do you know anyone who's sold or given their soul to the devil?

[Tom Sawyer]

Which God would that be? The Christian God - Yahweh or El Elyon (who may be Yahweh's father)? Or would it be Jesus direct? Or does it count if you go to Allah? Sorry if it sounds like I'm nitpicking - it's just having studied a little, it's so bloody confusing (!), and I would like to be able to say something definite and helpful to the person I know who did this.

Tell him that souls are fictional and so is the devil, so he didn't really do anything and he is, quite literally, worrying over absolutely nothing.

If that doesn't work, tell him he can get his soul back by covering his eyes and reciting the Lord's Prayer three times while jumping around in a circle. They mention it towards the back of the Bible.

 

[Angry Floof]

For those that believe selling or giving a soul away is possible, do you know how you can get it back??

Yeah, you get it back by recognizing that you were mistaken in believing it could be given away or sold in the first place.

Your conscience, on the other hand, can be given away or sold and people do that all the time, usually for power or through religious indoctrination.

 

[braces_for_impact]

Wasn't it the Friendly Atheist that sold his on ebay? He doesn't seem inconvenienced.

 

[Bronzeage]

I know of someone who has and it affected them psychologically quite badly. Have you or do you know of anyone who has?

Yeah, me. I have sold my soul to The Devil. It's awesome!

If you want it back, I found it in a thrift store last February. It's a little grimey, but still serviceable.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Just tell God you fucked up, he'll void your contract with Satan and foreclose on His soul that's currently in your body.

Which God would that be? The Christian God - Yahweh or El Elyon (who may be Yahweh's father)?

That's too much detail. Most people who practice selling souls are going to be part of the JCI tradition and pretend that God's history doesn't go further back than the Old Testament.

Or would it be Jesus direct?

Well, he IS the nice one.
Ultimately, whoever you think will accept the 'I fucked up, sorry' prayer.

Or does it count if you go to Allah?

I wasn't aware of a muslim tradition of selling souls to Shaitan?
But if you think Allah can help, ask him.

I would like to be able to say something definite and helpful to the person I know who did this.

To be honest, I think they're suffering psychosomatic effects and the best you can offer is a placebo, so i'd couch it in terms they're predisposed to accept. If they think God can help, fine. Jesus, The Virgin Mary, the Apostle Paul, Saint Cuthbert, Saint Ignatz, the Jumping Jews of Jerusalem, whoever.
I would definitely go with the 'God already owns your soul so the contract is invalid' line of hope from the Bedazzled remake. In the original movie, the plot resolution and Dudley Moore's rescue depended on Satan's arrogance. Not something your friend can count on.
Satan would just lie about the validity of the contract on the assumption that they'd lose all hope of salvation and start acting in a way that'll get them damned, anyway.

Go to church, express repentance, try to live a good life from here on, no more demons, devils or telemarketers.

 

[Angry Floof]

Yeah, me. I have sold my soul to The Devil. It's awesome!

If you want it back, I found it in a thrift store last February. It's a little grimey, but still serviceable.

Nah, I don't want it. If you can shine it up a bit and sell it, go for it.

 

[Potoooooooo]

Miss Piggy did, but she was unhappy with the deal

 

[crispy]

For those that believe selling or giving a soul away is possible, do you know how you can get it back??

Tell you what, Im willing to trade in my soul for 20000$ to make an even deal with the devil to get your friends soul back. If the devils thinks the trade is a hassle and he's got no interest, throw in another 1000$ the deal with him, that way he also gets something.

I am willing to send my soul in advance, and Ive actually already sent it to his hollow shell to be held when the trade with the devil is done, but you are welcome to send my share now.

 

[Bronzeage]

If you want it back, I found it in a thrift store last February. It's a little grimey, but still serviceable.

Nah, I don't want it. If you can shine it up a bit and sell it, go for it.

I'll probably make it into a lamp.

That's what I did with last year with my virginity, after an old girlfriend found it under the sofa in her mother's house.

 

[Atheos]

One interesting facet about selling shit is that shit doesn't have to exist in order for someone to sell it. Christianity has sold "Heaven" for 10% of one's income for centuries with great success. Con rackets remain highly profitable, requiring little else besides one's ability to convince someone that they can become owner of something they cannot see, but which they need to act on quickly as it's a limited time offer and someone else might snatch it up.

I've never personally known of anyone who attempted to sell their soul, but I can imagine that if one actually believed they had a soul to sell and had conducted a transaction that would leave their soul in an inescapable and unpleasant plight it could be a debilitating bit of emotional baggage to live with. At least even the worst prognosis such as terminal cancer has a terminus. Ostensibly this sort of arrangement would not.

Unless, of course, god were to win your soul back on a busted flush.

 

[RavenSky]

That doesn't mean that it's the only place to get patience from.
Satan is immortal with eternity to play with.
Outsmarting a mayfly by outliving it isn't that difficult to imagine.

- - - Updated - - -

Watch Bedazzled.
The Devil buys Brendan's soul, but God points out that you cannot sell your soul. It doesn't belong to you in the first place.
Just tell God you fucked up, he'll void your contract with Satan and foreclose on His soul that's currently in your body.

Which God would that be? The Christian God - Yahweh or El Elyon (who may be Yahweh's father)? Or would it be Jesus direct? Or does it count if you go to Allah? Sorry if it sounds like I'm nitpicking - it's just having studied a little, it's so bloody confusing (!), and I would like to be able to say something definite and helpful to the person I know who did this.

Interesting choice of board to be asking for this type of advice.

 

[Atheos]

That's sort of what I was thinking.

 

[Angry Floof]

Nah, I don't want it. If you can shine it up a bit and sell it, go for it.

I'll probably make it into a lamp.

That's what I did with last year with my virginity, after an old girlfriend found it under the sofa in her mother's house.

 

[Atheos]

I'll probably make it into a lamp.

That's what I did with last year with my virginity, after an old girlfriend found it under the sofa in her mother's house.

So did she think you'd lost your virginity to her mother? Might change the dynamic.

 

[Bronzeage]

So did she think you'd lost your virginity to her mother? Might change the dynamic.

No, I think she knew where it was all along.

 

[TV and credit cards]

For those that believe selling or giving a soul away is possible, do you know how you can get it back??

I think all you have to do is go to church and get saved. If a soul is not detected, a Soul Checksum Error is generated and you receive a new clean soul in the process.
Then tell your friend he owes you a pizza.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Interesting choice of board to be asking for this type of advice.

Makes sense to me. You want knowledgable people who aren't CARM.

it was there, or maybe Rapture Ready? Some Christain board, someone had been in a car accident and prayed to anyone he could think of to help him survive. Wasn't sure who helped him, but feared he may owe a favor to Satan.

Half the people that responded said he was going to go to Hell and deserved it for being an idiot and no amount of fear or pain would be forgiven.
The other half was scattered between people offering help if he converted to their denomination, people correcting his theology (Satan doesn't help people, EVER, you dumb fuck, so if you're alive it wasn't by his hand), and people saying he might as well have prayed to Allah (or Zeus, or Tinkerbell, or Kon Tiki) because simply asking for help without offering something was a sin.

 

[Kharakov]

Which God would that be? The Christian God - Yahweh or El Elyon (who may be Yahweh's father)? Or would it be Jesus direct? Or does it count if you go to Allah? Sorry if it sounds like I'm nitpicking - it's just having studied a little, it's so bloody confusing (!), and I would like to be able to say something definite and helpful to the person I know who did this.

Interesting choice of board to be asking for this type of advice.

I've got analytic stalkers. I just googled hell.com and sell your soul 2 days ago because abaddon's name reminded me of doing so years ago. Anyway, the wiki entry on hell.com no longer has any report of the "sell your soul" portion of the site. I was trying to remember the name of the demon I had souled my soul to, so I was poking around.

It's not too shocking that someone just started an account here and brought it up in other words.

Ohh, and I think it was Asmodeus, who was mentioned in the thread, so thanks analytic inter tubes.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38587?msg=welcome_stranger

 

[One]

Which God would that be? The Christian God - Yahweh or El Elyon (who may be Yahweh's father)? Or would it be Jesus direct? Or does it count if you go to Allah? Sorry if it sounds like I'm nitpicking - it's just having studied a little, it's so bloody confusing (!), and I would like to be able to say something definite and helpful to the person I know who did this.

The way to dissolve this type of religious construct is to reverse the circumstances or ritual done when your friend made said deal. This also involves confronting the object of their desire that was worth the price of their soul.

The mind is an endless set of scales and balances. It will not let go of such a bargain until the psyche has been adequately satisfied that this act will do them no more harm. Until this is achieved, every instance of happenstance will be attributed to the original incident.

Often, people that begin to have detrimental side effects after such a bargain - mental, phyisical and ripple effects in the external world - will go to all sorts of lengths to alleviate their suffering. That is a warning for you as much as your friend.

I can advise further, but reqire more details - Specifically the type of religious base your friend operates within and details of the deal itself. Doing this sort of thing for a Catholic is not the same for a Pentecostal or a Buddhist, for example.

 

[bilby]

Um...yeah. Asmodeus is a king of demons mostly known from the deutero-canonical Book of Tobit, in which he is the primary antagonist. He was supposed by some Renaissance Christians to be the King of the Nine Hells. Asmodeus also is referred to as one of the seven princes of Hell. Asmodeus is the demon of lust and is therefore responsible for twisting people's sexual desires.

I've never heard of anyone offering their soul to so many before!!

Well, he was trying to make the point that as a REAL atheist, he didn't believe in any of the gods, demigods, demons, devils or other supernatural assholes of the various traditions.
And alcohol may have been involved.

Well, there you have it. He had already sold his soul to Alcohol, before he got to Asmodeus alphabetically; and I can assure you that Alcohol is one of the nicer deities, but can nevertheless cause psychosis and suffering for those who are his most committed followers.