Sorcery, which is strongly condemned by God (Deuteronomy 18:9–13), was common in the ancient world, and, while some acts and demonstrations were no more than illusions of the mind, others were empowered by Satan in an attempt to discredit the power of God (Matthew 24:24 2 Thessalonians 2:9). The Jew called Simon who “pretended to be a magician” is referred to by the historian Josephus ( Antiquities of the Jews, book 20, chapter 7), but this appears to be a different historical figure, as he was born in Cyprus. Christian apologist Justin Martyr is believed to have propagated the idea that Simon was a Samaritan from the city of Gitta, and this has been accepted in early church tradition and today by some church historians. In the book of Acts it is stated that he “amazed all the people of Samaria” (Acts 8:9), but the account does not identify him as a Samaritan himself. A minor figure in New Testament history, Simon also appears in Gnostic texts in which his character and biography are expanded upon, but these accounts are unlikely to be historically reliable due to the nature of these writings and their anonymous authors. He appeared in the wake of the newly established church in Samaria. Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely.Simon the Sorcerer, sometimes referred to as Simon Magus or Simon of Gitta, is mentioned by Luke in Acts 8:9–24. Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior.
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