[sasquatch999]

A friend asked me yesterday about a pagan miracle worker in 1st century Asia Minor who was regarded by many as a Messiah (or vaguely messianic figure). I don't know anything about him, but thought that somebody on Monachos might.

[pissmanvd]

A friend asked me yesterday about a pagan miracle worker in 1st century Asia Minor who was regarded by many as a Messiah (or vaguely messianic figure). I don't know anything about him, but thought that somebody on Monachos might.

Dear Anthony,

Sounds as though your friend was talking about Simon Magus, a man described by Iraneus, Justin Martyr and St. Polycarp as the father, or grandfather, of gnosticism.

In some of our threads here we have discussed the Council in Acts 15 where those who wanted a Judaised Church were corrected by St. Paul, but I'm not sure we have discussed the opposite error - that of false Gentile Christianity, of which Simon Magus may stand as the earliest representative. If the Judaisers had been ultra conservative and wished, for example, Christians to be circumscised, Magus went in the opposite direction, almost separating Christianity from its Jewish roots. For this Simon Our Lord was a very Holy man - and His crucifixion was an illusion; this is an early example of what came to be called Docetism.

Simon Magus, by cherry picking his texts, preached that those who were 'saved' could, in fact, do whatever they chose, and he adapted his version of Christianity to the prevailing pagan tenets, even preaching that he was an emanation of God, and performing 'miracles'. There is a lot about him in the Recognitions of Clement, book 10.

Paul's epistles to the Colossians (Colossians 2:8) to Timothy 1:4 and to Titus: 1, 2 Peter 2:12-18 , as well as John 1 and John 2, Acts 8:9-24 all refer to some of the errors being propagated by Simon and those who followed him.

In the first Apology of Justin Martyr, Chapter 26, we read:
There was a Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who in
the reign of Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty
acts of magic, by virtue of the art of the devils operating in him. He was
considered a God, and as a God was honored by you with a statue, which
statue was erected on the river Tiber, between the two bridges, and bore
this inscription, in the language of Rome: — “Simoni Deo Sancto,”
“To Simon the holy God.” And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even
of other nations, worship him, and acknowledge him as the first God; and a
woman, Helena, who went about with him at that time, and had formerly
been a prostitute, they say is the first idea generated by him. And a man,
Meander, also a Samaritan, of the town Capparetaea, a disciple of Simon,
and inspired by devils, we know to have deceived many while he was in
Antioch by his magical art. He persuaded those who adhered to him that
they should never die, and even now there are some living who hold this
opinion of his. The Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions of Clement contain an exciting account of Simon Magus challenging St. Peter at Antioch, and whilst too long to quote in its entirety, the following gives a flavour:
Then said Simon: “I am astonished at your folly. For you so propound the
words of your Master, as if it were held to be certain concerning him that
he is a prophet; while I can very easily prove that he often contradicted
himself. In short, I shall refute you from those words which you have
yourself brought forward. For you say, that he said that every kingdom or
every city divided in itself shall not stand; and elsewhere you say, that he
said that he would send a sword, that he might separate those who are in
one house, so that son shall be divided from father, daughter from mother,
brother from brother; so that if there be five in one house, three shall be
divided against two, and two against three. if, then, everything that is
divided falls, he who makes divisions furnishes causes of falling; and if he
is such, assuredly he is wicked. Answer this if you can.”
CHAPTER 33
AUTHORITY
Then Peter: “Do not rashly take exception, O Simon, against the things
which you do not understand. In the first place, I shall answer your
assertion, that I set forth the words of my Master, and from them resolve
matters about which there is still doubt. Our Lord, when He sent us
apostles to preach, enjoined us to teach all nations the things which were
committed to us. We cannot therefore speak those things as they were
spoken by Himself. For our commission is not to speak, but to teach
those things, and from them to show how every one of them rests upon
truth. Nor, again, are we permitted to speak anything of our own. For we
are sent; and of necessity he who is sent delivers the message as he has
been ordered, and sets forth the will of the sender. For if I should speak
anything different from what He who sent me enjoined me, I should be a
false apostle, not saying what I am commanded to say, but what seems
good to myself. It is, of course, a classic account of all future clashes between heresy and Orthodoxy - and I shan't spoil the tale by telling you the outcome!


In Christ,

John

[DownloadADOBEsoftware]

Dear John,

Many thanks for this detailed answer. My friend was very clear, however, that he meant somebody other than Simon Magus, apparently a pagan Greek (though his account was a bit confusing). It does ring a bell from many years back when I read more early Church history, but I can't remember names or details (advancing age...).

Happy new year!

Anthony

[teodaschwartia]

Dear John,

Many thanks for this detailed answer. My friend was very clear, however, that he meant somebody other than Simon Magus, apparently a pagan Greek (though his account was a bit confusing). It does ring a bell from many years back when I read more early Church history, but I can't remember names or details (advancing age...).

Happy new year!

Anthony

Dear Anthony,

Alas, the wells are far from dry on who this could have been - if not the infamous Magus, then it sounds as though it may be Cerinthus (although since he was not a Greek, perhaps not?).

Cerinthus is thought to have been an Egyptian Jew (probably a convert) who had studied in Alexandria and who was then an early convert to the True Faith. He was one of those Judaisers who opposed St. Paul and argued that Christians had to be circumcised and follow the other practices of the Jewish faith (see Gal. 2:4; 2 Cor. 11:13).

He claimed to have an angelic revelation and travelled widely spreading his own 'message' which was a form of Gnostic Judaism - or Judaised Gnosticism. The only Gospel he accepted was a version of Matthew's, and he taught that Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary upon whom the heavenly Christ descended at his baptism by John. By this gift Jesus was enabled to perform his miracles, but the Christ left him on the Cross, and would, Cerinthus said, join him again at the end of all things when the Messiah comes in glory.

Cerinthus came to Asia Minor towards the end of the first century where he came into conflict with the blessed Apsotle John. Iranaeus Against Heresies Book 3 Chapter 3 has this story:
There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of
the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within,
rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest
even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth,
is within.” Of course, it may not be this heretic either, we could always go on to Mani and the Manicheans - but I shall await your verdict before delving into all that.

Sorry if I seem to have an unhealthy appetite for this stuff, it isn't, it is just that so much of it is reflected in some of our modern heresies that you end up wondering why, if these guys are going to believe some ancient texts, they don't just believe the ones the Church pronounces as genuine; but to ask that question is to get the answer.

Any way, let me know, and we can dig up Mani if necessary.

In Christ,

John

[Enfonebew]

Dear John,

Many thanks once again. Cerinthus came to my mind too, but I now think the guy he was thinking of was Apollonius of Tyana. I will do a bit of reading up on him just so that I know what is going on.

I certainly wouldn't accuse you of having an unhealthy interest in this kind of stuff. I had to read a fair amount about early Gnosticism at one point in my studies, and as their bizarre ideas seem to hold some attraction for present-day esotericists of various kinds, it might one day come in useful.

I think we will probably be able to leave Mani alone!

In Christ,
Anthony

[lammaredder]

Dear John,

Many thanks once again. Cerinthus came to my mind too, but I now think the guy he was thinking of was Apollonius of Tyana. I will do a bit of reading up on him just so that I know what is going on.

I certainly wouldn't accuse you of having an unhealthy interest in this kind of stuff. I had to read a fair amount about early Gnosticism at one point in my studies, and as their bizarre ideas seem to hold some attraction for present-day esotericists of various kinds, it might one day come in useful.

I think we will probably be able to leave Mani alone!

In Christ,
Anthony

Dear Anthony,

Origen's Contra Celsus Book 4, Chapter 41, tells us:
If, now, it had been our purpose to treat of magic, we could have
added a few remarks in addition to what we have already said on this
topic; but since it is only the more important matters which we have to
notice in answer to Celsus, we shall say of magic, that any one who
chooses to inquire whether philosophers were ever led captive by it or
not, can read what has been written by Moiragenes regarding the memoirs
of the magician and philosopher Apollonius of Tyana, in which this
individual, who is not a Christian, but a philosopher, asserts that some
philosophers of no mean note were won over by the magic power
possessed by Apollonius, and resorted to him as a sorcerer; and among
these, I think, he especially mentioned Euphrates and a certain Epicurean.
Now we on the other hand, affirm, and have learned by experience, that
they who worship the God of all things in conformity with the
Christianity which comes by Jesus, and who live according to His Gospel,
using night and day, continuously and becomingly, the prescribed prayers,
are not carried away either by magic or demons. Eusebius also dealt with Apollonius in one of his Apologetics, Against Hierocles. Hierocles (whose name rings a bell, and I must look up my notes) had written a work making an unfavourable (for Christians) comparison between Christ and Apollonius of Tyana. Since much of Hierocles' work was a straight 'lift' from that of Celsus, Eusebius is happy to rely on Origen to refute the points being made. He admits that Appolonius was a man who tried to live a good life, but denies any comparison can be made, and rubbishes the cources Hierocles had used.

St. Jerome's TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM (c.398) also mentions him:
It is related of Apollonius of Tyana that, when standing in court before Domitian, he all at once disappeared. Do not put the power of the Lord on a level with the tricks of magicians, so that He may appear to have been what He was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs. There is much more information about him at http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollon...llonius01.html - but I'd be a trifle careful with it!

Hope this helps. It is interesting, if a trifle alarming and unsurprising, how many of these early heresies simply get recycled.

In Christ,

John

[Chooriwrocaxz]

Dear John,

Thank you, this is a useful source, though I will take your advice and treat it with my usual pinch of salt.

It is indeed sad how much appeal this kind of stuff continues to have, for those who are either against the Church or think that they know better.

Anthony