The Aeneid

How far is too far

The Bible tells us that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God; however, can selling your soul to the devil be too far? We can read in Colossians 1: 13-14, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” We can also read in Psalm 103:12, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” This can give Christians reassurance that we can always be forgiven for our sins. However, in the story of Dr. Faustus, Faustus sells his soul to the devil to obtain power while on this earth. But when a conversation with the demon Mephistophilis occurs, he becomes worrisome and contemplates repenting and turning to God. But Faustus is too far set in his ways to deter from his sinful ways and continues down the wrong path. The rising question is, even though Faustus sold his soul to the devil, could he had been forgiven by God and freed from the devil?

Early in the text, Faustus is deciding which path he wants to take. Should he stay on the path of evil or repent and turn back to God? Faustus says, “Now, Faustus, must thou needs be damn’d, and canst thou not be sav’d.” A few lines down he continues, “Abjure this magic and turn to God again!’ Ay, and Faustus will turn to God again. To God? He loves thee not”(19). Faustus does not see himself as being able to be saved again. He also does not want to even if he could. He does not love God, therefore, why would he turn to him? Faustus is a selfish man and wants to do as he so desires. If he is too far gone, then he might as well stay in the path that he is in instead of serving a God he does not love.

Faustus has two angels that advise him. One is a good angel and one is an evil angel. The good angel is trying and pleading with Faustus to turn away from this evil magic and repent. The evil angel is trying to console him and tell him to stay firm in his ways. The evil angel is trying to convince Faustus that God could not forgive him, that Faustus is too far gone. The good angel begs Faustus to think of Heavenly things, rather the evil angel tells him to think of honor and wealth. The good angel also tries to tell Faustus that if he repents, God will pity you; however, the evil angel tells him that Faustus is a spirit now, therefore cannot be pitied by God. The evil angel tells Faustus he will never repent and Faustus agrees with him saying that his heart is too harden that he will never repent.

There is an internal battle within Faustus, whether or not he should repent. While receiving counsel from the good and evil angel, the good angel tells him that it is not too late to repent, and if he does, the devil would not harm him. Faustus finally agrees with the good angel and calls out asking Christ to seek and save him. However, just as this happens, Lucifer himself appears to Faustus and steers him back to him. Lucifer tells him, “Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just; there’s none but I have interest in the same” (27). Faustus then pledges his loyalty to Lucifer and proclaims that he will never think of Heavenly things. Just as Faustus is about to repent, the devil stops him. This brings me to question, if Faustus were not able to repent, then the devil would not have fought so hard for his loyalty. But instead, since Faustus was about to turn from his ways and repent, the devil convinced him otherwise. If the good angel were right, it was not too late for Faustus. The only thing that prevented Faustus from being saved was himself. The only thing that prevents us from being saved is ourselves. God is always willing and able to save us from our sins. God never moves. If we want to be forgiven, all we must do is ask. No matter how far away from God we get, we can never stray too far for Him to bring us back. Faustus’s heart was harden and he chose to listen to the devil and stay in the way of evil. However, I believe that Faustus could have been saved. God is much more powerful than Lucifer. Therefore, there is no such thing as too far away from God.