Note 15.1 — Chapter XV · MOVEMENTS PARALLEL TO AND IMITATIVE OF CHRISTIANITY—SIMON OF GITTO.
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[15.2] Jos., Ant., XX., v. 2.
[15.3] Jos., B.J., II., xvii. 8–10; Vita, 5.
[15.4] The comparison of Christianity with the two movements of Judas and Theudas is made by the author of the Acts himself. (V. 36.)
[15.5] Jos. Ant., XX., v. 1; Acts, u.s. Remark the anachronism in Acts.
[15.6] Jos. Ant., XVIII., iv. 1, 2.
[15.7] Jos. Ant., XX., v. 3, 4; B. J., ii., xii. 1, 2; Tacit., Ann., xii. 54.
[15.8] Jos. Ant., XX., viii. 5.
[15.9] Jos. Ant., XX., viii. 5; B. J., II., xiii. 3.
[15.10] Jos. B.J., VII. viii. 1; Mischna, Sanhédrin, ix. 6.
[15.11] Jos. Ant., XX., viii. 6, 10; B. J., II., xiii. 4.
[15.12] Jos. Ant., XX., viii. 6; B. J., II., xiii. 5; Acts xxi. 38.
[15.13] Jos. Ant., XX., viii. 6; B. J., II., xiii. 6.
[15.14] See ante, p. 153, note.
[15.15] Justin, Apol, 1, 26, 56. It is singular that Josephus, so well informed on Samaritan affairs, does not mention him.
[15.16] Acts viii. 9, etc.
[15.17] It cannot be considered entirely apocryphal in view of the agreement between the system set forth in it, and what little we learn from the Acts concerning the doctrine of Simon upon miraculous powers.
[15.18] Homil. Pseudo-Clem., ii. 22, 24.
[15.19] Justin, Apol. 1, 26, 56; ii. 15. Dial. cum Tryphone, 120; Iren. Adv. hær. I. xxiii. 2–5; xxvii. 4; II. præf; III. præf; Homiliæ pseudo-clem. i. 15; ii. 22, 25, etc.; Recogn. i. 72; ii. 7, etc.; iii. 47; Philosophumena IV. vii.; VI. i.; X. iv.; Epiph. Adv. hær. hær. xxi.; Orig. Cont. Cels. v. 62; vi. 11; Tertull. De Anima, 34; Constit. apost. vi. 16; S. Jerome, In Matt. xxiv. 5; Theod. Hæret. fab. i.1. It is from the quotations given in the Philosophumena, and not in the travesties of the Fathers, that an idea may be obtained of “The Great Exposition.”
[15.20] Philosophum., IV. vii.; VI. i. 9, 12, 13, 17, 18. Compare Revel. i. 4, 8; iv. 8; xi. 17.
[15.21] Philosophum., VI. i. 17.
[15.22] Ibid. VI. i. 16.
[15.23] Act. viii. 10; Philosophum., VI. i. 18; Homil. Pseudo-Clem., ii. 22.
[15.24] Allusion to the adventure of the poet Stesichorus.
[15.25] Iren. Adv. hær. I. xxiii. 2–4; Homil. Pseudo-Clem., ii. 23.
[15.26] Philosophum. VI. i. 16.
[15.27] See Vie de Jesus, p. 247–249.
[15.28] Ibid. p. 247, note 4.
[15.29] Chron. Samarit. c. 10 (edit. Juynboll Leyden, 1848). Cf. Reland, De Sam. § 7; Dissertat. miscell. Part II. Gesenius, Comment de Sam. Theol. (Halle, 1824), p. 24, etc.
[15.30] In a quotation given in the Philosophumena, VI. i. 16, is a citation from the synoptical gospels which seems to be given as from the text of the “Great Exposition.” But this may be an error.
[15.31] Homil. Pseudo-Clem. II. 23–24.
[15.32] Iren. Adv. hær. I. xxiii. 3. Philosophum. VI. i. 19.
[15.33] Homil. Pseudo-Clem. ii. 22. Recogn. II. 14.
[15.34] Iren. Adv. hær. II. præf. III. præf.
[15.35] See the Epistle (probably authentic) of Paul to the Colossians, i. 15, &c.
[15.36] Epiph.Adv. hær. L. xxx. 1.
[15.37] An argument for the latter hypothesis is, that Simon’s sect soon changed into a school of fortune-tellers, and for the manufacture of philters and charms. Philosoph. VI. i. 20. Tertull. De Anima, 57.
[15.38] Philosophum. VI. i. 20. Cf. Orig. Contra Cels. i. 57; vi. 11.
[15.39] Hegesip. in Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iv. 22; Clem. Alex. Strom. vii. 17; Constit. apost. vi. 8, 16; xviii. 1, &c. Justin, Apol. i. 26, 56; Iren. Adv. hær. I. xxiii. init. Theod. Hær. fol. I. i. 2. Tertull. De Præscr. 47; De Anima, 50.
[15.40] The most celebrated is that of Dositheus.
[15.41] Act. viii. 9; Iren. Adv. hær. xxiii. 1.
[15.42] Philosophum. VI. i. 19–20. The author attributes these perverse doctrines only to Simon’s disciples; but if the disciples entertained them, the master must have shared them in some degree.
[15.43] We shall hereafter see what these narrations signify.
[15.44] The inscription Simoni Deo Sancto, stated by Justin to exist in the island (Apol. I. 26) of the Tiber, and mentioned also by other Fathers, was a Latin inscription to the Sabine deity Semo Sancus, Semoni-Deo-Sanco. There was in fact discovered under Gregory XIII. in the island of St. Bartholomew, an inscription now in the Vatican bearing that dedication. V. Baronius, Ann. Eccl. 44; Orelli, Inser. Lat. No. 1860. There was at this spot on the island of the Tiber a college of bidentales in honor of Semo-Sancus, with many inscriptions of the same kind. Orelli, No. 1861. (Mommsen, Inscr. Lat. regni Neapol. No. 6770). Comp. Orelli, No. 1859. Henzen, No. 6999; Mabillon, Museum Ital. I. 1st part, p. 84. Orelli, No. 1862, is not to be relied on. (See Corp. Inscr. Lat. I. No. 542.)
[15.45] This gross blunder could not have been detected without the discovery of the Philosophumena, which alone contains extracts from the Apophasis magna (VI. i. 19). Tyre was celebrated for its courtezans.
[15.46] Ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος, ἀντικείμενος See Homil. Pseudo-Clem. hom. xvii. passim.
[15.47] Thus in the Pseudo-Clementine literature, the name of Simon the Magician indicates sometimes the apostle Paul, against whom the writer had a spite.
[15.48] It may be observed that in Acts, he is not treated as an enemy, but only reproached as of low sentiments, and room is left for repentance, (viii, 24). Perhaps Simon was living when those lines were written, and his relations to Christianity had not yet become absolutely hostile.
{15.49} {Jos., Ant., XX, vii., 1.}