Faust Summary Paper: Why Does God Allow Mephistopheles to Tempt Faust?
The most pivotal point in Goethe’s Faust may be the conversation between God and the devil Mephistopheles in Heaven (Magnùsdòttir, 2015). In this correspondence with God, Mephistopheles loathes God’s creation and the mankind’s faith in him (Magnùsdòttir, 2015). This leads to God agreeing to produce a bet with Mephistopheles over Faust, a servant on the planet (Magnùsdòttir, 2015).
God believes that Faust won't ever turn far from him and certainly will remain his faithful servant regardless of the challenges thrown at him to try his faith (Kierans, 2003; Magnùsdòttir, 2015).
Mephistopheles, on the other hand, is convinced that Faust wont fall short of his expectations and will fail in remaining faithful to the Lord (Kierans, 2003; Magnùsdòttir, 2015). Due to this, God permits Mephistopheles to tempt Faust and set challenges throughout the servant’s path (Kierans, 2003; Magnùsdòttir, 2015). God firmly believes that Faust wont falter inspite of the challenges Mephistopheles throws at him and he will remain steadfast in faith (Kierans, 2003; Magnùsdòttir, 2015). But apart from his confidence in his servant, God’s permission to let Faust be challenged by Mephistopheles comes from his view that provided that Faust doesn't “find one moment so fulfilling he will want to keep with it forever, ” he will continue steadily to fail Mephistopheles and affirm his faith in god because it is usually in the clear presence of turmoil that the person naturally turns to God for guidance and embrace their faith in him (Kierans, 2003, p. 44). Being mindful of this, God permitted Mephistopheles to challenge Faust because that he knew that the more his servant is challenged, the more his faith in God is strengthened (Kierans, 2003).
Works Cited
Kierans, K. (2003). Faust, Art, Religion. Animus, 8. Retrieved from http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/Animus/Articles/Volume%25208/kierans8
Magnùsdòttir, S. H. (2015). The Battle of Good and Evil in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Academy of Iceland School of Humanities, Department of English. Retrieved from http://skemman.is/stream/get/1946/22867/52185/1/The_Battle_of_Good_and_Evil_BA
