Yes, as you can imagine, Hell is big on paperwork and bureaucracy in general. Robert Johnson — The undisputed master of the Delta Blues is rumored to have met the devil at the crossroads to bargain for his soul. Johnson got his wish and became a famous bluesman, but died at only 27 years of age. Expert Advice: Take a trip to the Delta and look for the devil at the crossroads. Jonathan Moulton — Revolutionary War hero Brigadier General Jonathan Moulton took trolling to an epic level when he sold his soul for an agreement that the devil would fill his boots with gold every day.
Unafraid to try the father of lies at his own game, Moulton cut the soles out of his boots and placed them on the top of his chimney. You might as well try to pull one over on him. The rumors dogged him until the day he died — and after. Following his death in , the Catholic church in Genoa refused to give him a Christian burial. Is there any truth to his association with Satan? Just clear everything up with your priest, first. Theophilus of Adana? He hired a necromancer to summon the devil, who offered Theophilus a position as a bishop in the church in exchange for his soul.
Theophilus signed a contract in blood and was promoted shortly thereafter. He took the contract to another bishop and asked for his help. Another common trope is that the devil rarely engages in trickery when it comes to entering into contracts for souls. Occasionally, Setear found, the devil will honor the letter, but not the spirit of the contract.
A episode of "The Twilight Zone," for example, tells the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for immortality, figuring that the devil will never get to collect. They sign the contract, and the man becomes immortal but soon finds himself sentenced to life in prison and facing a tedious lifetime of eternity behind bars.
The man begs for death, and the devil grants his wish. The devil rarely reneges on the contract, Setear said. In fact, the mortal in the story is much more likely to violate the deal. In some versions of Faust, for example, Faust renounces the devil and escapes the contract at the end of the story. Rising second-year law student Ian Duffy helped Setear research the project during the first half of the summer. Duffy, who is working at the Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney's office for the second half of the summer, said his favorite example of a contract with the devil is a "Saturday Night Live" skit in which Garth Brooks, playing an average songwriter, laments out loud that he would sell his soul to the devil for a hit tune.
Will Ferrell, as a guitar-wielding devil, appears in a puff of smoke and they strike a deal. Duffy found that some of the more contemporary deals are more altruistic in nature rather than selfish, citing the TV show "Supernatural" as one example.
And it all ends up going badly, as these contracts often do. But they always get off on technicalities. While the research project is a little off-beat, Duffy said, it raises interesting questions about law, religion and greed.
And are oral contracts with the devil subject to the statute of frauds? Founded in , the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
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