Simon Magus ("Simon the Magician") was a first-century Samaritan religious figure who appears in Acts 8:9-24, where he offers the apostles money for the power to confer the Holy Spirit. From his request comes the word "simony." Early Christian writers later made him the father of heresy and the subject of vivid legends about magic and flight.
Simon Magus at a glance
| Also known as | Simon the Sorcerer; Simon of Gitta |
|---|---|
| Period | 1st century CE |
| Region | Samaria |
| Main biblical source | Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24 |
| Later sources | Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Acts of Peter, Pseudo-Clementines |
| Legacy | Origin of the term simony; followers called Simonians |
Simon in the Acts of the Apostles
The only New Testament account of Simon is in Acts 8. He is described as a man who practiced magic in a city of Samaria and amazed the people, who said of him, "This man is the power of God that is called Great." When the evangelist Philip preached there, Simon was baptized and followed Philip, impressed by the signs he performed.
When the apostles Peter and John came and laid hands on the new believers so that they received the Holy Spirit, Simon offered them money for the same power. Peter rebuked him sharply: "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" Simon asked the apostles to pray for him, and the narrative ends there. Acts does not say what became of him.
Acts presents Simon as sincere enough to be baptized yet shows that he misunderstood what he had witnessed. Readers have long debated whether the story portrays a genuine convert who stumbled or a rival wonder-worker whom the author wished to discredit.
Simon in the Church Fathers
Second-century Christian authors developed a much larger picture. Justin Martyr, himself a native of Samaria, wrote around 150 CE that Simon came from the village of Gitta, was worshipped as a god by many Samaritans, and was honored in Rome with a statue inscribed to him. In 1574 a statue base was found in Rome dedicated to Semo Sancus, a Sabine deity, and many historians think Justin misread a similar inscription.
Irenaeus, in Against Heresies (c. 180), called Simon the source from whom all heresies derived. He described a companion named Helen, a former prostitute from Tyre, whom Simon identified with the First Thought (Ennoia) of God, fallen into the material world and trapped in successive bodies. Hippolytus attributed to Simon a work called the Great Declaration (Apophasis Megale). These accounts are polemical, and scholars agree they cannot be taken as reliable records of what Simon taught.
Legends of magic and flight
Apocryphal writings turned Simon into the archetypal false magician. In the Acts of Peter, Simon and Peter compete in Rome through miracles. Simon flies above the city, but at Peter's prayer he falls and is injured, dying soon afterward. Other versions of the legend place the contest before the emperor Nero.
The Pseudo-Clementine writings, a Christian romance compiled in the third and fourth centuries, stage long debates between Peter and Simon. Some scholars, following the nineteenth-century Tubingen school, have argued that in parts of this literature "Simon" serves as a hostile mask for the apostle Paul; this reading remains debated. Medieval art often showed the fall of Simon Magus, and some historians see the legend as one source of the later Faust story.
Simon and Gnosticism
Because the Church Fathers placed Simon at the head of their lists of heretics, he is often called the first Gnostic. A group called the Simonians did exist in the second century and venerated Simon and Helen. Modern scholarship is cautious, however. It is unclear whether the historical Simon taught anything resembling later Gnostic systems, or whether later groups and polemicists attached developed ideas to a famous name.
Themes associated with Simonian teaching, such as a fallen divine wisdom and redemption through knowledge, resemble those of other movements such as the Ophites and later dualist traditions including Manichaeism and the Bogomils. Gnostic gems and amulets bearing names such as Abraxas show how widely such ideas spread in the Roman world.
Legacy: simony and the magician image
Simon's most lasting legacy is linguistic. In medieval canon law, simony meant buying or selling church offices, sacraments or spiritual goods. It became a major issue in the eleventh-century Gregorian reforms, and Dante placed simoniac popes upside down in holes of fire in the eighth circle of the Inferno.
Simon also became a model of the ambitious magician who seeks spiritual power for gain or prestige. In occult and literary tradition he represents the risk of pride in magical skill, a theme echoed in the tarot figure of The Magician. For the evangelist who baptized him, see the entry on Philip.
Related entries
On The Mystica today: The Magician tarot card
Frequently asked questions
Why is Simon Magus associated with simony?
In Acts 8, Simon offers the apostles Peter and John money in exchange for the power to give the Holy Spirit through laying on of hands. Peter condemns him. Because of this story, the sin of buying or selling church offices or spiritual things became known in church law as simony.
Was Simon Magus a real person?
Most historians accept that a Samaritan religious figure named Simon probably existed in the first century, since Acts mentions him and Justin Martyr, a fellow Samaritan, wrote about him. However, the later stories of his teachings, magic and death are legendary or polemical and cannot be verified.
How did Simon Magus die according to legend?
In the apocryphal Acts of Peter, Simon demonstrates his power by flying over Rome. Peter prays, Simon falls, breaks his leg and dies shortly afterward. Other traditions give different versions. None of these accounts appears in the New Testament, which says nothing about his death.
Sources and further reading
- Simon Magus · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Simon Magus · Wikipedia
- Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies, Book I, chapter 23 (c. 180 CE) · Book
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.