April 3, 2000
EDITORIAL:
What's the price of a human soul?
___Here's good news unless you're desperate for money: eBay, the colossal online auction agency, has decided not to allow people to sell their souls over the Internet.
___The issue arose recently when Adam Fox, 14, of Las Cruces, N.M., put his soul on the block. His soul stayed up for bid for 10 days and went for $5, USA Today reported. Fox wasn't alone. Sterling Jones, 18, of Ontario, Calif., also offered his soul and received bids up to $20.50, according to The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif.
___"I'm selling my soul! Cheap!" Fox's eBay posting said. "I need money fast, so I'm selling my soul. For a low price, you get a piece of paper saying you own my soul. You get the paper only. Shipping is free! Bid now, I need money!"
___Fox treated the sale of his soul as a joke, according to Religion News Service, which noted he got the idea from an episode of "The Simpsons" sitcom, when Bart Simpson sold his soul.
___However, eBay took the matter more seriously, RNS added. In addition to Fox's soul sale, eBay pulled Jones' posting.
___Jones received notification eBay won't lend its services to soul-sellers, RNS said. In an e-mail, he was told, "eBay does not allow the auctioning of human souls for the following reasons: If the soul does not exist, eBay could not allow the auctioning of a soul, because there would be nothing to sell. However, if the soul does exist, then, in accordance with eBay's policy on human parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls."
___Kevin Pursglove, an eBay spokesman, told The Press-Enterprise: "You have to be in a position to deliver what you sell. ... We will leave the existence of the soul to the theologians."
___While few Baptists are likely to call themselves theologians, we most likely could achieve a consensus on the existence of souls. So, we could score one for eBay, which made a correct decision, even if based on somewhat faulty reasoning.
___Electronic commerce aside, attempts by Fox and Jones to sell their souls place these young men at the end of a long, angst-ridden line. The temptation to sell one's soul is as old as humanity itself. Adam and Eve sold their souls for a bogus chance to know the unknowable. Esau sold his soul for a bowl of beans. In the wilderness, Satan tempted the fully divine yet wholly human Jesus to in effect trade his soul for sustenance, glory and power. This temptation is not confined the Bible. From "Faust" to "Damn Yankees" to "Indecent Proposal," artists have explored this most human of temptations.
___How does soul-selling work, anyway? Obviously, it doesn't require electronic commerce, or we wouldn't have heard of it until recently. We sell our souls when we supplant God's will for our lives with our own. And the tricky angle is this: The greatest temptations appear positive, not evil.
___When Satan tempted Jesus, he offered outcomes that initially seemed good--food after a fast, an opportunity to demonstrate divine splendor, the power to rule. Yet Jesus refused, because he understood his mandate encompassed much more than immediate gratification, prestige and followers.
___Today, Satan tempts most creatively with "good" lures. People have traded their souls for family togetherness, productive jobs, financial security, even relationships. Currency for soul-selling can include acceptance, church growth and denominational standing. The most insidious evil is perverted good, and Satan knows this. That's why temptation is so strong; it tugs and distorts our best inclinations and highest aspirations.
___Fortunately, we may look to a model for our response. Jesus knew what to do when he faced the most seductive temptations of history. He was prepared because he spent time in fasting and prayer, and he knew the Scriptures. He trumped temptation with a higher calling--God's claim on his life.
___May we not sell our souls for any price. Let us give them freely to God.
___ --Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
Send this story to a friend
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!