Philip comes to Samaria and is able to work miracles to confirm the message he was preaching (Acts 8:5-8). Simon the Sorcerer is introduced to us as we read about Philip preaching the gospel in the city of Samaria. Acts 8 focuses mainly upon the preaching of Philip in the city of Samaria (Acts 8:5-25) and to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.Acts 8 tells us of how the gospel spreads from Jerusalem into the regions of Judea and Samaria as a result of the persecution following the death of Stephen (Acts 8:1-4). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. As prophecy, however, this phrase clearly has deeper spiritual meaning.Īdditional information about Simon Magus can be found in these reference works: The eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Schaff's History of the Christian Church Hastings' Dictionary of the Apostolic Church and Dictionary of the Bible Dictionary of Christian Biography and the Encyclopaedia Biblica. Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, mentions that Samaritans would falsely claim to be Jews when they thought it was to their advantage to do so ( Antiquities of the Jews, 9.14.3 9.8.6). John's phrase about those "who say they are Jews, and are not, but lie" ( Revelation 3:9) may have its first-century basis in Simon's Samaritan counterfeit of true Christianity. John, the apostle who completed the Bible, placed great emphasis on Christians keeping God's commandments ( I John 2:3-6). Jude 4, for example, is rather pointed against Simon's principal doctrine-the heresy that one does not have to obey God's laws after conversion. There are veiled references to Simon's false Christianity and similar heretical sects in the New Testament. It cannot be denied that a connection is possible, and may have existed between the two, that is between Simon Magus and some of the gnostic heresies but the facts of history show widespread tendencies at work, during and even before the Apostolic age, which amply account for the rise of Gnosticism. The exact origin of Gnosticism is certainly difficult to trace, but there is little or no indication that it arose from the incidents narrated in Acts 8.
In the midst of the various legends regarding Simon, it may be that there is a substratum of fact, of such a nature that future investigation and discovery will justify these early Christian writers in their judgment, and will show that Simon Magus is not to be overlooked as one of the sources from which Gnosticism sprang. Perhaps they were right, "but from the very little authentic information we possess, it is impossible to ascertain how far he was identified with their tenets" (Alford, New Testament, II, 86). The early Christian writers took this view, and regarded Simon Magus as the founder of Gnosticism. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia comes to this conclusion about him based on what is available from history:
He invented a new religion by blending his own version of the doctrine of grace with elements of the old Babylonian mysteries and attaching Christ's name to it. In spite of Peter's stinging rebuke (verses 20-23), tradition and various legends say Simon presented himself as a Christian apostle, particularly in Rome. The Bible records this historic event in Acts 8:9-24. Simon was the Samaritan sorcerer who professed conversion to Christianity and sought to buy an apostleship. Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen (Part Four).God's Special Presence and Direct Intervention.Whatever Happened to Gnosticism? Part One: False Knowledge.The Cross: Christian Banner or Pagan Relic?.
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