This week we began to read Faust. In the prologue, we were able to see the relationship between God and Mephistopheles. Honestly, in my opinion, Mephistopheles reminds me of Satan. Does anyone else feel that way? He has an interesting relationship with God. It's strange but the rivalry over humans between God and Mephistopheles seems like a game. "What do you wager? You will lose him yet,/Provided you give me permission/To steer him gently the course I set." Mephistopheles mentions a wager, which makes this seem like a game between rivals. It is almost as if there is some sort bet over who is to be tempted by evil and who is to remain good. The relation between them is really complex. They are both discussing Faust's fate. Mephistopheles decides to try to tempt Faust and God allows him to do so. As it was said in class, it shows that even in the end God has the ultimate control and makes the final decisions. The only question I have is why? Why would God allow one of his people to be tempted and corrupted? It is interesting to be able to see an interpretation of how God thinks. The way the prologue ended made me want to know what is going to happen in the story. I really want to find out the reason God has allowed Mephistopheles to tempt Faust.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
God vs. Mephistopheles
This week we began to read Faust. In the prologue, we were able to see the relationship between God and Mephistopheles. Honestly, in my opinion, Mephistopheles reminds me of Satan. Does anyone else feel that way? He has an interesting relationship with God. It's strange but the rivalry over humans between God and Mephistopheles seems like a game. "What do you wager? You will lose him yet,/Provided you give me permission/To steer him gently the course I set." Mephistopheles mentions a wager, which makes this seem like a game between rivals. It is almost as if there is some sort bet over who is to be tempted by evil and who is to remain good. The relation between them is really complex. They are both discussing Faust's fate. Mephistopheles decides to try to tempt Faust and God allows him to do so. As it was said in class, it shows that even in the end God has the ultimate control and makes the final decisions. The only question I have is why? Why would God allow one of his people to be tempted and corrupted? It is interesting to be able to see an interpretation of how God thinks. The way the prologue ended made me want to know what is going to happen in the story. I really want to find out the reason God has allowed Mephistopheles to tempt Faust.
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I agree Lorena, I do think M is like satan. However, instead of the direct hate for eachother like in the bible, I think this story portrays them more as frienemies. It's like, they are in competition with eachother because they both wanna be in charge but I feel like they were cordial at some point. In the bible, God was always battling satan where here I feel like they are having a "my horse is better than your horse" casual conversation. (Not actual horses, just an example lol)
ReplyDeleteI just want to make it clear to everyone that in the context of this story, Mephistopheles IS Satan. For an explanation of where this comes from, check out this line: http://www.faust.com/legend/mephistopheles/ I think this will help you put the pieces together.
ReplyDeleteI think The Lord wanted M to test Faust because he KNOWS that Faust will always come back to his side. Since we have free-will, he wants Faust to be able to make the right decision on his own. He can be tempted by M many times and it will test his faith time after time after time, but the Lord knows in his heart, everyone can find their way back to him.
ReplyDeleteI wondered the same thing when K read it. I don't understand why God would want to test him, perhaps he did have faith in him to find his way back to him. But why go through all of that to prove someone is good? Interesting point Lorena !
ReplyDeleteI think that God would allow M to test Faust to also test humanity. If this man, who has learned all there is to know about almost everything is not satisfied, and is able to be tempted foolishly by m, then we as humans need to really work harder at our faith with God.
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