CHORUS
For, falling to a devilish exercise,
And glutted now with learning's golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy.
Nothing so sweet as magic is to him,
Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss. (Prologue.22-26)
It's interesting that the Chorus describes Faustus as "surfeit[ing] upon cursed necromancy." Near the end of the play, the Scholars remark that Faustus's problem is probably a "surfeit," or excess, of something in his blood, which was thought to cause disease. Faustus responds that it's a "surfeit of deadly sin" (5.2.36-37). Sin, magic, and disease are all linked by that word—"surfeit." The description of Faustus as "glutted," and magic as "sweet," also links Faustus's pursuit of magic to the sin of gluttony. He just wants too much of everything.
CHORUS
So much he profits in divinity
That shortly he was graced with doctor's name,
Excelling all, and sweetly can dispute
In th'heavenly matters of theology. (Prologue.15-18)
Becoming a doctor of divinity in a medieval university was a process that took almost fifteen years. Yep, you read that right. First you had to study the classics, and in the end you had to study the Bible in detail.So the fact that Faustus has this degree means he's smart. We're talking genius level here, folks.
CHORUS
Learnèd Faustus, to find the secrets of astronomy
Graven in the book of Jove's high firmament,
Did mount him up to scale Olympus' top,
Where, sitting in a chariot burning bright,
Drawn by the strength of yokèd dragons' necks,
He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars. (3.Chorus.1-6)
Faustus's relationship with Mephistopheles enables him to get firsthand knowledge of astronomy in a way that we bet makes his colleagues insanely jealous. Even as this knowledge is described as book-learning, as "graven in the book of Jove's high firmament," it is in fact much closer to scientific analysis than anything Faustus has done before.