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June 23, 2004 We revere Jesus Christ today for His saving power and grace. But man's belief of Him did not come to life until after He died, save for His apostles and a few people. He was scorned for saying He was the Messiah. That was centuries ago, and this was not unusual. The people were perhaps confused. At that period, a lot of men walked around claiming they held the answers to salvation and know the way to eternal life. One of these men, which I will be discussing in length, is Simon Magus, also known as Simon Faustus, meaning, "the favored one." The Church regarded Simon the Father of All Heresy. He was a Samaritan from the village of Gitta who existed in the time of Jesus and the apostles. During those times, Samaria was known for having non-conventional, and rather seditious, views of religion. The Orthodox Church regarded the place as the center of sin. It was in this environment where Simon Magus attempted to perform miracles, claimed he can save the world, and performed magic or sorcery. He was a Gnostic � a man who claims deeper wisdom of the Christian religion. Gnosticism, however, does not guarantee truth. A gnostic only claims he knows it. Magus preached not as merely a disciple, not a representative of God, but as himself a Messiah. "I am God. And I have come... But I wish to save you." It is said that while the apostles were performing miracles of healing the sick by invoking the Holy Spirit, Simon caught sight and was awed. Naturally, being a practitioner of the magical arts and dreaming of outdoing the powers of Christ and the Holy Spirit, he desired to also possess it. He wanted to own the power Jesus Christ and his followers had. His desire was, in fact, so great that he was willing to pay money in exchange. This, of course, repulsed the apostles. In Acts 8:5-24, Peter scoffs at him saying, "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the Gift of God with money!" Today, we call this act "simony", named after the heretic, which refers to persons who buy their way into positions in Church hierarchy. There are mixed views on the validity of Simon Magus's claims. Some revered him and built a Simonian sect in honor of him in hopeful continuation of his teachings and expansion of the number of his followers. Others treat him with vehemence, saying that he is a false messiah. A great con. Certain archaeological studies even disproved the claim of Simon's divination. Annals tell us that he died in Rome while performing one of this magic stunts. He failed to get himself out of a box where he buried himself alive, confirming that he is not all-powerful and miraculous. However, whatever one's judgment may be, one thing is for sure. Simon Magus remains one of the more interesting figures of biblical history. If what he claims is true, then we are to feel guilty for not believing. However, if there is no truth at all to his words, then he deserves where he ended up under the ground, buried and dead. ------------ About the author: Ness Doctor is 23-year-old writer from the Philippines. Visit her online journal (if you wish to get more personal) at http://shadowartist.blogdrive.com or email: ness_doctor@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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