The Beans of St. Botolph's; and other Letters to Sgrewtape (1)

Among the presentations to which we have already listened in this outstanding program, is that of Dr. Cotton on “Failures with Group Therapy.” A properly trained pessimist could just now take a like view of that larger project in group therapy, sometimes known as Heaven's plan for the salvation of mankind. What I am offering here is a glance at the local situation from the standpoint of those agencies which are interested in bringing such a failure about.

I hope that many of you here have already had the opportunity of examining the delightful work of which I show a copy, entitled “The Screwtape Letters,” by the British scholar and theologian, C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is the name of a departmental under-secretary in Hell, and the correspondence consists of advice to a junior devil assigned to temptation-duty on this earth, with a particular human individual. In one of these letters there is an allusion to a colleague named Scabtree, who seems to be more of a sociological turn of mind, as Screwtape is rather the clinical director. It has been my fortune, good or otherwise, to come into possession of an English version of some correspondence addressed to Screwtape by this same Scabtree, and dealing with topics that are of local concern. It would appear that Scabtree was recently promoted to serve as a sort of inspector-at-large for the interests of the Infernal Powers in this country, and the material here excerpted deals particularly with this phase of his duties.