Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. All quizzes are internally graded in this course. Optional papers will be completed via this page (click here) for an Instructor Access fee of $75.

Lewis’ imaginative explications of the conditions of Hell and our sinful “thoughts” are the best of their kind in the last 700 years!

How to get the most out of The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (Modern Catholic Classics Series) with Dr. Henry Russell:

• First, read the course details below and purchase or borrow the book.

• Prepare a notebook for notetaking and homework.

• Begin the course by listening to the recording of Class One.

• Complete the Quiz, it will be graded automatically.

• The reading for each class can be found in that class' description.

• If you need review, go back and watch the recording again and/or go over the PowerPoint.

• Repeat until all 7 classes are complete along with the final exam.

• Once the course is finished to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records. Make sure to record your grades (HSC does not provide record keeping services).

Total number of class meetings: 7

Duration of each class: ~55 minutes

Prerequisite: The ability to enjoy reading and discussing the work

Suggested grade level: 10th to 12th grade

Suggested credit: ½ semester Literature. For a full semester credit, follow with Dr. Russell’s The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton in March.

Instructor: Dr. Henry Russell

Course Description: Clive Staples Lewis quietly sought to be the Dante of the modern world. His imaginative explications of the conditions of Hell and demonic “thought” are the best of their kind in the last 700 years. In The Screwtape Letters the experienced tempter Uncle Screwtape seeks to educate his nephew Wormwood in the proper way to undermine a human soul.
The muddled semi-thinking promoted by an educational system that ignores not only theology but basic logic proves one of the Infernal world’s greatest allies. It is further aided by a selfish notion of rights with no accompanying duties and modern man’s sentimental view of his virtues based only on kind emotions that require no sacrifice. But in many ways, the heights of the book are achieved as Uncle Screwtape rails against the unfairness of the God he has rejected, giving the kind of truly Christian vision of the power, beauty, wisdom, and boundless energy and love of God that atheists want no one to remember has always been the Catholic concept of the divine. To know yourself much better, and to know God well indeed, read this book.

Course outline:

Class 1: Biography
Class 2: Letters 1-6
Class 3: Letters 7-12
Class 4: Letters 13-18
Class 5: Letters 19-24
Class 6: Letters 25-30
Class 7: Letter 31 and Screwtape Proposes a Toast

Course Materials: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (https://amzn.to/3LJtC0y)

Homework: Approximately 20 pages per class, about an hour’s reading. There will be computer-graded quizzes available after each class, and a final.

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2023 Homeschool Connections and Henry Russell, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

This course is designed by Henry Russell, Ph.D.

• This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.

• You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.

Technical Help: If you experience technical difficulty with watching the recorded classes or have a question about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.