Predestination Vs. Free Will

While reading the play Dr. Faustus, I wondered whether or not Dr. Faustus was predestined to become damned, or if by his free will, he had damned himself. This idea goes along with the #8 socratic seminar question from Dr. Faustus. The themes of free will and predestination are a large factor in this play, and depending on the individual views of each reader, Dr. Faustus could have been predestined for damnation, or have become damned through his own free will.

I learned about predestination in European History class early in the school year. While we learned about the Catholic Church, we focused on the predestined views of John Calvin, who was an important leader during the Reformation. The idea of predestination is formed around the idea that God chooses whether you will go to heaven, or be damned to hell at your birth, and no amount of good deeds or any other means can change God's decision. Free will on the other hand, is the belief that you decide your own fate based on your individual actions, be it good or bad. In our society today, the general population, me included, believe in free will, that each of the actions we choose either lead us in the path towards salvation or damnation.

In the play Dr. Faustus, Dr. Faustus sells his soul to the Devil in order to gain more knowledge than God intended human beings to have. This in my opinion is Dr. Faustus' point of no return. In my opinion, thinking about gaining more knowledge, and actually making a deal with the Devil in order to be more knowledgable than intended are different things entirely. The act of selling his soul resulting in Dr. Faustus' eternal damnation relates to the idea of free will. The choice that Dr. Faustus made is what causes him to be damned to hell, he was not predestined to become a person to trifle with the Devil and become damned.

Personally I believe in free will, not predestination. God does have the power to choose the people he saves, but I do not believe that at an infant's birth it can be damned to hell. When we discussed this idea in European History, I immediately disliked the idea, feeling that good deeds and faith should be able to save anyone (unless of course they are similar to Dr. Faustus and make a deal with the Devil in order to gain knowledge equal to God). Dr. Faustus in my opinion could not be saved because he made a deal with the Devil and signed over his soul. Dr. Faustus' strong desire to become more knowledgable that God had intended led him to the damnable deal with the Devil.