Simon Magus

From New World Encyclopedia


The death of Simon Magus, from the Nuremberg Chronicle

Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, is the name used by the ancient Christian Orthodoxy to refer to a person identified as a Samaritan proto-Gnostic. In the various accounts of his life, he was credited with all manner of arcane powers (though most often he was described as possessing the gift of flight). Though various early Christian accounts mention him (including the Acts of the Apostles, and the writings of Irenaeus and Justin Martyr), there are no surviving writings from Simon Magus himself or from members of his school. As such, it is difficult to judge the veracity of the charges laid against him.

Given its primarily derogatory meaning, "Simon Magus" and "Simonianism" also became generic terms used by ancient Christians as derogatory epithets for schismatics.

Christian legends

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The figure appeared prominently in several apocryphal accounts by early Christian authors, who regarded him as the first heretic. He appears in the canonical Book of Acts, verses 8:9-24, 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. The Apostolic Constitutions, verse 6.19, accuse him of antinomianism.

According to reports by ancient Christian Orthodoxy, the Gnostic sect of Simonianism believed that Simon Magus was God in human form. Almost all of the surviving sources for the life and thought of Simon Magus are contained in works from the ancient Christian Orthodoxy: in the Acts of the Apostles, in patristic works (Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus) and in the apocryphal Acts of Peter, and the early Clementine literature.

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 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 flies up into the air. The apostle Peter prays to God to stop his flying, and he stops mid-air and falls, breaking his legs, whereupon the crowd, previously non-hostile, stones him to death. The church of Santa Francesca Romana claims to have been built on the spot in question (thus claiming that Simon Magus could indeed fly), claims that Saint Paul was also present, and that a dented slab of marble that it contains bears 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 and working as a missionary, 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 would 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.

  • Vincent of Lérins
  • Canto XIX of The Divine Comedy by Alighieri, Dante.. Simon is in the third ditch of the eighth circle of the Inferno (Hell).

Modern interpretation

According to some academics (Detering being the most significant to have recently argued this), 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. Though at first glance this suggestion appears radical, Simon Magus is sometimes described in apocryphal legends in terms that could fit Paul. Furthermore while the Christian Orthodoxy frequently portrayed the major leader Marcion as having been a follower of Simon Magus, Marcion nowhere mentions even the existence of Simon, and instead identifies himself as a follower of Paul. In addition, the apocryphal Apocalypse of Stephen presents Paul in extremely negative tones, portraying him as arch villain and enemy of Christianity, only portraying him as having converted right at the end. However, the current canon bible text records Stephen's martyrdom as having occurred before Paul's conversion and work as an Apostle, as in the referenced article, so is not by itself in conflict with the orthodox view.

References
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  • Cartlidge, David R. "The Fall and Rise of Simon Magus." Bible Review Vol 21, No. 4, Fall 2005. 24-36.
  • Detering, Hermann. "The Falsified Paul: Early Christianity in the Twilight." Journal of Higher Criticism, 2003.
  • Ferreiro, Alberto. "Simon Magus and Priscillian in the Commonitorium of Vincent of Lérins." Vigiliae Christianae Vol. 49, No. 2. May 1995. 180-188.
  • Hultgren, Arland J. and Haggmark, Steven A. (eds). The Earliest Christian Heretics: Readings from their Opponents. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1996. ISBN 0800629639.
  • Laursen, John Christian (ed). Histories of Heresy in Early Modern Europe: For, Against, and Beyond Persecution and Toleration. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. ISBN 0312294042.
  • Legge, Francis. Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity, From 330 B.C.E. to 330 C.E. (1914), reprinted in two volumes bound as one, University Books New York, 1964. LC Catalog 64-24125.
  • Mead, G. R. S. Simon Magus: An Essay on the Founder of Simonianism Based on the Ancient Sources with a Re-evaluation of his Philosophy and Teachings. Chicago: Ares, 1985. ISBN 0890052581. Also accessible online at The Gnosis Society Library.
  • Porter, J. R. The Lost Bible: Forgotten Scriptures Revealed. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 2001. ISBN 0226675793.
  • Salisbury, Joyce E. The Blood of Martyrs: Unintended Consequences of Ancient Violence. New York: Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0415941296.

External links

All links retrieved August 24, 2007

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