Faustian Tales

Goethe's 'Faust' is a Break Point commentary by Chuck Colson. Colson traces the Faustian bargain with the devil story back to its roots and in doing imparts know how as to how common ideas form and become separated from their origns. A quote from Colson's commentary:

As Ken tells his listeners, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe didn’t invent the character of Dr. Faust. The German legend of the man who sold his soul for knowledge dates back to at least the 16th century.

In the age of the Reformation, the story of Faust was seen as an object lesson and a warning. But in Goethe’s era, the Enlightenment, Faust was a prototype of man’s ideal aspirations. Faust had become a symbol of man’s emancipation from authority. His salvation no longer mattered—what mattered was his courage in seeking to obtain previously unobtainable knowledge.

Goethe’s idea of a hero as one who shakes off the bonds of religion in order to seek knowledge was central to the Enlightenment worldview, and turned the Christian message on its head.

The transformation to the Enlightenment version by German author Geothe illustrate a struggle over values that very much predates the culture wars of today. In fact they go back to biblical times. Although I've read some of Geothe's works I was unaware of his connection to Faust. More from Colson:

Mephistopheles offers to show Faust the secrets of the world and let him experience the profoundest pleasures in exchange for his immortal soul. Faust agrees, seeing himself as risking little, since he doubts the immortality of the soul.

In the end Faust is “saved,” but, as Boa points out, his redemption is anything but Christian. He is saved not because he repents of pursuing knowledge and pleasure but because he strove after them. Goethe employs Christian imagery to turn Christian beliefs upside down.

According to Boa, Goethe’s Faust is the supreme expression of faith in man’s humanity—humans as the center of everything. That this is expressed using Christian imagery makes the rejection of the Christian worldview that much clearer and exposes the same “bargain” that we’re being tempted with every day. I wish all politicians could understand this.

The assault on Christain values has been more like a slow erosion process than a sudden onslaught. American Christians need to bear this in mind when considering the "cultue war."