Can a person give their soul away?

[MysteryMama]

Another thread here got me thinking about this.

Say if in your rebellious teenage years you gave your soul to devil. Or if you sold your soul on ebay. Or something similar, and you REALLY meant it at the time. Does this mean you don't have a soul anymore? Or that upon death it will go satan or whoever? Can a person who's used their own soul as a bargaining chip regret it later and be saved?

[kay4]

Originally Posted by MysteryMama

Another thread here got me thinking about this.

Can a person who's used their own soul as a bargaining chip regret it later and be saved?

YES YES YES!! Absolutely.

[Ravin]

I absolutely think it can be taken back. Not that it would necessarily be an easy thing to do.

[zinemama]

I don't get it. You mean you believe it is actually possible for a person to literally "sell" his soul? You're not talking about selling out or betraying religious upbringing, but a literal transaction: soul for cash?

How would that work? In popular culture, the devil comes along and offers cash for a person's soul, i.e. "The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal...etc." I've never heard of any entity but the devil buying a person's soul. Is that what we're talking about? Someone on ebay claiming to be the devil? Would anyone believe that? I'm so confused.

[Bluegoat]

Is our soul really ours to sell? If we make some kind of deal with the devil, and then behave in a non-devilish way, have we lived up to our end of that bargain?

In any case, I guess a person can pledge their soul to Satan. That would mean it was his to use in some way, even, perhaps, during the person's life. But I think repenting of that deal would be successful - the soul belongs to God, and Satan is ultimately under his power.

Of course, one would have to accept the consequences of that change - whatever benefit came from the deal might well be lost.

I don't hear much there days about people making deals where they actually communicate directly with demons, and receive clear benefits. Like Faustus, who asked for special powers and wisdom, after talking with Mephistopheles and pledging his soul.

But people do decide to pursue things despite the moral questions - the person who strives for success in business despite illegality or immoral behavior, the person who buys a kidney from the third world to save himself, or any other person who is prepared to sacrifice others for their own benifit. All of that is much like selling one's soul, to my mind.

But repentance is always an option, unless they have gone so far down that road they can no longer desire that.

[hrsmom]

I don't think a person can really give their soul away.

[pauletoy]

I agree with the pp.

I believe repentence is aways an option if you choose to seek it.

[DahliaRW]

Originally Posted by pauletoy

I agree with the pp.

I believe repentence is aways an option if you choose to seek it.

:

[PlayaMama]

Originally Posted by zinemama

I've never heard of any entity but the devil buying a person's soul. Is that what we're talking about? Someone on ebay claiming to be the devil? Would anyone believe that? I'm so confused.

::

the ebay thing kind of got me too. i mean, wouldn't selling your soul on e-bay HAVE to be a joke? right?

[Sailor]

I suppose this would depend on what religion you are, and which religion (if any) is true in the end. There are, after all, quite a few religions that do not believe in the devil or in the concept of hell. So, no soul transactions in those.

And then there's atheism ... which, according to my Catholic grandmother IS selling your soul to the devil. Something she tells me each time we speak.

I think, generally, though every religion has a forgiveness clause. If you genuinely repent in the end, you're forgiven.

[Panserbjorne]

Holy carp. That ebay thing CRACKED me up, but I'll tell you something. I wouldn't do it for a million bucks, as amusing as it might be. It gives me an uh oh feeling.

I'm also not really certain as a PP mentioned that our soul is really ours to sell. It's an interesting question, to be sure. However I will also get on board with the "repentance, so long as you mean it is always an option" train.

[MysteryMama]

Thanks everyone for your insights. I'm not exactly sure what I think about this, but I wanted to hear what everyone else thought. I think I agree that the soul isn't really ours to sell, or that if it is it may be harder to actually sell than you think. Like you might have to be a skilled sorcerer of sorts.

[tikva18]

I can't imagine. That must be like say, selling your heart. Your soul is an intrinsic part of you. How could you live without it?

[Bluegoat]

What about selling one's soul for a mess of pottage?

[zinemama]

I thought pottage was only good for buying firstborn birthrights.

[EviesMom]

I believe in the soul. I don't believe in the devil or hell, except as constructs of one's own soul; like if one honestly believes oneself worthy of hell, one can send oneself there for some amount of time.

I don't think you can "give away" nor "sell" your soul anymore than you can "give away" your brain or your lungs. I imagine it *could* be done, but the resulting person would be non-functioning as a human being, brain-dead, or similar. I suppose if that happened, someone could buy the soul back, or give it back, etc. and then the person would regain regular human consciousness. In the meanwhile, I've no idea what anyone, living or not, would do with a soul without a body... I don't think "owning" it would mean someone/thing could order it to do things, it wouldn't "work" for anyone else. Much like giving away a brain or lungs, they're fairly useless to anyone else.

[tikva18]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat

What about selling one's soul for a mess of pottage?

That wasn't his soul that he sold, it was his birthright - to the inheritance and everything else that the firstborn would get.

[Hey Mama!]

I don't believe you can sell/give away your soul because I feel it's not ours to give. Our body and mind do not own the soul, they are merely vessels for the soul to use in this lifetime.

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by tikva18

That wasn't his soul that he sold, it was his birthright - to the inheritance and everything else that the firstborn would get.

Yes, but to "sell one's soul for a mess of pottage" is a common saying, which is why I thought of it. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a paraphrase or it's a translation issue.

Although there is the idea that our soul is equivalent to who and what we are - and one's birthright was at one time seen in much the same way, though we don't tend to think of it that way now.

So perhaps the idea is that to give up who you are and are meant to be is selling your soul.

[tikva18]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat

Yes, but to "sell one's soul for a mess of pottage" is a common saying, which is why I thought of it. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a paraphrase or it's a translation issue.

Although there is the idea that our soul is equivalent to who and what we are - and one's birthright was at one time seen in much the same way, though we don't tend to think of it that way now.

So perhaps the idea is that to give up who you are and are meant to be is selling your soul.

I've never heard that before. And to quote Shakespeare... I guess the point is... "to thine own self be true".