Hell No

            We should just establish now that there is nothing worth making a deal with the devil. One because if you believe in the devil then you clearly believe in God and two because it has never turned out well for anyone. No good can come from a deal with the devil no matter how good it looks on the surface. Faustus clearly wasn’t thinking. He asked four twenty-four years and to get to know everything, but is that really worth eternity in hell. That’s literally asking to be tortured in hell for eternity. Eternity is forever and I’m just speaking for myself here, but forever isn’t a concept I can grasp. I can’t see that something could go on forever, it’s an amount of time no one can comprehend. There is no end to this eternity, it’s just endless, but hey twenty-four years and some knowledge seems like a fair trade.

            I’m just not quite sure there is anything worth eternal hell; actually I’m entirely sure there is nothing worth hell. On the religious side there is the view that if the devil exists God exists.  The same goes for heaven and hell. A correlation Faustus probably should have thought of, especially because they even feared God. That’s a give-away that he’s real and has some good influence going on. So personally if I stared into the eyes of Satan I probably wouldn’t be so quick to pass up eternity in heaven for a few good years here on earth. Faustus wants knowledge and life two things that would probably be easily attainable in heaven. While there is no clear picture of heaven I’m pretty sure it’s safe to assume it is nothing like the picture of hell Faustus is shown.

 

Then the other side says that the devil is bad and we shouldn’t do bad things. Whether you believe in God or not, it’s a general belief that people should be good. Many even believe that we are all born good and later corrupted by outside influences. Going along with these ideas we also learn our whole lives that those who do bad things never win. We are told that bad people get what they deserve. While this isn’t always true the idea is that bad people get caught and are forced to deal with the consequences. I don’t care how long ago this took place, I am sure baby Faustus’ parents told him to be a good person. I’m not saying Faustus is an entirely bad guy; he could have turned himself around. He just chooses to do so a little late. Twenty-four years later and countless horrible behaviors towards many people is probably past the point of return. He probably should have thought of repentance a little sooner. So while I don’t see him as an entirely horrible person, I do see him as stupid (I can’t find a better word). It doesn’t matter how bored you are with life or how much you want to know about the world or even that you want to make sure you live longer, there is nothing worth trading to spend eternity in hell.