summary of various tactics used by Screwtape and his devil minions to bring ruin to the new Christian. Chapters are noted in parentheses. Scroll down through the list – it’s quite comprehensive!
Tactics of the enemy:
-Use of jargon in the church (1)
-Concerned not with true or false but trendy (1)
-Drawn constantly to immediate sensual experiences (1)
-Pressure of the ordinary without quiet time or peace (1)
-Pride, already knows everything, shallow, unteachable (1)
-Confused, no time for complex thinking (1)
-Old habits (2)
-Church is imperfect, full of hypocritical people (2)
-Disappointment with church and people (2)
-Boring, dryness of persevering (2)
-Keep dependent on emotional high (2)
-Mutual, daily annoyances of relationships (3)
-Keep blind to obvious faults of self (3)
-Distract from simple duties by thinking how hard bigger duties are (3)
-Make focus on irritations with spouse and family (3)
-Keep them from praying (4)
-Prayers lazy, unfocused, not concentrating (4)
-Make prayer a mood not effort of the will (4)
-Prayers focused on self and feelings (4)
-Praying to something/image not God (4)
-Ignoring reality of death, blind, refuse to consider (5)
-Contented worldliness *best weapon (5)
-Maximize uncertainty; focus on future (6)
-Fear, anxiety for future (6)
-Confusion about “cross to bear” (6)
-Direct malice toward neighbors, benevolence toward people he doesn’t know (6)
-Deny existence of spirit world (7)
-Lull into lukewarm complacency (7)
-Or fire up and divide into factions around irrelevant issue (7)
-Make saving the world the end goal (7)
-Mix politics and religion (7)
-Create partisan spirit in the community (7)
-Shock at period of difficulty, blind to cycle of life that is good and bad, feels unfair (8)
-In rough time tempt with sensual pleasure, esp. sexual (9)
-Addict to a declining pleasure (9)
-Isolate from experienced Christians (9)
-Despair (9)
-Effort to feel good by sheer will power (9)
-Circle of worldly and intellectual friends who lead astray (10)
-Create parallel lives Christian life vs. secular life, inconsistency (10)
-Debt, spending more than can afford (10)
-Neglect work or people (10)
-Domestic tension (10)
-Jokes as an excuse for behavior (11)
-Keep attending church but drift spiritually (12)
-Slow, gradual fade is more effective than a big sin (12)
-Social conformity, give up own interests (13)
-Always thinking, never acting (13)
-Proud of humility (14)
-Self focused (14)
-Too afraid (15)
-Too confident (15)
-Living in the past or the future (15)
-Fear, anxiety, greed, ambition, discontent (15)
-Church hopping, critical, uncommitted (16)
-Always comparing, critical not teachable (16)
-Sermon too easy, watered down (16)
-Sermon too hard, too strident (16)
-Focus on superficial church differences not doctrinal (16)
-Gluttony as excess, or as extreme pickiness, dominated by food (17)
-Deceive about love, sex, and marriage (18)
-Deceive about spiritual significance of sex (18)
-See everything as black and white (19)
-Marry one who makes life difficult (19)
-Make feel like temptation lasts forever, the only escape is to yield (20)
-Use media to create picture of perfect woman, impossible to find, create discontent, focus on sensuality (20)
-If cannot tempt to sex outside of marriage, then marry poorly (20)
– Darken intellect, no critical thinking allowed (20)
– Multipronged attack, several directions at once (20)
-Interruptions, lose free time, irritate with loss control of time (21)
-Focus on illusion of ownership of body, time, life, things – then frustrate (21)
-All that is good twist it for evil (22)
-Constant noise (22)
-Isolate him, dumb down spirituality (23)
– Remove spirituality, or corrupt it (23)
-Change picture of historical Jesus (23)
-Spiritual pride *strongest vice (24)
-Superiority of belonging to special group (24)
-Mocking those outside the group (24)
-Love for change and novelty, desire for constant change (25)
-Distract with trendy thinking, desire to be trendy (25)
-Disguise the real threat (25)
-Blinded by love, erotic enchantment (26)
-Chase earthly happiness (26)
-False spirituality (27)
-Confuse about prayer. No means it doesn’t work. Yes can be easily explained with secular. (27)
-Historical ignorance. Non-intellectual. (27)
-Cut off every generation from others, intellectually, socially, etc. (27)
-Never ask if it’s true, evaluate author’s bias instead (27)
-Confuse about death. Think death is the end. Think survival is the greatest good. (28)
-Middle aged adversity, so long, so hard. War of attrition. (28)
-Adversity causes to lose hope, not persevere (28)
-Prosperity creates worldliness, attachment (28)
-Preoccupy with safety! (28)
-Noise, danger, & fatigue. Wear them down. Conscience muddled. (29)
-Create fear, hatred, shame, cowardice. (29)
-Keep peace! War & calamity awaken them from spiritual stupor. (29)
-False hopes. Disappointment. Tiredness. (30)
-Disappointment perceived as injury (30)
-Confuse/deceive with idea that death is the end (31)
Mindy Clemons 
Wow! Staggering! Reading over the list is eye opening and makes me realize how easy it is to be derailed from believing the Truth! I read this book many years ago but may need to pick it up again. Thank you for this succinct summation!
Sherry, It was revealing how many of these I see in my own life, not to mention the community and country we live in. He’s a crafty one…
This is the judgement: the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. John 3:19-21.
The enemy doesn’t walk in the light and if you find you don’t want to know the council of the Word of God you are hanging out in the darkness also. The truth may sometimes be difficult to hear but the light of God’s Word always exposes the truth. And protects us from the schemes of the enemy.
Yes. Well chosen passage, Beka!