Simon Magus

From New World Encyclopedia
Revision as of 08:59, 25 August 2007 by Chris Jensen (talk | contribs)


The death of Simon Magus, from the Nuremberg Chronicle

Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, was a Samaritan proto-Gnostic who allegedly asserted that he an incarnation of God, at least according to the ancient Christian Orthodoxy. In the various accounts of his life, he was credited with all manner of arcane powers, including (most typically) 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 the 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 Accounts

Part of a series on
Gnosticism
Simple crossed circle.svg

History of Gnosticism

Gnosticism
History of Gnosticism
Mandaeism
Manichaeism

Syrian-Egyptic Gnosticism
Sethians
Thomasines
Valentinians
Basilideans
Bardaisanites

Proto-Gnostics
Philo
Simon Magus
Cerinthus
Basilides

Fathers of Christian Gnosticism
Theudas
Valentinus

Early Gnosticism
Ophites
Cainites
Carpocratians
Borborites
Thomasines

Medieval Gnosticism
Paulicianism
Tondrakians
Bogomilism
Bosnian Church
Catharism

Gnosticism in modern times
Gnosticism in popular culture

Gnostic texts
Nag Hammadi library
Codex Tchacos
Gnosticism and the New Testament
Gnostic Gospels

Related articles
Gnosis
Pythagoreanism
Neoplatonism and Gnosticism
Esoteric Christianity
Theosophy

The figure of Simon appears prominently in the accounts of several early Christian authors, who regarded him as the first heretic. Indeed, these texts savagely denounced him, stating that he had the hubris to assert that his own divinity and to found a religious sect (Simonianism) based on that premise. As mentioned above, this means that virtually all of the surviving sources for the life and thought of Simon Magus are contained in the polemical treatises of the ancient Christian Orthodoxy, including the Acts of the Apostles, patristic works (such as the anti-heretical treatises written by Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Hippolytus), and the apocryphal Acts of Peter and Clementine literature.[1] This being said, small fragments of a work written by him (or by one of his later followers using his name), the Apophasis Megalé ("Great Pronouncement") are still extant, and seem to reveal a fairly well-developed Gnostic metaphysics.[2] The patristic sources describe other Simonian treatises, including the The Four Quarters of the World and The Sermons of the Refuter, but these (and all other textual traces) are lost to us.[3] In spite of these tantalizingly unattestable fragments, it must be noted that the Simon who has been transmitted through history is primarily a legendary caricature of a heretic, rather than an actual individual.

The story of Simon Magus is perhaps most instructive to modern readers for the light that it sheds on the early Christian world view. More specifically, it must be noted that all depictions of the conjurer, from the Acts onward, accept the existence of his magical powers without question. As such, their issue is a moral one, addressing Simon's alleged claims of divinity and his use of magic to lead Christians from the "righteous path," rather than a factual objection to the assertions that he could levitate, animate the dead, and transform his physical body.[4] In this, it fits a common patristic paradigm, whereby the difference between magic (which is demonic) and miracles (which are angelic) is determined by the intentions of their respective practitioners: "Simon Magus used his magical powers to enhance his own status. He wanted to be revered as a God himself... The apostles, on the other hand, used their powers only in recognition that they were simply vessels through which God's power flowed. It is in this latter form that magic acceptably enters Christian thought."[5] As a result, Simon must be comprehended as part of a historical context where all religious figures (including the apostles, martyrs, and saints) were understood to possess superhuman abilities, and that his sin was not the practicing of such arts but his hubris in practicing them for his own gain.

Acts of the Apostles

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.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."
Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me" (Acts 8:9-24) (NIV).

The reviled sin of simony (paying for position and influence in the church, or, more broadly, "the buying or selling of sacred things") derives its name from that of the detested heretic.[6]

The Apostolic Constitutions, verse 6.19, accuse him of antinomianism.<??> links to here. Relevance?

Acts of Peter

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.

Patristic Writings

Justin Martyr's Apology and Irenaeus's Adversus Haereses

Justin Martyr (in his Apologies, and in a lost work against heresies, which Irenaeus used as his main source) and Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses ("On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis")) 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.

Origen's Contra Celsum

Hippolytus's Philosophumena

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.

Other patristic writers

  • 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).

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.

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
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • 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

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

  1. Hultgren and Haggmark, 15-27. Salisbury, 56-58. Mead, passim.
  2. Mead, 49-91. Also online as Part III: The Theosophy of Simon.
  3. Mead, 46-47.
  4. Salisbury, 57.
  5. Salisbury, 57-58.
  6. "Simony" in the Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved August 24, 2007.