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)
