620
SIMOX MAGUS
SlilON MAGUS
bore the cross, but was actually crucified in mis- take for Jesus. 9. The tanner, with whom St. Peter lodged at Joppa (Ac 9^ 10»- "• '^j.
J. A. Selbie. SIMON MAGUS.— The name usually given for the sake of distinction to that Simon who is men- tioned in only one place in the NT, but to whom, both in Patristic literature and in modern criticism, the part assigned is very considerable. There are some features in the story of the NT which e.xcite our curiosity ; the early Fathers have detailed ai:counts of liis false te.iching, and give him the doubtful honour of being the first of the heresi- arclis, the source and spring of all later heresy ; early Christian romance writers embellished his history Mith many wonderful details, and made him the antagonist of Simon Peter, both in verbal disputations and in the e.\hibition of magical arts ; while a school of modern critics has found in his career and the stories concerning him the chief support for a far-reaching reconstruction of our conceptions of early Christianity. In order to obtain a sound basis for our investigations, it will be useful after examining the account in the NT to go carefully tlirough the Patristic evidence in chronological order, and after that consider the fuller narratives of uncertain date contained in tlie Clementine literature and Apocryphal Acts. "We shall thus be in a better position to estimate the force and value of modem criticism, and be able to otl'er a probable explanation of the various ditliculties that the problem presents.
i. Simon in the New Testament, ii. Simon in Patristic literature Co A.D. 400. iii. Tlie Clementine literature and Apocr^'phal Aet8. iv. Modern critical views. V. The growth of the lepend. vi. The affinities of Simon's system, vii. Simon Magus and simony. viii. Simon Magus and the Fauat legend. Literature.
i. Simon in the NT. — In Ac 8»-", where the preaching of Philip in Samaria is described, we are told that ' there was a certain man called Simon, which beforetime in the city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one ' (\4yui' dial nya iavTiv fiiyav). All tlie people followed him, and described him as ' tliat power of Gpd which is called great' (oCiris i(7nv j) Svv»iui toD SeoD ^ itaXou- IxivTi ixeydXr]). When the rest of the city was con- verted, Simon also believed and was baptized, and continued with Philip, amazed at his miracles. When Peter and John came down, they laid hands on the converts, wlio received the floly Ghost. Simon then ollered Peter money, saying, 'Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.' Peter sternly re- buked him. 'Thy money perish with thee . . . thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter . . . thou art in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity.' Simon entreated him to pray the Lord that none of those things might come upon him.
It will be more convenient to postpone comments on tliis passage until we have collected further in- formation on the subject.
ii. Patristic Evidence.— The earliest informa- tion outside the NT comes from Jtistin Martyr, c. 150 (Apul. i. 26, 56 [cf. Eus. HE ii. 13. 14] ; Dial. 120). He tells us that Simon was a Samaritan, of the vill.age of Gitta ; he came to Rome in the time of Claudius C;esar ; by the power of the demons he worked miracles, and was honoured in Rome as a god, so that a statue was erected in his honour by order of the Senate and people, between the two bridges, bearing the inscription SIMONI DEO S.-VNCTO. Almost all the Samaritans and a few of other nations honour him as the first god (xpiro! peos). He took about with him a woman called
Helena, who had formerly be'»n a prostitute, and whom he is said to have called the first conception [trpJini Ivfota) which came forth from him. He ia described as God above ' all rule and authority and
f)ower.' We also gather that Justin looked upon lim as the originator of heresy and the source whence all later heresies were derived.
As regards one part of this story an interesting discovery has been made. In the year 1574 tliere was dug up in the place indicated by Justin, namely, in the island of the Tiber, a marble frag- ment, apparently the base of a statue, with the inscription SE^fONI SANCO DEO FIDIO. It is now generally agreed that Justin mistook a statue dedicated to a Sabine deity for one dedi- cated to Simon (Gruter, l7isc. Ant. i. p. 95, n. 5), although whether the mistake was his own or was earlier than himself we cannot say. But nothing in this mistake need invalidate his testimony about Simon in Samaria. J ustin himself was a Samaritan ; he draws attention at least once {Dial. 120 ; cf. Apol. ii. 15) to the fact that he nad spoken the truth to his own disadvantage. On the subject of the sect which called itself after the name of Simon he must he taken as first-hand evidence. And there are strong grounds for thinking that we have a fuller account which emanates from him. Accounts of Simon Magus are contained in the following heresiological works : Iren:i'us (I. xvi.), pseudo-TertuUian (i. ), Hippolytus (Refutatio, vi.), PhUaster (29), Epiphanins {Panarion, 21). Of these, that in Hippoljtus' Ecfutatio consists of two parts ; that from § 7 to § 18, containing extracts from a work called ^ iiey6.\ri dTro^oiris, ' the Great Revelation,' presents a ditl'erent system from that found elsewhere, and will be noticed further on ; that in § 19 and § 20 is derived from the same source from which the greater part of the matter in all the other heresiologists comes. It is now gener- ally agreed, and probably on good grounds, that this common source was a treatise (uivTayfia.) on heresies written by Justin and referred to by him- self (Apol. i. 26). The following is the account put together from these different sources : —