Month: August 2014

Simon Magus and Selling Salvation

verrucavulgaris Uncategorized 1 Comment

Been doing a little reading. First, got back to work on some Hebrew. Need to be most consistent. MUCH more consistent.

Then… I found something… interesting….

At least to me!

Acts 8:9-24English Standard Version (ESV)
Simon the Magician Believes

9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

What do I conclude from this?

Well… one… clearly not all magic… or miracles… come through true Faith in God. I am going to go out on a limb and say that this seems to suggest that “miraculous signs and portends” such as speaking in tongues and handling snakes… and even Faith Healing… may not necessarily come through the workings of God. Paul seems to suggest that speaking in tongues and other miracles may not even be positive, if misused. If performed to glorify man… and take glory away from God.

Second… Simon assumed that he could BUY God’s not only God’s Grace… but also God’s Power. This sounds an awful lot like a Faith Healing scam to me. Simon was performing miracles… presented himself as a great man of God… fooled all of the Samaritans… and apparently… made a LOT of money and earned a lot of prestige doing so. Also seems like when “all of Samaria” converted… that cut into his cash flow substantially! Creflo A. Dollar seems like an awesome name for someone doing something like this! Joel Osteen and his church with 30,000 people in attendance each week! The Prosperity Gospel. If you give money to God, it’s just like you are making the safest, most secure investment – because God will multiply it and give it back to you! Only… that’s not what God says in Scripture. God never promises us riches or an easy life on Earth, because he is preparing us for a greater workload in Heaven potentially. But at least there we will get rest. I suppose I should mention the Sin of Simony. Named after Simon Magus. It means… buying a position in church… or the Kingdom of God…. Look at how Peter (and probably John, too) responded to his missive: Repent!!! This reminds me A BUNCH of the Medieval church allowing Pardoners to go out and sell indulgences in order to fund the building of cathedrals. That was actually what was what prompted Martin Luther to leave the Roman Catholic Church and start the Reformation. Luther was responding to the selling of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, who in addition to being a Pardoner, held the high office of Grand Inquisitor. The idea of Indulgences come from the belief that Jesus Christ has a Plenitude of Grace stored up in the Treasury of the Church, which the Pope can tap into whenever he wishes to forgive the sins of Parishioners… who can afford to buy Grace. Of course, a Get Out of Hell Card don’t come cheap. We can’t excuse the preaching of Cheap Grace, now can we…? I have actually witnessed this: the Chief Executive Officer of World Vision standing in the pulpit of a church preaching that God needs my help to continue and expand his Social Justice Ministry…. YIKES!!! That smacks of Simony! So does preaching the Prosperity Gospel….

Third… interesting reference to Medieval Medical beliefs. In verse 23, Peter describes Simon’s condition in terms of having an excess of one of the Four Humors. What he is saying is that Simon had too much yellow bile (liver) which made him Choleric – meaning aggressive and self-seeking. The standard treatment was to attempt to bring all humors back into balance. When someone was Sanguine – excessively cheerful – he had too much blood and was phlebotomized or bled in order to calm him down. Monks were typically phebotomized on a monthly basis… and in the Cistercian version of the Rule of Saint Benedict… that was the only time that they were allowed to talk without necessity. I believe the treatment for excessive yellow bile was to be purged…. The Four Humors live on in Modern Medicine or popular psychology in the form of Personality Types.

And… last but not least…. Fourth…. Simon’s response…. Simon didn’t repent. He never demonstrated any contrition or even understanding of his Sin. He simply attempted to convince Peter and John to pray for him… because he certainly understood that the pray of a righteous man availeth much… but he NEVER confessed his sin and asked God to forgive him. Simon sought Salvation through the ministry of man… rather than through the Grace of God that was made available to man through the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ the Messiah. That’s really what people who put their trust in the Prosperity Gospel… and pastors who preach Social Justice as a priority and even suggest that God NEEDS themselves or me or any other human or he will fail and Satan will win – if they even acknowledge the existence of Satan….

This post is too frickin’ long! I apologize for preaching.