eceive the Holy Spirit!"
But Peter replied, "Your money will perish with you for thinking God's gift can be bought! You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right before God. turn from this great wickedness and pray. Perhaps God will forgive your evil thoughts -- for I can see that there is jealousy and sin in your heart."
During the Middle Ages, stories were told of a sorcerer who was willing to trade his possessions for knowledge of the definitive truth -- such as knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Over time, various stories about such sorcerers were gathered into united legend. The name Faust, Fausten, or Faustus was often given to the main character of this legend. The legend was so pervasive that one of the most popular books of occult spells and magic was attributed to Faust. To capitalize upon the fame of Faust, a German wanderer took to calling himself "Faust the Younger" during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
In 1587 a supposed biography of Faust the Younger was published in Frankfurt. An English translation followed in the same year. It was literally just months until the Faust legend began to assume a new identity: that of a man in search of freedom and individuality. Faust became a just rebel, opposing the Church and clerical authority. In 1588, Christopher Marlowe published the Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.
Marlowe's Faust signs a pact with Satan for 24 years of unlimited power and pleasure. At the end of the poem Faustus fears his fate in Hell and tries to find faith. Unfortunately, Faustus' faith in God is not strong enough to save him, and he is carried away to Hell by Satan.
Goethe's Faust finds himself calling to Satan out of dispair. He is lonely, alienated from his fellow men by his own intellect. While the earlier Faust legends feature a man driven by a quest for power, Goethe's anti-hero is driven by a desire to know and understand himself and absolute truth.
The primary contribution of Goethe's Faust to existentialism is that it features a man struggling to understand existence. His devotion to who and what he is makes him a heroic figure. Understanding why mankind exists, and in what terms it exists, is important enough for Faust to risk damnation. This purity of purpose and being parallels Sartre's contention that the people who should be admired are those who hold true to their natures.
The "Prologue in Heaven" introducing Faust, Part One, sets the theme of the epic. When Mephistopheles, or Satan, enters the room of God, he finds three archangels singing the praises of God and His creations. Mephistopheles criticizes what he views as empty praise of an imperfect creation. When asked what is not perfect, Mephistopheles points out that after the Fall of Man, reason and intellect have made mankind miserable. After some debate, God and Mephistopheles make a wager that man will ultimately find redemption.
The object of the wager between the Lord and Satan is Faust, a scientist confounded by existence and his own alientation. If Faust does not find faith in creation, Satan may have his soul; otherwise Satan must admit that mankind will find redemption. In Goethe's epic, it is clear Mephistopheles, or Satan, is meant to test men, either proving that they are unworthy of Heaven or that they are indeed faithful to God and Truth.
In what many might view as a heresy, Faust's drive to understand universal truths is eventually rewarded, despite the consequences of his actions throughout the poem. In the final scene of Faust, the main character is about to be burried. While the devil and his demons wait to carry the soul of Faust away to Hell, angels appear to rescue Faust's soul and take it to Heaven.
Of course Satan argues that Faust and he made a deal, which gives him the right to Faust's soul. The angels counter that by seeking Truth Faust has proven himself worthy of mercy. Though he dies without faith in himself or the existence of universal truth, Faust is accepted into Heaven by God.