The Catholic Book Club discussion

8. Do you think that the difference in the way demons can affect humans and elfin changes the culpability of elfin compared to humans?

This question was provided by Corinna Turner.

There are many writers who have addressed this theme of how a demon would act. The most paradigmatic case is C.S. Lewis with "Screwtape's Letter." Juan Manuel de Prada himself wrote his own version, with Wormwood responding to Screwtape, moving the setting to Spain during the coronavirus. There's a movie I love. There's a cartoon series that I love, especially the Doraemon movies. One of them, Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure Into the Underworld: The Seven Magic Users, describes what a planet of demons would be like. The same thing happens in another movie, Doraemon the Movie: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West, inspired by Journey to the West. This film tells what would happen if demons had taken over the world and what a demonic society would be like

I'm not sure I understand the question. What culpability is being referred to? I do think it greatly explains the elfin intolerance of sorcerers.

John wrote: "I'm not sure I understand the question. What culpability is being referred to? I do think it greatly explains the elfin intolerance of sorcerers."

From what I understand, demons can not only injure and kill elves physically, but the process of temptation begins with something akin to a possession, forcing them to commit atrocities until their spirits break and they start to sin willfully.

If that is the case (correct me if I'm wrong), they wouldn't be responsible for the acts they were forced to commit, but they could be guilty of negligence or imprudence in exposing themselves to the demonic. Their conversion to the dark side would probably have diminished culpability, but they would be totally responsible for their upcoming sinful acts.

What is certain is that moral theologians would go crazy if these fantasy races did actually exist

Emmanuel wrote: "What is certain is that moral theologians would go crazy if these fantasy races did actually exist"
The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
C.S. Lewis himself already raised the issue in his book "" and, although the Professor did not like it in the novel " The Broken Sword", Poul Anderson already suggested that elves were not as wonderful as we had been led to believe and that they were more pagan and more devious than a Christian might suppose.

This interpretation makes them more interesting than what we grew accustomed to seeing—almost as if they were the pagan gods of old.

Vox Day, one of the friends of Jon del Arroz, must be doing something in this territory. He calls for a Medieval Fantasy genre where the Catholic Church exists, and he has, in fact, written a book called Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy and Other Stories

In my novel Hidden Hand there is a chapter dedicated to the longaevi, the category that includes elves, dwarves, goblins and all those "races."

In this chapter I was influenced by C.S. Lewis's The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Emmanuel wrote: "John wrote: "I'm not sure I understand the question. What culpability is being referred to? I do think it greatly explains the elfin intolerance of sorcerers."

From what I understand, demons can n..."

Ah, thank you - that makes sense. Yes, it seemed like once a young elf was separated from his kinship group, he/she was simply lost, with no possibility of resisting initial temptation, or perhaps, rather, any elf that successfully resists temptation is slaughtered by the demon that was trying to corrupt them, so that any young elf that strays is either killed or corrupted.