Works of literature are often layered and may require close attention to discover their depth and complexity. With respect to Doctor Faustus I will show his valid views.

Doctor Faustus being a Christian play depicts a Christians understanding of sin. In Christianity, a sin is a conscious act that is contrary to the will of God. When Faustus made his decision to sell his soul to Lucifer he knew that he was renouncing his affiliation with the kingdom of God and pledging his alliance with the Devil. He knowingly gave up his gift of eternal life for a life of eternal damnation. But the question remains if he really believed it or not. Would God really turn his back on him? After all, Jesus is the redeemer of all sin. His death on the cross with the shedding of his blood is the promise of forgiveness of all sin and the promise of everlasting life. Can it be that Faustus was testing the almighty as he tests us? Faustus many times throughout the play is visited by the good angels who encourage him to turn away from his sinful ways and come back to God but the evil angel is on his other shoulder convincing him of his desire for his own pleasure. At times, he desires a pure life but it doesn't come to pass. We all make choices on a daily basis in our lives and it is the choices we make that determines the kind of life we will live and how successful or unsuccessful we will become. God did give us the gift of total forgiveness through the death of his son Jesus but we do not have to accept this gift. Or we can accept it and walk with The Lord in our life or we can accept it at one point and choose not to keep it. That is our prerogative in life. To live a sinless life is not easy in this world as we all have a carnal nature. It is our choice and our self discipline that keeps us in Gods good graces. This is not always easy as our selfishness sometimes gets the better of us as it did with Faustus. We are taught right from wrong but we have a choice to do it one way or the other. Faustus was taught right and chose wrong. He knew better than most that if he sold his soul to Lucifer that he would be banned from the gates of heaven but he didn't care at the time. His pride was stronger than his conscious.

Being the beginning of the renaissance movement in the 15th century, which put an emphasis on individuality as opposed to the current medieval era of theology thinking, Faustus embraced his rebellious nature. He cast aside the logic of Aristotle, the medical knowledge of Galen, the laws of the Byzantine emperor and the religion of the Bible for a quest for new knowledge, wealth and power. Individuality replaced tradition and authority in his world. He wanted no limitations, traditions or authority on his life. We can certainly relate to this type of behavior in our world today but back then it was considered an abomination to God. Before receiving his magical powers from Lucifer, Faustus had big aspirations of becoming wealthy, remaking the map of Europe, forging foreword and learning new Knowledge about the world and universe. He is almost heroic by nature with no evilness in his ambitions. People who dare to dream and follow their heart with their passions in life are the ones who generally tend to become successful in society today. Thinking outside the box and being an independent thinker is considered to be an asset to many companies and these same qualities that Faustus portrayed are admirable in our world.

After selling his soul to Lucifer and sealing the deal for his 24 years of limitless power, he seemed to have lost his aspirations for the future and everything he set out to accomplish went by the side. His vision became much dimmer and his world became much smaller. He becomes much like that of a jokester, playing tricks on common people for the delight of noblemen. Somehow when he reached his fullest potential he lost his way. Faustus never changed the universe like he dreamed he would and he never left his mark on the world. This can be interpreted as the fact that the powers given from Lucifer are limited and only the powers from God can be limitless. Faustus never rose to a level of true wickedness but simply lived a life of meaningless petty bullying. He never accomplished any marvelous works that would be a significance to anyone, not even himself. Was this worth the price he would pay for eternal damnation? He was given many opportunities to repent and be forgiven but because of his foolish pride he was unable to do so. This play was a power struggle between goon and evil and of the tormenting of a mind and soul. Faustus was tormented by his decision to turn his back on God but too proud to admit it and ask for forgiveness. Eternal damnation was and is the price of human pride.

Faustus idolized Mephistophilis and the fact that he was Lucifer’s right hand man. When Faustus questioned Mephistophilis about why he's on earth his response was that hell is on earth too. The minds and souls of people are not only tormented in eternal hell but hell is a state of being that anyone can fall into. It's the struggle between good and evil. It's the decisions we make everyday. We all have a good angel on one shoulder and a bad one on the other. We have fee will to choose who we will listen to. The play is full of supernatural beings like angels, devils, dragons and black magic. Faustus chose to befriend only the evil spirits until the end. "Sweet friends what shall become of Faustus being in hell forever" as Faustus spoke to the scholars who came to him at the end and throughout the play for him to repent. He was now considering them his sweet friends and Mephistophillis his bewitching friend who robbed him of eternal happiness.

"One drop of blood from Jesus will save me". He now recognized the power of Christ shedding his blood on the cross for all mankind. But, it was too late for Faustus. He had tested God one too many times. "Fools that laugh on earth must weep in hell". Faustus had laughed for 24 years at the expense of other peoples misfortunes. He didn't care about the feelings of others as long as it made him feel good about himself. Many people who feel inferior to others often display this type of behavior today. They think that belittling others will make them look more appealing in the eyes of many. What foolish pride they have in thinking so. Faustus said, " Oh, I have seen enough to torcher me." He didn't feel he needed to actually enter into hell as he was suffering enough with the knowledge of his poor choices in his life. Lucifer’s response was, " thou must feel and taste hell". The punishment must fit the crime. Faustus had committed the ultimate crime according to the Protestants of that time and eternal damnation would be his eternal penalty. He had committed all of the 7 deadly sins, pride, covetousness, envy, wrath, gluttony, sloth and lechery. According to Protestants belief this human pride equals eternal damnation. The biggest mistake made by Faustus was not revealing to the scholars that he actually sold his soul to Lucifer and signed his name with his blood. The scholars mentioned that if they had known this, they would have prayed for him. If only Faustus weren't so proud.

Throughout this play there are layers of hidden meanings that are complex and require special attention to discover. One must read between the lines and understand the perspectives of all the characters involved.