The Mysterious Death of Alexander the Great of Macedonia

Most historians discuss the mysterious death of Alexander the Great of Macedonia in the same basic way.  In the early summer of 323 B.C., Alexander died after a bout with some type of fever.  Some have postulated that it may have been alcohol poisoning that struck down the great ruler, while others believed he may have been poisoned.  Few acknowledge the true history that is documented in Ancient Chaldean texts.

    According to these texts, Alexander had what we today would consider a "body double" or "look a like"- impersonate him on the throne of Babylon beginning in the spring of 323 B.C.  A prophecy had frightened Alexander about an early decline and demise, and Alexander did not trust some of the generals and advisors that surrounded him, even suspecting that one might attempt to move on his life.  He found a young Macedonian soldier who many had claimed had an eerie resemblance to himself- and secretly trained him in the ways and manners of the Macedonian/Babylonian court.  This impostor took the throne as Alexander- with Alexander's approval and Alexander, temporarily went into hiding- until the time of the prophecy could pass.

    When disaster struck as the prophecy had indicated and the impostor got very ill with fever, it was too late for the real Alexander to come forward and reveal the ploy.  The impostor did not know what to do when pressed for who would be Alexander's heir- since he wasn't actually Alexander- and Alexander's empire immediately split into chaos as different generals took their piece of his kingdom.

   The real Alexander lived out the rest of his days quietly in the Seleucid kingdom, and it is debated by Chaldean historians whether he married other women and had children.




  Source: The Sepher Yetzirah. Translated by Michael Crolier.

Final Thoughts

An important note for readers of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters is that it is a story, and although it contains so much theological truth, certain elements about it must be taken with a grain of salt. This is not to say that Lewis’ theology was wrong, or that it is any less powerful. It merely means that C.S. Lewis sought to create an engaging story from a unique perspective, and there is not much reliable material to go on regarding demons and particularly how they live.

Lewis sets up a demonic “lowerarchy” in his story, where elder tempters boss around inexperienced ones with full authority. Lewis even sets up a Secret Police and a University for young devils. Obviously, all these things are not necessarily real, but their presence helps create the story in its final form.

Particularly intriguing aspects of Lewis’ demonic literary creations are their one-to-one tempting ratio for humans and their appetite for souls. These two characteristics of these fictional demons affect the story more than most, because they give the demons an air of desperation for their own souls. If a tempter loses a single human to Heaven, his own soul is consumed by his ravenous fellow demons. (This is the eventual fate of Wormwood, as Screwtape’s last letter to him is signed, “Your increasingly and ravenously affectionate uncle,” which is a stellar piece of irony on Lewis’ part.) Thus, I contend that Lewis did not necessarily accurately portray how demons affect the lives of humans specifically, although it is hard to know anything about demons outside of their portrayal in the Bible. 

However, I also contend that The Screwtape Letters is not a book meant to accurately portray demons. Instead, Lewis crafted this book as a book of advice and theology to Christians. To many readers, theological books can be tedious and boring, particularly as they are often written with academic language that is difficult to understand. Lewis realized this and set out to write a more interesting book, where Christians could gain wisdom about their faith in the midst of a good and cleverly-told story. At times, Lewis’ depth of wisdom slid by me until I thought about what I had just read, because it fits so well with the story. But this story is truly saturated with wisdom and guidance on how to live life as a follower of Christ.

As I shared in an earlier post, I was originally afraid of reading The Screwtape Letters. I was struggling at that time with doubts and spiritual despair, and the perspectives of the demons in the story frightened me and made me doubt more. However, now that I have matured in my faith, this book helped me become more at peace with God and enabled me to worry less. One day, when I was feeling down spiritually, I read several chapters of this story, and God used C.S. Lewis’s wise words to strengthen me and help me. Earlier when I tried to read it, I took the demons’ perspectives as true because of my fear. Now, I realize the satire involved in the story and am able to see how God works in the book even when it is written from the perspective of hell.

C.S. Lewis writes a captivating and encouraging story in The Screwtape Letters. By writing from an unconventional perspective, he finds a way to teach biblical truths in an engaging and unique way. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I was strengthened in my faith by reading it. I would recommend it to any Christians looking for spiritual wisdom and a good story.

The Influence of a Christian Community

The Screwtape Letters follows the life of an unnamed man who is being tempted by Wormwood, a demon assigned to this job. (In the book, each person has a demon assigned to tempt them. This is an element of fiction in the story and there is no Biblical proof that such a one-to-one “relationship” exists; Lewis uses this idea to bring the story to life and to make it effective satire.) Although his initial salvation was key, a second turning point in this man’s life and spiritual struggles appears to be falling in love with a strong Christian girl with a strong Christian family. Although having a romantic relationship intertwined with his spiritual life left the man open to several types of temptation, it eventually helped him escape from temptation, and when he died in the Bombing of London, he was free from his temptation forever, in part because of the influence of his girlfriend’s family. 

Lewis writes this section of the book in part to argue for the importance of deep Christian community. Through the influence of his Christian friends, the protagonist is able to throw off more and more of the temptation he faces each day, although he is not fully removed from it until death. Lewis shows that Christians struggle more on their own than in a community, and that spending time and sharing experiences with other believers can seriously alleviate the pressures of temptation.

I have personally felt the necessity for a Christian community in many ways. I have felt the struggle of switching churches after going to one for most of my life. I had grown up in that particular community of believers, and having to switch was a hard move for me. On the other hand, I have also felt the incredible community that comes from going on a missions trip. On my most recent trip to Costa Rica, the team members grew very close to one another, and we are still keeping up intentional conversations with each other, challenging and encouraging each other to grow closer to Christ. This is the strongest Christian community I have ever felt.

Being in a community of strong Christians is vital because of Jesus’s commands to us: “Love God and love others.” We are called to love all our neighbors, and we are called to have a particular love for fellow Christians. God has given us spiritual gifts, and many of those involve us relating to other Christians. So we can best utilize the gifts God has given us by being in community with other Christians, where we can mutually benefit each other with our particular gifts.

In my own life, I have experienced sharing spiritual gifts with other Christians and benefitting from their gifts. I have been given the gift of encouragement, and I enjoy using that gift to help others. There have been times where I have been able to help people who are hurting because of my gift of encouragement, and this is when it is important for me to be involved in a strong Christian community. We each have our own experiences, and God has revealed different things to each of us. For example, my experiences with having doubts about my faith has enabled me to advise and encourage several people who are struggling with similar doubts.

On the other hand, there have been times where I have been the one in need of help, and it is here that I am equally in need of a strong Christian community. In the time when I struggled with doubts, what often helped me was the encouragement of my parents, friends, and pastor. If I had to go through these struggles all alone, it would have been much more difficult to endure. As C.S. Lewis shows, Christian community, though not vital to salvation, is very helpful in maintaining a strong Christian faith.

Living in the Present

"The humans live in time, but our Enemy destines them to eternity." So says the elder demon Screwtape to his nephew and apprentice Wormwood in a letter about the past, the present, the future, and the relation of human time to God's eternal view. C.S. Lewis uses Screwtape's clever and wicked advice to share deep theological views on time with his readers.

First, Lewis points out the relation of the Present to eternity. The Present, he argues, most closely resembles eternity because, "Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole, in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them." Lewis claims that God desires us to focus on the present more than the past or the future, because in the present we can receive grace, understand the cross, and obey the Holy Spirit instead of giving into temptation. In Lamentations, Jeremiah writes that "[God's] mercies are new every morning." Charles Spurgeon, a famous 19th century preacher, wrote that "Past experiences are doubtful food for Christians; a present coming to Christ alone can give us joy and comfort." C.S. Lewis himself once quoted: "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”

It is clear from the Bible and from Christian philosophy that God desires us to “live in the Present” in order that we can live in closer relationship with Him. This is what Lewis is aiming for in his character Screwtape’s devilish advice. In the rest of the chapter, Screwtape focuses mainly on not the past, but the future, as the main route to tempt humans away from the Present.

Thinking about the future seems harmless. We look forward in life to many things; this does not seem dangerous. Currently, I am looking forward to graduation. The excitement for things to come does not seem bad. And it isn’t. However, focus on the future in excess leads to many kinds of sins. Lewis names “fear, avarice, lust, and ambition” as future-focused sins. It is not good to look on the future with despair; neither is it good to look on it with unrooted hope. In either case, it distracts us from the present: who God is, who we are, and what actions we are taking. Lewis also makes sure to mention that God wants to think of the future in the regard that it affects our Christian duties to love and serve. God does not want us to live without thinking at all, but he does not want the future to become an idol for us.

I particularly feel the negative impact of focusing on the future in my life in the form of distraction. Often, I ignore present opportunities I have to love and serve God, saying, “Oh, I’ll do that when I’m older. It will come naturally then.” I also admit that I am afraid – afraid of never doing anything with my life, living in apathy and wasting away without purpose. Neither of these thoughts are beneficial, and they distract me from what I could be doing in the present. 

Screwtape advises the “ideal” situation as a place where the man is so focused on future happiness and future virtue that he continually sacrifices present happiness and present virtue in futile attempts to reach the future. Is it possible that in our future-focused society, we are missing out on what God has for us now? I want to live my life in a way that focuses on eternity and on the present, not worrying about tomorrow, because I am only given today. God will take care of the rest.

Apathetic Way to Be

By the middle portion of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, the man that the demon Wormwood  is plaguing has settled into his new Christian life. Whereas the first parts of the book addressed conversion and he life of young Christians, this new portion of the plot allows Lewis to comment on the life of established Christians and the temptations they struggle with. And his comments are focused on perhaps the greatest danger for many Christians: apathy.

Screwtape, the elder demon, focuses on the internal mental and spiritual processes of his protégé’s subject, advising Wormwood to lull the man away from true godliness through weapons such as flippancy, skeptical intellectualism, and false pleasures. The piece of Uncle Screwtape’s devilish wisdom that hit me hardest begins with a discussion of the vague guilty feeling many Christians encounter. Lewis mentions that this uneasiness often causes people to shy away from truly talking to and listening to God, as it makes them face their uncomfortable feelings. The demon advises his nephew to exploit the feelings, but slowly: “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.” What he says to back this advise up was powerful to me. He says that as the ignoring of God due to these feelings becomes habitual, humans are no longer distracted away from their spiritual life, prayers, and reading of the Bible by seemingly useful things. Instead, they eagerly shy away from such things, doing things that do not even give them pleasure. Screwtape laughs at the irony that such souls who eventually fall away from God go to Hell having lived life “doing neither what [they] ought nor what [they] liked.”

This depiction reminds me of my own actions, and of the actions of many today. We get on social media endlessly and pointlessly, refreshing our devices ad nauseam to catch some piece of worthless information. I have found myself late at night in bed, staying up for no reason whatsoever but feeling that the desire to check my social media accounts and text messages mindlessly outdid my desire to sleep. The same has happened with Bible reading. I tell myself I will read at a certain time, but other things that are useless in every way distract me. Seeing how my friends and other teenagers act on their phones, I am positive I am not the only one who struggles with this. And recently, I have been afraid that in this meaningless cycle of technology and laziness, I will lose sight of the “good works [that] God prepared in advance for me to do” and live my life to some small fraction of its usefulness and its joy. 

I do not want to lose God’s joy in exchange for Nothing.

And, as Screwtape so aptly quotes, “Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind … in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them.”

Has a man ever so accurately described a time seventy years beyond his words? I could not think of a better way to explain the sickness of phone-idolizing apathy that 21st century teens and young adults struggle with.

How can we escape this apathy? As with all sin, only with God’s help and grace.

To make a short story long, I began reading The Screwtape Letters several years ago but quickly stopped reading it, as it scared me. I was in a time of serious doubts about my faith. I wondered if my faith was legitimate, I worried that God had not saved me, I felt that I had to do something, something more, to truly be saved. Now, after reading this book more extensively, I think I know why exactly I was afraid of this book. It seems to present temptations without any escape, as the advice for Christians in the book mainly comes from the perspective of the devil. I think that since I did not see a time where Lewis showed that God was there to help us, I worried that he actually wasn’t there for me. But now I see that just when it seems like change on our part is impossible, that the demons are too strong and too smart and will obviously overcome us, Lewis mentions God. Even if just in passing, it is powerful. “The Enemy,” says Screwtape, “will not allow you” to do certain things to one of His chosen. In Job, God tells Satan certain things he cannot do. Because Jesus overcame the world and the devil, no one can stand against us or condemn us! 

I praise You, my Savior! Lord, please quicken my heart to Your voice.

The Screwtape Letters - Part 2

"The prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best." 

C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters has a unique way of describing profound things from unusual perspectives. The above quotation, from chapter eight, is just one of many examples where Lewis uses the point of view of a demon to emphasize what it means to be a Christian, how Christians can live, and the ways followers of Jesus can trust in his promises. Chapters six and eight contained thoughts that particularly uplifted me.

In chapter six, Screwtape lectures his nephew Wormwood extensively on how to manipulate the minds of humans to focus on things that will degrade them spiritually and keep them from growing stronger. First, he makes the point that people will determine the physical hardships they face to be the major trials they must bear and fight against, when actually the trial is fear itself. (This paragraph likely alludes to a famous quotation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States at the time of the writing of this book.) Then the elder demon makes a broader point – that Wormwood should try to make his human turn outwardly in regard to sins and not be introspective regarding his downfalls, but make him turn inwardly in regard to his supposed virtues so that he will think himself to be great spiritually and become prideful. This demonic advice, which Lewis cleverly uses to make just the opposite point as his narrator, helped me to understand more how the human mind works in regard to spiritual things. Moreover, I will now be more on guard to focusing too much on my own spiritual strengths and ignoring my spiritual vices. 

The encouragement Lewis gives in chapter eight regards God’s faithfulness. The entire chapter focuses on what Screwtape names “The Law of Undulation,” which essentially points out that everything about the lives of humans is in a constant state of change. Spiritually, this means that people have times when they feel close to God and able to do His work well, and times when they feel alone and incapable. Lewis (through the words of Screwtape) points out that God generally uses the spiritual “troughs” in life more than the “crests” to draw His children closer to Him. And this is the beautiful lesson about faithfulness. God guides us as new Christians and gives us a sense that He is with us, but then He seems to disappear from our lives, and we begin to doubt His presence and His promises. However, He is with us even when we can not see Him there – “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Screwtape points out in this discussion of God’s faithfulness that “[The devil’s] cause is never more in danger than when” it appears to someone that God has forsaken him, and he obeys anyway. So, Lewis implies, we as Christians should have enough faith in God’s promises that we can follow Him and believe in Him in the midst of our doubts. Thus, “The prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please him best.”

Lewis writes Christian teachings and encouragements into a book written from the perspective of a demon. That alone is impressive. Although, so far, there are still moments where Lewis uses too much Christian jargon to be fully comprehendible to everyone, his approach to teaching Christians about Christian life is more relatable than the standard theology book. J. I. Packer, Tim Keller, and other Christian authors must walk a fine line to avoid sounding too preachy, and when theology is taught overtly it can easily spark arguments over minor details of the Christian faith. By camouflaging his theology in fiction and a plot, C. S. Lewis engages readers instead of boring them and draws them in instead of turning them away. Another aspect of the appeal of The Screwtape Letters is that theological points can be made based not on science but on the experiences of the characters, which makes them easier to understand for most people. And personally, the encouragement offered in this book has helped me to understand more accurately the depth of God’s love and faithfulness to me, even in the presence of hardships and enemies.

The Screwtape Letters - Part 1

This book is not exactly Narnia. C.S. Lewis taken on a more adult and a darker perspective with The Screwtape Letters, a book where an elder demon writes letters to his nephew on how to more efficiently lead the human he is watching over away from God and towards hell. 

I tried to read this book several years ago, but I was not mature or confident enough in my faith, and the book honestly scared me. Talking from the perspective of the demons makes them seem more real and more dangerous, and for this reason it seems like The Screwtape Letters is a book that should be mainly read by strong Christians or people who are generally mentally mature. In regards to focusing too much on demons as opposed to God, Lewis makes sure to note in his introduction that he believes people make one of two errors talking about demons: they either don't believe they exist or they think about them too much. 

The real purpose Lewis had for the book can be seen from the quotes he puts before the beginning of the book. The sayings, from Martin Luther and Thomas More, both show that the devil does not like to be mocked. So The Screwtape Letters can be viewed in a sense as satire against Satan, mocking him to rob him of his perceived power in our minds.

In another sense, the book is a roundabout way to show Christians how to fight off the devil. The demon Screwtape’s words often are used in a way that allows Lewis to make a point about the Christian lifestyle from a fresh perspective. Sometimes this strategy results in the main demon speaking too much “Christianese,” which bothers me a bit from a literary perspective. However, Lewis’ point of view and style of writing keeps The Screwtape Letters from sounding preachy and allows Christians to look at their faith in a different light. The book implicitly gives advice on how Christians should live and not live. It gives this advice not from the typical perspective of why it is good to, for example, be humble, but from the perspective of why the devil enjoys it when humility is disregarded and pride abounds.

An interesting point Lewis makes in the introduction to his book is that not everything spoken by Screwtape in the book is necessarily true from even the demon’s perspective. In other words, the main devil could even be lying to himself and his audience in order to further shame God in his own mind. So The Screwtape Letters should not be taken at face value from any perspective, and Christians should be careful from deriving meanings from it that do not exist.

Another reason for Lewis’ writing of The Screwtape Letters was likely encouragement to Christians. The original “letters” were penned by Lewis during World War II, a time when it would be easy for people to lose their faith in humanity and in God. Lewis makes sure not to treat war itself as the victory of the devil, but puts more focus on personal life than on politics. In doing this, he encourages people at the time not to focus excessively about the war but to focus on their own lives and morals. Lewis also makes a point to have Screwtape say that war does not lead to lack of faith as much as one might expect. This allows people to see the hope in war that people will turn to God even amidst horror.

I admire the creativity of C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters. This short book is a much easier read than a theology textbook or a lecture book, but still has spiritual meat and good advice in its pages. Since it is written from the perspective of a demon, it can be a bit dark even though the subject matter is not particularly twisted. However, it provides a unique take on the Christian lifestyle, and Lewis has a way of writing and getting his point across as his narrator makes the corollary and opposing point. This enables this book to both read like a story and help Christians grow in their walk with God.