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Chloe Reuter

Brother Wells

ENG 373

6 April 2022

The Doctrine of Prayer in Doctor Faustus

There are multiple reasons that people believe that Doctor Faustus was not able to repent

in the play Doctor Faustus. There are some that believe that it is due to the contract with the

devil that Faustus made to sell his soul for power. Calvinists believe that it is because of their

doctrine that no one is able to determine where they go in the afterlife; only God decides what

happens to everyone. Therefore, Faustus would not have been able to change his fate if he

wanted to do so, according to Calvinism. However, there are hints from characters and the theme

of the play that speak to a different message about Faustus’s doom. Despite other opinions about

why Faustus wasn’t able to repent, the real reason is that Faustus would not pray more than once

in one sitting, which is against what the Bible states about prayer.

There are a few different times where Faustus tries to cry for repentance to God and it

doesn’t work out for him. The first occurrence is in Act 2, scene 3, which is when Faustus calls

out to God after asking Mephistopheles some questions that make him nervous. The Good Angel

is one of the first characters to tell Faustus that if he does pray, he will be able to repent and

escape his fate of going to hell at the end of his life. Once Faustus is convinced and tries to pray,

Lucifer is the one who appears instead, who says to him “Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is

just. / There’s none but I have interest in the same” (Marlowe 78). Satan is basically saying that

Faustus will not be redeemed because he has already claimed his soul, so there’s nothing he can

do about it. Faustus is quickly manipulated by the devil and promises the him that he “vows
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never to look to heaven” in the future, despite this instance not being the last time that he

attempts to do so (Marlowe 78). As it can be seen, Faustus is struggling with what he wants.

Most of the time, Faustus is set on being power-hungry with the strength of the devil, but he also

has the same intense desire to not be doomed to hell. This creates a lot of stress and struggle

within Faustus’s soul. He does not allow his stronger desire of going to heaven to get the better

of him because of his belief in misconceptions about God and his mercy.

Another similar event is when the Old Man also urges Faustus to repent, and when

Faustus promises to do so, he says to himself, “Accursed Faustus, where is mercy now? / I do

repent; and yet I do despair: / Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast: / What shall I do

to shun the snares of death?” (Marlowe 114). He doesn’t even try to repent this time because he

is so convinced that there is absolutely nothing that he can do about it. Contrary to what two

characters have told him so far about repentance, Faustus hasn’t been successful in reaching God

once using prayer. He is also confused by his inner turmoil that causes him to want power or

heaven in certain instances. Lastly, Faustus is encouraged to pray to God by the three scholars,

and so they leave the room where Faustus awaits his impending doom. In his attempt to repent,

Faustus says this: “Yet will I call on him. O, spare me, Lucifer. / Where is it now? ‘Tis gone”

(Marlowe 120). Instead of calling out to Christ, Faustus is only able to utter the name of the devil

and ask that he saves him. Afterwards, Faustus sees the last bit of mercy that was being offered

to him vanish. Faustus’s inability to receive the redemption that is being offered to him can be

explained first with the religious influence of the author of the play.

Christopher Marlowe does not make his religious opinions very apparent in Doctor

Faustus. For this reason, the themes of the play are always interpreted in different ways. In his

thesis for the article “Damnation in ‘Doctor Faustus’: Theological Strip Tease and the Histrionic
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Hero,” David Webb states this: “…I shall argue that…teasingly, the play flaunts a number of

possible reasons why Faustus might be damned, yet never allows the audience the satisfaction of

certainty…” (31). It is because of Marlowe’s “teasing” that there are so many different takes on

why Faustus could not repent. An interesting perspective of Doctor Faustus that is not explored

enough is that Faustus may have never been damned. Of course, the scene where he signs his

soul over to the devil makes Faustus’s decision seem irreversible. However, there are many times

throughout the story where Faustus is encouraged to repent so that he can be saved. He never

does this, but the fact such hints about prayer and repentance are included throughout the story

emphasizes that Faustus had the power to change his fate, despite the popular Calvinist views of

Marlowe’s time.

Marlowe’s critique of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination in Doctor Faustus was a

reflection of how the doctrine was treated in real life. In the article “John Calvin and Doctor

Faustus,” the author, Pauline Honderich says this about how church leaders treated the doctrine

of predestination: “On the whole, they dealt with this by paying lip-service to the theory of

predestination while continuing to advise and instruct man on his duty to his neighbour, his state,

and God, with the implication that his conduct here would have some effect on his ultimate

salvation” (4). Basically, they knew that the doctrine was confusing when compared to other

sources of truth, such as the Bible. So, they would try to balance both doctrines, but it comes

across as ingenuine, which was the belief that Marlowe was pushing in Doctor Faustus’s

message. The article continues on to say that “Marlowe…was thoroughly versed in Calvinist

theology” and that “religion remained a subject of the deepest importance to him for the rest of

his life” (Honderich 5). Marlowe was very interested in religion, but also had some differing

thoughts about certain Calvinist doctrines. This is shown in Doctor Faustus because there are
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many hints given to Faustus that he can repent at any time and be saved, but he is never able to

do so. This more so aligns with the predestination belief because it seemed like Faustus couldn’t

be saved, no matter how hard he tried. However, according to the Bible, this couldn’t be any

further from the truth.

The Bible says something very different about repentance versus what Calvinism says. It

may be a Calvinist belief that Faustus could not change his fate, but that cannot be said for the

original source of all Christianity, which is the Bible. The basic belief of prayer can be found in

James 1:5, which says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men

liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” This verse clearly promises to everyone

that prays to God that they will receive the answer or help that they need. Therefore, why doesn’t

Faustus receive that same help from God? Is there only an exception for Faustus? The answer to

why Faustus’s experience seems to be different can be found in the following verse in the Bible:

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven

with the wind and tossed” (James 1:6). As we can see from the story, Faustus was always

wavering. The story starts out with Faustus essentially rejecting the words of the Bible, but then

quickly prays to God to help him escape from his contract with the devil. He goes back and forth

like this for almost the entire story. Also, he immediately becomes discouraged whenever devils

come instead of God after he prays. A part of being “unwavering” is not giving up on reaching

God the first time you pray to him.

There is a parable that Christ tells in the Bible that gives counsel on how people, such as

Faustus, can receive answers or help in response to their prayers. In the parable, Jesus tells of a

woman who had been wronged. She goes to an “unjust” judge to seek justice, but because he is

unjust, he just sends her away. However, the woman keeps going back to him again and again, so
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the judge gets annoyed and finally grants her request. Faustus does not act like the woman of this

parable. He prays to God once, becomes discouraged by devils, and quickly gives up until he

tries again after many years. If he were to follow the example of the woman in the parable, his

request would be granted by the judge, or in Faustus’s case, God. The message of this parable is

this: “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear

long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily” (Luke 18:7-8). Basically, God

would have been willing to come to Faustus’s aid, it may have just been later than Faustus may

have wanted the help. Also, there is the fact that Faustus has been purposely going down the

wrong path and has even sold his soul to the devil, so he might have to pray a little more

fervently if he wants to make it up to Heavenly Father. The fact that Faustus was educated in

almost everything should have helped him to know how to repent, but he didn’t.

Faustus knew the Bible and its teachings, so he should have known that there was a way

to repent of what he had done. In scene 1 of Act 1, Faustus quotes a couple of scriptures in Latin

that he thinks speak hard truths that are beyond understanding. However, he purposely ignores

the words that follows these scriptures that help the doctrines make sense and would have helped

him to be more confident in his attempts at repentance. For example, he quotes one passage that

says, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). Faustus thinks that this is unreasonable

because everyone sins, but he doesn’t take note of what the rest of the verse says, which is this:

“…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The verse

teaches that people can be saved from death through Christ’s atonement, which saves people

from their sins. With this knowledge, Faustus would not have been so hopeless because of his

contract with the devil since he would know that his sins could be washed away. Another verse

that Faustus quotes is 1 John 1:8, which says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
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ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Yet, Faustus again does not pay any heed to the verse that

follows this one, which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Faustus’s ignorance of these important

truths about repentance and forgiveness is what keeps him in the dark when he prays to God. He

too quickly falters in the face of evil, when he could just as easily be forgiven of his sins if he

tried harder.

The message of Faustus’s ignorance of soul-saving doctrine is reiterated in the article

“The Religious Despair of Doctor Faustus” by Arieh Sachs. In the article, it says this: “…in the

spirit of Luther's statement that ‘God hates sin and the sinner; and necessarily; otherwise he

would be unrighteous and a lover of sin’ is surely the spirit of the play” (Sachs 626). This is what

Faustus thinks about himself and his relationship of God. He has forgotten the doctrine of

repentance, and so he has decided to believe in teachings that lack context. The article continues

on to say, “Faustus' loss of trust in personal salvation is explained by his conviction, reiterated

throughout, that God hates him. Paradoxically, it is precisely this conviction that does indeed

earn him God's hatred” (Sachs 626). Faustus’s newfound belief that God hates him originates

from his ignorance of the truths that are found in the Bible. This belief takes such a strong root in

Faustus, that he ends up wavering in the face of evil. He ends up reacting this way because he

feels like he is proving his own belief right whenever devils show up instead of God after he

prays. It reinforces his opinion about God, and it keeps him from getting back on the right path.

Faustus is unable to repent due to his resistance to the doctrine of praying fervently to

receive God’s grace. Christopher Marlowe purposely displayed this doctrine in Doctor Faustus

since it is a part of his critique on Calvinist beliefs and because it is a reflection of how the

doctrines of agency and predestination were often confused together in real life, much like how
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they are in the play. The Bible also supports the practice of praying to receive answers and help

from God, which Faustus ignored in the beginning of the play. This led to a false belief that God

was unwilling and unable to save Faustus. Regardless of the rigid views of predestination during

his time, Marlowe is effectively able to contest these views using the Bible’s doctrine of prayer

in Doctor Faustus.
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Works Cited

Honderich, Pauline. “John Calvin and Doctor Faustus.” The Modern Language Review, vol. 68,

no. 1, Modern Humanities Research Association, 1973, pp. 1–13,

https://doi.org/10.2307/3726198.

Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus. New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.

Sachs, Arieh. “The Religious Despair of Doctor Faustus.” The Journal of English and Germanic

Philology, vol. 63, no. 4, University of Illinois Press, 1964, pp. 625–47,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27714512.

The King James Version Bible. Intellectual Reserve, Inc, 2013.

WEBB, DAVID C. “Damnation in ‘Doctor Faustus’: Theological Strip Tease and the Histrionic

Hero.” Critical Survey, vol. 11, no. 1, Berghahn Books, 1999, pp. 31–47,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41556876.