Summary retelling of Acts 8: 9-11:
Today
we get to meet an infamous Bible character named Simon Magus (otherwise known
as Simon the Sorcerer – and it is interesting to note that Simon the Sorcerer
and Peter have a number of confrontations recorded elsewhere in historical
documents besides the Bible). Because
Simon has the ability to seemingly do some pretty amazing stuff, people think
that he is from God and that his power is derived from God. He had the eye of the people, that’s for
sure.
Thoughts for Today:
First Thought:
When
we typically think of magic, we often think of Lord of the Rings or Harry
Potter or even Chronicles of Narnia.
However, traditionally magic was different from being able to blast
people with elemental energy. Magic was thought
of as being able to hold sway over people.
Magic was thought of as being able to do things typically outside of the
scope of humanity. Elemental magic comes
from the history of the British Isles and the Orient. Personal magic – charming people, talking to
dead spirits, and convincing people to do things that wouldn’t normally do –
comes from the Middle East.
How
does this alter your understanding of what is meant by Simon’s title of “sorcerer”
or “magician?”
Second Thought:
Given
this understanding, we can see what Simon was most likely able to do. Simon was likely able to captivate the crowd
fairly well. Simon was probably a good
storyteller with some con-artist type of maneuvers. Simon was probably also able to talk people
into believing things about himself that they might not have otherwise believed
about a human being.
Assuming
that this is true, what does this tell us about con-artists and people in
general with high personal charisma?
What can we learn about crowds and a charismatic person’s ability to
manipulate a crowd?
Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 8:12-13
4 comments:
Its interesting to see how the image of sorcery has evolved and formed into modern day society. Knowing this history we can see how powerful God through Peter was to be able to confront the sorcerer Simon.
Indeed. If you like this story about Peter and Simon then you should read up on some of the extra-canonical works about Peter and Simon the Sorcerer. There is one story about the two of them meeting in Rome that it pretty cool.
That sounds cool. Do you know what it is called?
Sure, you can find more info here to at least get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Magus
Look under the section titled "Apocrypha." The book "Acts of Peter" is the one I am most familiar with.
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