Simon Magus, also called Simon the Magician, was a religious person. His argument with Peter is written in the Acts of the Apostles. The act of paying for a position is called simony. This term comes from Simon, who tried to buy power from the Apostles.
According to the Acts of the Apostles, Simon was a Samaritan religious figure from the 1st century AD. He became a Christian and was baptized by Philip the Evangelist. Later, Simon had a disagreement with Peter. Some writings from the 2nd century mention Simon, but these are not proven to be true. Stories about Simon appear in older texts, such as those written by Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius. These texts often say Simon started a religious group called Gnosticism. Some modern scholars agree with this, but others say the Church Fathers thought Simon was a Gnostic, not that he actually was one.
Justin Martyr, a 2nd-century writer from Samaria, wrote that many Samaritans followed a man named Simon of Gitta, a village near Flavia Neapolis. Irenaeus believed Simon founded a group called the Simonians. Hippolytus quotes a work called Apophasis Megale (or Great Declaration), which he says was written by Simon or his followers. Early church writers also claim Simon wrote other lost writings, including The Four Quarters of the World and The Sermons of the Refuter.
In stories not included in the Bible, such as The Acts of Peter, Pseudo-Clementines, and The Epistle of the Apostles, Simon is shown as a powerful sorcerer who could float and fly. He is sometimes called "the Bad Samaritan" because of his harmful actions. The Apostolic Constitutions also accuse him of breaking religious rules, a practice called antinomianism.
History
The book called the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible has a short story about Simon Magus. This is the only time Simon appears in the New Testament.
The historian Josephus wrote about a magician named Atomus (called Simon in some Latin writings) who was connected to a leader named Felix, King Agrippa II, and Agrippa’s sister Drusilla. Felix asked Simon to convince Drusilla to marry him instead of the man she was already engaged to. Some scholars have thought that Atomus and Simon Magus might be the same person, but this is not widely accepted because the Simon in Josephus’s writings is described as a Jew, not a Samaritan.
Justin Martyr and Irenaeus wrote about Simon Magus after he was cast out by the Apostles. According to these writers, Simon went to Rome and married a woman named Helen. He claimed to be the Son of God to the Jews, the Father to the Samaritans, and the Holy Spirit to other people. Simon performed magical acts during the time of the Roman emperor Claudius, and people believed he was a god. A statue of Simon was placed on an island in the Tiber River, with the inscription “To Simon the Holy God.” However, in the 16th century, a statue was found on the same island, but it was dedicated to a different god named Semo Sancus. This discovery led some scholars to believe that Justin Martyr may have confused the two names.
Justin Martyr and Irenaeus were the first to describe the story of Simon and Helen, which became central to a religious belief system called Simonianism. Epiphanius, a later writer, included quotes from Simon in his work Panarion, suggesting he was quoting a version of Simon’s teachings.
According to Epiphanius, God’s first thought, called Ennoia, was a female idea that created the angels. The angels rebelled against Ennoia out of jealousy and trapped her in a female body. Ennoia was reborn many times, including as Helen of Troy, and finally as a slave and prostitute in the city of Tyre. God then sent Simon Magus to rescue Ennoia and save people through knowledge of himself.
Epiphanius also wrote that Simon appeared as a human to help people, even though he was not truly human. He claimed to have suffered in Judea, but he had not actually suffered. The prophets, Epiphanius said, had been influenced by the angels who created the world. Simon’s followers believed that salvation came through knowledge, not through good deeds, because the angels had made rules to control humans. Simon promised that the world would end and people would be freed from the power of the angels.
Simon’s story shares common ideas with other Gnostic myths, such as the role of a female divine figure and the belief that the rulers of the world did not know the true God. However, Simon’s story is unique because it identifies Simon as the Supreme God and his wife Helen as the female divine principle.
Hippolytus, a later writer, described Simon’s teachings based on earlier works by Irenaeus and Justin Martyr. He noted that Simon’s followers believed in free love and practiced various magical arts. They also made images of Simon and Helen, but these images were not called by their names, as doing so was considered a violation of their beliefs.
Epiphanius wrote that Simon’s followers still existed in his time (around 367 AD), though they were nearly gone. He claimed Simon had tried to twist the words of the Apostle Paul to support his beliefs. Epiphanius also said Simon gave strange names to spiritual powers and was the first person to start Gnostic ideas. He believed the laws of the Old Testament were not from God but from a “sinful power.”
Cyril of Jerusalem, writing in 346 AD, described Simon Magus as someone who claimed he would be taken to heaven. He said Simon was flying in a chariot pulled by demons when Peter and Paul prayed for him. Their prayers caused Simon to fall to Earth as a broken body.
Apocrypha
The apocryphal Acts of Peter describes a detailed account of Simon Magus' death. Simon is performing magic in the Forum and, to prove he is a god, he flies into the air above the Forum. The apostle Peter prays to God to stop Simon's flight. Simon stops mid-air and falls into a place called "the Sacra Via" (meaning "Holy Way" in Latin), breaking his legs "in three parts." The crowd, who were not previously hostile, then throws stones at him. After being gravely injured, he is carried on a bed at night from Rome to Ariccia and then to Terracina, where he is brought to a man named Castor, who was banished from Rome because he was accused of sorcery. The Acts then state that Simon died "while being sorely cut by two physicians."
Another apocryphal text, the Acts of Peter and Paul, gives a slightly different version of the event. This version takes place during a debate in front of Emperor Nero. In this account, Paul the Apostle is present with Peter. Simon levitates from a high wooden tower, as requested, and dies "divided into four parts" after falling. Peter and Paul are then imprisoned by Nero, who orders that Simon's body be kept carefully for three days, in case, like Christ, Simon might rise again.
The Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions and Homilies describe Simon Magus and his teachings related to the Simonians. These writings have uncertain dates and authorship, and they appear to have been edited by multiple people with different beliefs.
Simon was a Samaritan from Gitta. His father's name was Antonius, and his mother's name was Rachel. He studied Greek literature in Alexandria and, in addition to having great power in magic, became very ambitious. He wished to be considered the highest power, even greater than the God who created the world. He sometimes claimed he was Christ, calling himself the "Standing One," a name he used to suggest he would last forever and would not decay. He did not believe the God who created the world was the highest power, nor that the dead would rise. He rejected Jerusalem and promoted Mount Gerizim instead. He claimed to be the Christ of the Christians and interpreted the Law in ways that fit his own ideas. He did preach about righteousness and judgment.
There was a man named John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus, as required by religious tradition. Since Jesus had twelve Apostles, representing the twelve months of the year, Simon had thirty followers, representing the monthly cycles of the moon. One of these thirty followers was a woman named Helen, and Simon was the most respected among them. However, when John died, Simon was in Egypt practicing magic. A man named Dositheus spread false news about Simon's death and took over leadership of the group. When Simon returned, he pretended to be friendly with Dositheus and accepted the second position. Soon, he began to hint to the thirty followers that Dositheus did not fully understand the group's teachings.
The conflict between Dositheus and Simon Magus led to the formation of the Simonian sect. The story continues that Simon fell in love with Helen and claimed she came from the highest heavens and was his mistress, calling her Sophia, the Mother of All. He said the Trojan War was fought because of her, and that people were misled by an image of truth, as the real being was with the First God. Simon used these ideas to trick people and also amazed them with his magic. The text describes how he created a familiar spirit by removing the soul of a boy and keeping his image in his bedroom. Many examples of his magical feats are also given.
The Pseudo-Clementine writings were used by members of the Ebionite sect in the 4th century. One feature of the Ebionites was their hostility toward Paul, whom they refused to recognize as an Apostle. Ferdinand Christian Baur, founder of the Tübingen School, noted the anti-Pauline tone in the Pseudo-Clementines and pointed out that some of Simon's claims, such as having seen the Lord in a vision, were similar to Paul's. Baur suggested that Peter's refutation of Simon was meant to criticize Paul. The enmity between Peter and Simon is clearly shown. Simon's magical powers are compared with Peter's powers to highlight Peter's authority through prayer. In the 17th Homily, Simon is identified with Paul. Simon claims he knows Jesus' mind better than the disciples, who had seen Jesus in person, because visions are more important than waking reality, as divine is more important than human. Peter responds to this, but the most important part states:
The anti-Pauline context of the Pseudo-Clementines is recognized, but the connection to Simon Magus is surprising, according to Jozef Verheyden, since they have little in common. However, most scholars agree with Baur's identification, though others, like Lightfoot, argued that the "Simon Magus" in the Pseudo-Clementines was not meant to represent Paul. More recently, pastor Hermann Detering (1995) claimed the anti-Pauline stance in the Pseudo-Clementines has historical roots, suggesting the story of Simon the magician and Peter in Acts 8 is based on the conflict between Peter and Paul. Detering's view has not gained widespread support, but Robert M. Price argues a similar point in The Amazing Colossal Apostle: The Search for the Historical Paul (2012).
Since Ferdinand Christian Baur in the 19th century, scholars such as Hermann Detering and Margaret Barket have concluded that the attacks on "Simon Magus" in the 4th-century Pseudo-Clementines may be attacks on Paul. Detering takes the attacks as literal and historical, suggesting "Simon Magus" was a stand-in for Paul of Tarsus, who was originally disliked by the church and later renamed Paul after forged letters corrected the real ones. Robert Price agrees with this idea.
Other aspects of Simon's character resemble those of Marcion. The first thing mentioned in the Homilies about Simon's beliefs is that he denied the justice of God. By "God," he meant the creator god. He claimed there is a higher god who truly has the qualities falsely given to the lower god. Peter criticizes Simon for this, saying that when he was sent to convert gentiles from worshiping many earthly gods, Satan had sent Simon ahead to make them believe there were many gods in heaven.
Druidism
In Irish stories, Simon Magus became connected to Druidism. He is said to have helped the Druid Mog Ruith. The strong opposition to Christianity by Irish Druids led to Simon Magus being linked to Druidism. The word "Druid" was sometimes translated into Latin as "magus," and Simon Magus was also called "Simon the Druid" in Ireland.
Medieval legends, later interpretations
The Church of Santa Francesca Romana in Rome is said to have been built on the spot where Simon fell. Inside the church, there is a dented marble slab that is said to show the imprints of the knees of Peter and Paul during their prayer. Stories about Simon the Sorcerer continued into the later Middle Ages and may have inspired the Faustbuch and Goethe's Faust.
The first story in Danilo Kiš's 1983 collection, The Encyclopedia of the Dead, titled "Simon Magus," retells the confrontation between Simon and Peter, matching the account in the Acts of Peter. It also adds an alternative ending where Simon asks to be buried alive so he can be resurrected three days later. However, his body is later found to be decayed.