Is it possible to sell one's soul?

[LP4H]

I’ve been wondering about this lately (see my other thread). Would it be possible to actually ones soul to satan, and if someone somehow succeeded, would it be possible to regain it? I thought that all souls belong to God, and he judges them accordingly after we die. What about satanists who convert to Christianity (praise God!)? I’d figure that if and when someone realizes what they have done (or have tried to do), Jesus would reach in and rescue them, wouldn’t he? Is this idea simply the product of fiction “” The Devil and tom Jones", etc.)?

 

[Rawb]

I had friends in French class in High School who would go onto Ebay and see what kind of weird stuff they could find. Human Souls were always interesting, because some people would actually sell you some sort of jewel, some would write “soul” on a piece of paper, and some would give you an empty bottle, so the packaging was always interesting. I told my friends that if they bought one I’d get it baptised. They didn’t think it would work.

We never did learn French.

I don’t think you can really sell your soul to Satan (or bored kids in French class, even if they’d baptise them), though to attempt to do so is a mortal sin.

 

[Liberian]

LP4H,

Given that your soul is not your own any more than your body is (you find yourself in it without having been consulted; you are generally not consulted regarding its makeup and attributes; and you are shuffled out of it generally against your will), you really can’t sell it. If you were baptized, your soul belongs to God (as Paul said, “you were bought with a price”). If you were not baptized, then your soul already belongs to the devil. Either way it’s not yours to sell.

• Liberian

 

[Bulldog]

There answered that question on Ask an Apologist: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=41305

 

[LP4H]

I see. Kind of what I figured, it’s your soul, but it belongs to God, if that makes any sense. Thanks guys!

 

[Hastrman]

The difficulty is that it’s a buyer’s market.

Seriously, though, it’s not so much that one literally sells one’s soul, as that one swears allegiance to Satan. The idea of selling one’s soul like a side of beef is very recent, and largely Protestant. Older views, mostly expressed in art, consist in saying, “Evil, be thou my good!” Satanism is an attempt, via doing the vilest thing one can think of, to achieve power and mastery over the will. Real Satanists, not those Church of Satan posers, actually regard doing evil as a duty, in the same way a normal person, even an atheist, regards doing good.