Can a non-Christian sell his soul?
score:6
To sell something (legally), we have to own it. I believe that we have no ownership over our souls, disregarding of our religion beliefs. I beleave that we, our souls belongs to God, our Creator:
Ezekiel 18:4(NIV):
For everyone belongs to Me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to Me.
This opinion has confirmation in one of known purposes of our creation:
Colossians 1:16(NIV):
For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Also, Jesus Christ saved our souls from upon authority of sin and death:
Romans 6:20-23 (NIV):
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As a slaves (or servants) we cannot sell ourselves. While we are belonging to God, we have a choice of the way we want to live our lives, so it is similar to renting. I believe we are renting our soul or, rather, our Lord gave us our souls to rule temporarly, the same way as in parable about talents ( Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)) or parable about mines (Luke 19:12-27 (NIV)), see also wiki article.
While we cannot sell our soul, but we can destroy it by sins and by rejecting God.
Revelation 21:8 (NIV):
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars —they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Also, the other point of view on soul selling is living for the sake of wealth, serving to the Mammon:
Matthew 6:24 (NIV):
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Upvote:0
Answered in reference with deals with the devil
cf. Renewal of Baptismal Promises | Easter of the Resurrection of the LORD | Daily Roman Missal | According to the Roman Missal, Third edition
RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL PROMISES
Priest: Do you renounce Satan?
All: I do.
Priest: And all his works?
All: I do.
Priest: And all his empty show [promises]?
All: I do.
[...]
cf. also The Fall, and the Temptations of Jesus
It is not far-fetched that one can enter into a quid pro quo dialogue with, not only the devil, but with anyone else willing, as the question shows, and perhaps as we may have observed in the workplace.
Whether there is an actual binding transaction depends on the rightful owners [God first and foremost].
In the case of the devil, one may seem to get ahead for a while but it is a snare and a trap. Just ask the fallen angels and our first parents.
No need to go that far back. See @user14079: the promises of secret societies. There is increasing evidence that that's how some Nations are set up (cf.Ps 2: the collusion between the princes [fallen angels] and rulers).
The devil promises far more than he can deliver [our own experience shows], just as the priest reminds us, his promises are all empty.
Please see also the answer to Can a Person make a Pact with the Devil? by exorcist Fr. Fortea.
This should be chilling:
Pope Leo XIII’s Vision in 1884
Satan said, “I could destroy Your Church if I had the time, and more power over those who give themselves over to my service.” And then Pope Leo heard Christ to answer (sic), “You have the power, you have the time: 100 years.”
Upvote:4
What does it mean to "sell your soul"? It's not like I can hand someone my soul in a box in exchange for $20.
What does it mean to "own your soul"? The soul is generally understood to mean your true self, your mind, your personality. Do you "own your mind"? As opposed to what?
It's like saying that you offer to "sell your country". A traitor could give away valuable military secrets in wartime in exchange for cash. In that sense you could "sell your country".
From a Christian point of view, a Faustian deal to sell your soul to the Devil is possible in the sense that someone could make a deal with the Devil that he will not accept Christ in exchange for money, sex, etc in this life. I don't know if the Devil actually appears to people and literally makes such an offer, but clearly many people make exactly such a "deal" in a non-literal sense. Plenty of people reject Christ because they don't want to give up their sins. They say, "Hey, I like the pleasure I get from promiscous sex and drugs, I enjoy the money that I get from cheating and robbing people, etc. Accepting Christ would mean turning my back on that lifestyle, so no way am I going to accept this Christ stuff."
Upvote:19
I'm going to make an assertion here (and I would be very happy to be shown wrong, in which case I'll readily delete this): there is no Biblical support at all for the concept of soul selling (or indeed of any other kind of explicit pact). The entire notion is a non-scriptural invention, along with such things (now generally denounced) as limbo for non-baptised children.
Without any scriptural support, all that is left is human invention, exaggeration and fancifulness (bites tongue hard to avoid obvious additional comment). In the absence of any scriptural basis to an answer, one would have to assume
there is no basis to believe that anyone can sell their soul, or that any being is interested in purchasing it
(for the Christian meaning of "soul"). Any other answer would be pure speculation, or building upon traditions that are themselves based on pure speculation.
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