The Modern Mephistopheles
Magic, the Devil, and of course our Lord Jesus were big some 400 years ago. The woods were believed to be full of spirits, many of them evil; the churches were packed with the faithful; and the Devil was perceived to be everywhere, busy trying to lure the good into sin and damnation. Christ and his angels were our sole protectors against Satan and his infernal kingdom.
The Devil did not play fair, needless to say. He did not always appear with horns and fire-spitting breath, but transformed himself into anything and anybody in order to lure his pray down under. Tales of unmitigated horrors that befell the simpleminded were a dime a dozen, told and retold around fires, in schoolrooms, even from pulpits. I suppose that is how the Faust legend began. I always thought it was Christopher Marlowe, a very talented drunk homosexual barroom brawler, who invented Doctor Faustus at the end of the 16th century. Actually, the Faustian myth began in earlier times, in Germany, where tales of necromancy and sorcery were popular heretical choices. In Marlowe’s play, Faustus has a doctorate from a university but is bored with the academic stand
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.