Everything about Simon Magus totally explained
Simon Magus (
Greek Σίμων ό μάγος), also known as
Simon the Sorcerer and
Simon of Gitta, is the name used by early
Christian writers to refer to a person identified as a
Samaritan proto-Gnostic. The name was also used generically by early Christian writers to refer to a person who founded his own
religious sect.
Christian tradition
The figure appeared prominently in several
apocryphal accounts by
early Christian authors, who regarded him as the first
heretic. He appears in the
canonical Acts of the Apostles, verses , where he tries to offer money to the Apostles in exchange for miraculous abilities, specifically the power of
laying on of hands. The sin of
simony, or paying for position and influence in the church, is named for Simon. Verse 6.19 of the
Apostolic Constitutions accuse him of
antinomianism.
According to reports by ancient Christian writers, the Gnostic sect of
Simonianism believed that Simon Magus was
God (as conceived by the Gnostics) in human form. Almost all of the surviving sources for the life and thought of Simon Magus are contained in works from ancient
Christian writers: in the Acts of the Apostles, in
patristic works (
Irenaeus,
Justin Martyr,
Hippolytus of Rome), and in the
apocryphal
Acts of Peter, early
Clementine literature, and the
Epistle of the Apostles.
There are small fragments of a work written by him (or by one of his later followers using his name), the
Apophasis Megale, or
Great Pronouncement. He is also supposed to have written several treatises, two of which allegedly bear the titles
The Four Quarters of the World and
The Sermons of the Refuter, but are lost to us. Simon is specifically said to have possessed the ability to
levitate and fly at will. There were accusations by Christians that he was a
demon in human form, with the story of Simon the wizard as the cultural equivalent of
Merlin during the
Middle Ages.
The
apocryphal Acts of Peter gives a legendary tale of Simon Magus' death. Simon is performing
magic in the
Forum, and in order to prove himself to be a god, he levitates up into the air above the Forum. The apostle
Peter prays to God to stop his flying, and he stops mid-air and falls into a place called the
Sacra Via (meaning, Holy Way), breaking his legs "in three parts". The previously non-hostile crowd then stones him. Now gravely injured, he'd some people carry him on a bed at night from
Rome to
Aricia, and was brought from there to
Terracina to a person named Castor, who on accusations of sorcery was banished from Rome. The Acts then continue that he died "while being sorely cut by two physicians".
Another apocryphal document, the
Acts of Peter and Paul gives a slightly different version of the above incident, which was shown in the context of a debate in front of the Emperor
Nero. In this version,
Paul the Apostle is present along with Peter, Simon levitates from a high wooden tower made upon his request, and dies "divided into four parts" due to the fall. Peter and Paul were then put in prison by Nero while ordering Simon's body be kept carefully for three days (thinking he'd
rise again).
The church of
Santa Francesca Romana claims to have been built on the spot in question (thus claiming that Simon Magus could indeed fly). Within the Church is a dented slab of marble that purports to bear the imprints of the knees of Peter and Paul during their prayer.
Conflicting points of view
The different sources for information on Simon contain quite different pictures of him, so much so that it has been questioned whether they all refer to the same person. Assuming all references are to the same person, as some (but by no means all) of the
Church fathers did, the earliest reference to him is the
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8. This tells of a person named
Simon Magus practicing magic in the city of
Sebaste in
Samaria, being converted to Christianity by
Philip the Evangelist, but then trying to buy from the
Apostles the power of conveying the
Holy Spirit.
Writings of Justin and Irenaeus
Justin Martyr (in his
Apologies, and in a lost work against heresies, which Irenaeus used as his main source) and Irenaeus (
Adversus Haereses) recount the myth of Simon and
Helene. According to this myth, which was the center of Simonian religion, in the beginning God had his first thought, his
Ennoia (see
Sophia), which was female, and that thought was to create the angels. The First Thought then descended into the lower regions and created the angels. But the angels rebelled against her out of jealousy and created the world as her prison, imprisoning her in a female body. Thereafter, she was reincarnated many times, each time being shamed. Her many reincarnations included
Helen of Troy; among others, and she finally was reincarnated as Helene, a slave and prostitute in the
Phoenician city of
Tyre. God then descended in the form of Simon Magus, to rescue his Ennoia. Having redeemed her from slavery, he travelled about with her, proclaiming himself to be God and her to be the Ennoia, promising that he'd dissolve this world the angels had made, but that those who trusted in him and Helene could return with them to the higher regions.
Justin and Irenaeus record several other pieces of information, including: that Simon came from the Samaritan village of Gitta and that the Simonians worshipped Simon in the form of
Zeus and Helene in the form of
Athena. They also say that a statue to Simon was erected by Claudius Caesar on the island in the Tiber which the two bridges cross, with the inscription
Simoni Deo Sancto, "To Simon the Holy God". However, in the
1500s, a statue was unearthed on the island in question, inscribed to
Semo Sancus, a
Sabine deity, leading most scholars to believe that Justin Martyr confused
Semoni Sancus with Simon.
Writings of Hippolytus
Hippolytus (in his
Philosophumena) gives a much more doctrinally detailed account of Simonianism, including a system of divine emanations and interpretations of
the Old Testament. Some believe that Hippolytus' account is of a later, more developed form of Simonianism, and that the original doctrines of the group were simpler, close to the account given by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (this account however is also included in Hippolytus' work.) Hippolytus also quotes extensively from the
Apophasis Megale.
Radical criticism
According to
radical critic Hermann Detering, Simon Magus may be a
cypher for
Paul of Tarsus, Paul having originally been detested by the church, and his name changed when Paul was rehabilitated by virtue of
forged Epistles correcting the genuine ones.
Further Information
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