Author: M. David Litwa
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567712982
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 177
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Book Description
Who were the Simonians? Beginning in the mid-second century CE, heresiologists depicted them as licentious followers of the first gnostic, a supposedly Samarian self-deifier called Simon, who was thought to practice magic and became known as the father of all heresies. Litwa examines the Simonians in their own literature and in the literature used to refute and describe them. He begins with Simonian primary sources, namely The Declaration of Great Power (embedded in the anonymous Refutation of All Heresies) and The Concept of Our Great Power (Nag Hammadi codex VI,4). Litwa argues that both are early second-century products of Simonian authors writing in Alexandria or Egypt. Litwa then moves on to examine the heresiological sources related to the Simonians (Justin, the book of Acts, Irenaeus, the author of the Refutation of All Heresies, Pseudo-Tertullian, Epiphanius, and Filaster). He shows how closely connected Justin's report is to the portrait of Simon in Acts, and offers an extensive exegesis and analysis of Simonian theology and practice based on the reports of Irenaeus and the Refutator. Finally, Litwa examines Simonianism in novelistic sources, namely the Acts of Peter and the Pseudo-Clementines. By the time these sources were written, Simon had become the father of all heresies. Accordingly, virtually any heresy could be attributed to Simon. As a result-despite their alluring portraits of Simon-these sources are mostly unusable for the historical study of the Simonian Christian movement. Litwa concludes with a historical profile of the Simonian movement in the second and third centuries. The book features appendices which contain Litwa's own translations of primary Simonian texts.
Author: George Robert Stow Mead
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465516387
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 168
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Author: G. R. S. Mead
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 107
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Book Description
According to Apocrypha, Simon Magus was a contemporary of the Biblical apostles and an important religious figure. Biblical legend tells that Simon was trying to buy his way into the number of Apostles but got rejected by Peter. Later he started preaching as well and collected a group of adherents. In his book, G.R.S. Mead compares the deeds of Simon with those of Peter and Paul and casts a look on the Simonian ideas, which he believes are similar to the system of Theosophy popular in Mead's times.
Author: G. R. S. Mead
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3748183224
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 98
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Book Description
Everybody in Christendom has heard of Simon, the magician, and how Peter, the apostle, rebuked him, as told in the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles. Many also have heard the legend of how at Rome this wicked sorcerer endeavoured to fly by aid of the demons, and how Peter caused him to fall headlong and thus miserably perish. And so most think that there is an end of the matter, and either cast their mite of pity or contempt at the memory of Simon, or laugh at the whole matter as the invention of superstition or the imagination of religious fanaticism, according as their respective beliefs may be in orthodoxy or materialism. This for the general. Students of theology and church history, on the other hand, have had a more difficult task set them in comparing and arranging the materials they have at their disposal, as found in the patristic writings and legendary records; and various theories have been put forward, not the least astonishing being the supposition that Simon was an alias for Paul, and that the Simon and Peter in the accounts of the fathers and in the narrative of the legends were simply concrete symbols to represent the two sides of the Pauline and Petrine controversies.
Author: G. R. S. Mead
Publisher: Book Tree
ISBN: 9781585092314
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 112
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Book Description
Simon Magus was originally a Christian and disciple of John the Baptist, but broke off and formed the first Christian heresy, called Simonianism. After learning magical medicine in Alexandria he was considered to have many magical skills. To this day, a skilled magician is called a "magus." He also studied Greek philosophers, especially Heraclitus, and became the first Christian to attempt to bridge Greek philosophy and Christianity. If a mixture ever occurred Church leaders feared they would become weaker over time and not survive. According to Mead, this was Simon's great heresy -- not his magic. This interesting book shows Simon Magus to have been a brilliant man who was breaking new ground, both philosophically and spiritually.
Author: Boris Romanov
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781532955761
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 124
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Book Description
The Story about the Apostles, Pontius Pilate and Simon Magus. Great books in the genre of fiction on historical background of the events of evangelical times appear very rarely. We can recall just only "Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, "Silver Bowl" by Thomas Costain, "Barabbas" by M. Corelli, "Judas" by T. Gedberg or the "Commission for the cause of Christ" by A. Mandino. "The Story of the Apostles ..." can be attributed to this sort of fiction - I can say this without false modesty: ) This book is a fascinating set out of the canonical Book of the New Testament "The Acts of the Apostles," - in the expanded by me version of those events of evangelical times. Let us recall that the canonical book of the New Testament, "The Acts of the Apostles" (lat. Actus Apostolorum or Acta Apostolorum) tells about the events that took place immediately after the events of the Gospel. Traditionally it is believed that its author was Luke the Evangelist (author of the third Gospel too). Acts begins with a description of the Ascension (by which ends the Gospel of Luke). "The Acts of the Apostles" is the only book of the New Testament, which has the character of historical chronicles. Among the other New Testament books, it stands also as an unusually wide geography of the action - from Jerusalem up to Rome, and with a large number of persons, many of whom certainly are historical persons and are mentioned in other historical sources. "The Story about the Apostles, Pontius Pilate and Simon Magus" - the story about the same events on behalf of the young Roman Remy Otton, who by chance has witnessed and participated in many events of that time in Jerusalem. If canonical "Acts of the Apostles" occupy a volume of about 40 pages, in the "The Story of the Apostles ..." almost 200 pages (180 in eBook format on Amazon.com). All events of "Acts of the Apostles" are set out in my book in much more detail, and, as expected in fiction, with fascinating detective story, which at the same time, I believe, does not contradict to the book of the New Testament - and at the same time it is making more understandable some mysterious pages of this canonical book of St. Luke. Many pages of my book are devoted not only to the Christian issues, but also to Zoroastrianism, the Essenes, and, in part, to Buddhism. The plot of the book is also associated with the "special service" of Pontius Pilate in Judea; one of the protagonists throughout the story - an officer of the secret service of Aphranius (the same, who was described in "Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov). At first (in 1999), my book "The Story about the Apostles, Pontius Pilate, and Simon Magus," was published by the publishing house "Art of St. Petersburg," a small circulation, and since then has not been republished. The book, I think may be of interest to anyone interested in Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Judaism, as well as for all fans of the adventure genre *** The English edition had been divided by me into two parts for the convenience of readers. The first part of the book (Part I. Jerusalem. The Apostles and Pontius Pilate) describes the events in Jerusalem, from the Ascension of Jesus Christ (on the fortieth day after His Resurrection), and till the spring of next year. The second part (Part II. Samaria. The Apostles and Simon Magus) describes events in Samaria, including those related to Simon Magus. I apologize in advance for my very imperfect English. You can find on Amazon also the complete edition of this book in Russian under the title The Story of the Apostles, Pontius Pilate, and Simon Magus): (in Russian) (in one volume).
Author: Alain Le Boulluec
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192543857
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 725
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Book Description
Inspired by analogies betwen the construction of heresy and the representation of madness described by Michael Foucault in in Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique (Madness and Civilization), The Notion of Heresy in Greek Literature in the Second and Third Centuries demonstrates how the concept of heresy emerges in the work of Justin Matyr. It shows that this invention created a concept capable of dominating every current suspected of endangering ecclesial harmony, and transformed the tradition of Greek historiography of philosophical schools by combining it with the apocalyptic theme of diabolical conspiracy. Le Boulluec examines how this model is refined by Irenaeus, then modified by Clement of Alexandria and Origen. First published in 1985 as d'hérésie dans la littérature grecque (IIe-IIIesiècles), this newly translated work includes a substantial new introduction surveying literature in the previous decades. In line wth Walter Bauer's pioneering book, which overturned the confessional model making heresy a later falsification of orthodoxy, it shows that the notion of heresy was invented in the second century and then refined in order to remove all legitimacy from diversity and pluralism in the fields of doctrine and practice. Le Boulluec studies rhetorical practices and polemical assimilations to highlight key debates on the relationship between philosophy, Christianity, and Judaism, and to examine the conflict of interpretations that drive the exegesis of the Bible in constructing an orthodoxy.
Author: M. David Litwa
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190467169
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
Perhaps no declaration incites more theological and moral outrage than a human's claim to be divine. Those who make this claim in ancient Jewish and Christian mythology are typically represented as the most hubristic and dangerous tyrants. Their horrible punishments are predictable and still serve as morality tales in religious communities today. But not all self-deifiers are saddled with pride and fated to fall. Some who claimed divinity stated a simple and direct truth. Though reviled on earth, misunderstood, and even killed, they received vindication and rose to the stars. This book tells the stories of six self-deifiers in their historical, social, and ideological contexts. In the history of interpretation, the initial three figures have been demonized as cosmic rebels: the first human Adam, Lucifer (later identified with Satan), and Yaldabaoth in gnostic mythology. By contrast, the final three have served as positive models for deification and divine favor: Jesus in the gospel of John, Simon of Samaria, and Allogenes in the Nag Hammadi library. In the end, the line separating demonization from deification is dangerously thin, drawn as it is by the unsteady hand of human valuation.
Author: George Robert Stowe Mead
Publisher: Philaletheians UK
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 75
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Book Description
Author: Alan David Crown
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161452376
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 900
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Book Description
