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Simon was an infamous sorcerer from the Samaritan town of Gitta. Acts 8:4-24 describes how Simon met with Peter in Samaria and tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. “Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great.’ And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.
“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.’ Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.’”
Simon’s act gave rise to the term “Simony”, which means the crime of paying money in exchange for holy authority or a position in the church. After he is rebuked for his crime, Simon is not mentioned again in the New Testament. But his story was not over. Early Christian writers condemned him as the founder of a second century group of Gnostics, heretics who claimed that only complex secret knowledge brought salvation. Simon’s followers claimed that he was the power of the true God in human form. Their belief system was in direct conflict and competition with the spread of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. In fighting for the hearts and minds of the people, Christian writers saw the need to attack the heresy where it began, with the magician Simon. The story of Simon in Acts is unfinished; Simon is rebuffed but not defeated. And so the apocryphal book, the “Acts of Peter” was written to continue the story and show its readers the final defeat and death of Simon Magus.
The “Acts of Peter” was written between 150 and 200 CE, to denounce and discredit the founder of the rival Gnostics. It tells of a public miracle contest between Peter and Simon Magus. The story begins when Simon miraculously flies through the air into Rome. There, he works more wonders and begins to preach that he, not Jesus, is the Messiah and the power of God. Simon is so convincing that large groups of the Christian faithful begin to worship him instead, and leaders like Paul are not there to stop them. This is an emergency; it seems the power of Satan is working through Simon to cause all the simple and weak believers in Rome to fall.
God sends a vision to Peter, summoning him to go to Rome to fight Simon. Upon his arrival, Peter speaks to a large crowd of the brethren, and warns them that Satan is tricking them into leaving their faith. The people repent, but the danger of Simon remains, and they ask Peter to remove the threat once and for all. The magician is staying at the house of a senator whom he has converted, so Peter takes the crowd to his door. From this point on, the story becomes a duel of miracles between Simon and Peter. The contest is reminiscent of the duel between Moses and Aaron, and Pharaoh’s sorcerers (Exodus 7:8-13), in that Simon ultimately shows that he has some powers, but he cannot match or resist the power of God.
Peter’s first miracle is to give a dog the power of speech. Peter sends the dog in to tell Simon to come out. Simon instructs the dog to tell Peter he is not there. The dog curses Simon and exits to tell Peter that it is time for “a great contest with the enemy of Christ and his servants, and many that have been deceived by him shalt thou turn unto the faith; wherefore thou shalt receive from God the reward of thy work. And when the dog had said this he fell down at the apostle Peter's feet and gave up the ghost. And when the great multitude saw with amazement the dog speaking, they began then, some to throw themselves down at Peter's feet, and some said: Show us another sign, that we may believe in thee as the minister of the living God, for Simon also did many signs in our presence and therefore did we follow him.”
Peter’s second miracle is to bring a dead fish back to life and set it swimming for all to see. Restored to his faith by these signs, the senator has Simon beaten and thrown out of his house. Simon comes to Peter’s residence and calls him out, saying, “Lo, here am I, Simon: come thou down, Peter, and I will convict thee that thou hast believed on a man which is a Jew and a carpenter's son.” Peter sends down a woman and her nursing baby. In this third miracle, the baby curses Simon with an adult voice, announcing that Peter will meet him in the Roman forum on the Sabbath, there to decide the contest.
At night, Jesus appears to Peter and says, “Already is much people of the brotherhood returned through me and through the signs which thou hast wrought in my name. But thou shalt have a contest of the faith upon the sabbath that cometh, and many more of the Gentiles and of the Jews shall be converted in my name unto me who was reproached and mocked and spat upon. For I will be present with thee when thou askest for signs and wonders, and thou shalt convert many: but thou shalt have Simon opposing thee by the works of his father; yet all his works shall be shown to be charms and contrivances of sorcery.”
When the Sabbath arrives, such a large crowd gathers, that people are charged for their seats. Christian brethren and Roman pagans alike fill the forum. Even senators and prefects are in attendance. The crowd demands that Peter and Simon each give proof of their claims so that the people may choose who to believe. Peter promises proof, and mocks Simon for his attempts to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts. Simon then mocks Jesus as a mere man who lived and died. The Roman prefect then issues the first challenge for both men. He calls one of his servants and commands that Simon should kill the slave, and that Peter should bring him back to life. Simon speaks a word, and the man dies. Peter says God is not to be tempted or proved, but that God will love and hear those that are worthy. At Peter’s prayer, the man is brought back to life.
For the second challenge, the mother of a dead senator brings her son’s body to the forum. Peter shouts, “Ye men of Rome, let there now be a just judgment betwixt me and Simon; and judge ye whether of us two believeth in the living God, he or I. Let him raise up the body that lieth here, and believe in him as the angel of God. But if he be not able, and I call upon my God and restore the son alive unto his mother, then believe ye that this man is a sorcerer and a deceiver”. Simon retorts, “Ye men of Rome, if ye behold the dead man arise, will ye cast Peter out of the city? And all the people said: We will not only cast him out, but on the very instant will we burn him with fire.”
Simon proceeds to trick the crowd, by moving the dead body like a puppet. Peter, threatened with burning, reveals the deception to the onlookers: the man is still dead. Peter then genuinely brings the senator back to life. When the crowd threatens to burn Simon instead, Peter reminds them to love their enemies. Simon is spared so that he might repent, but a few days later, the defeated magician proclaims that everyone has been deceived by Peter. Simon Magus announces that he will fly up to God his father. Amazingly, he begins to fly over Rome. Peter calls out to Jesus to make Simon fall, not to die, but to fail in converting any more people. Simon plummets, breaks his leg, and is finally abandoned by the Romans, who believe in Peter henceforth. Later, however, he dies during surgery.
So ends this apocryphal tale. The Gnostic followers of Simon eventually fell to the advance of Catholic Christianity, just as Simon fell before Peter. Rome, after several centuries, surrendered to Peter’s faith. This book may once have influenced the outcome of that struggle, but that victory did not come quickly enough for the apostle. Another section of the “Acts of Peter” gives the earliest known description of Peter’s death – he was crucified upside down in Rome. The “Acts of Peter”, with its whimsical miracles, like a talking dog and baby, was never destined to stand alongside canonical, inspired scripture. But it does entertain while teaching that it is important to help fellow Christian believers along when others try to lead them astray. In this story, Peter is an outstanding servant of God when he answers God’s call to go and speak the truth in answer to the lies of a deceiver, trusting in God to work through him and bring both new and fallen believers to the faith.
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