Dr. Faustus

In our discussion in class today about Dr. Faustus' quest for knowledge, I found it interesting how certain things paralleled with the Bible.  For instance, Caleb brought up a good point about how Faustus was tempted by Satan to take the knowledge that Satan could offer, just like Eve was tempted by Satan to take the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  And I think it is really important to recognize that Faustus, as well as Eve, made the choice to do what they did.  Satan did not force them to do anything and neither did God.  Satan's tempting was very sly, in my opinion, because he made the Seven Deadly Sins look funny and not horrible, and he offered Faustus all this power that came along with the knowledge; but he did not show Faustus how miserable Hell would be for him.  Therefore, as Caleb and Pat said, Faustus looked like a fool at the end because he thought he was gaining all of this knowledge and yet he did not even search for the knowledge of the consequences for selling his soul to the devil.  I do feel as if knowledge can be very very dangerous, but ignorance can be just as dangerous I suppose - like in Faustus' case.  Then again, if he hadn't been in such a dire need to obtain more knowledge, his ignorance would not have been dangerous and led to his damnation.  I am sure that Faustus took time to figure out how to get the knowledge that he wanted, but I do not believe he took enough time to think through the consequences of his action.  So I believe this can relate to our human nature in that when we desperately want something and we see an opportunity to finally get it, we rush into it without thinking it through.  If we think it through, we may realize that it is something we do not really want.  I also found it interesting how some people in class sympathized with Faustus, which I have a hard time doing since he chose to give his soul to the devil.  If the devil had forced him into doing it, I would have probably pitied him more.  I think I had trouble sympathizing with him partly because last night I read in 1 John 2 about the antichrist.  The antichrist can be anyone who denies Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as Faustus sold his soul to the devil, I believe this was him denying God and becoming an antichrist.  Due to that, I have a hard time seeing him as a victim even though that probably isn't how it should be.  Then again, Faustus isn't a real person...