Simon was a very powerful magician, the first Gnostic teacher and the first heretical target of the Christian Church. I came to Simon Magus trying to explain Pompeo Batoni’s painting “The Fall of Simon Magus” to me. So I solved the mystery of the Vatican rejection and learned about the Gnostic gospels.
Simon Magus was born in the Samaritan city of Gitta, later he was the founder of the Simonian sect of the Gnostics and was a contemporary of the Apostles. His writings and almost all direct sources of information were destroyed by hostile early Christians in the first fifth century. Only distorted facts and legends are available.
When Simon Magus comes to light in written history, he is already an accomplished teacher of extraordinary influence.
Simon’s powers to heal and perform wonders were amazing. He was turning stones into bread, traveling through the air, remaining unscathed in fire, assuming various forms, making heavy objects move, and opening locked doors without contact.
The Fall of Simon Magus Legend
Simon eventually traveled to Rome, where he was received as enthusiastically as he had been in his homeland. Tradition holds that he engaged in debates with the apostle Peter, recorded in the “Clementine Homilies” and preserved in Christian literature.
I go to Simon Magus trying to explain Pompeo Batoni’s painting “The Fall of Simon Magus” (1755) and the mystery of the cancellation of this Vatican project, after the painting was done in nine years and the work of translating it. on a mosaic for the altar of St. Peter’s Cathedral had already been underway for a year.
If you don’t know the story of the competition between the apostle Peter and the gnostic Simon Magus against the emperor Nero and the population of Rome, you may look at the painting and think that it does something with early aviation or flight experiments. We need to know the legend to understand the painting.
Legend has it that Peter challenged Simon to fly into the air, and when he did so with ease, Peter made him fall to the ground with a prayer. According to one version, Simon broke his legs and retreated in shame, dying in ignominy some time later. According to another, Simon died instantly from the fall.
For me, Pompeo Batoni’s 18th century painting “The Fall of Simon Magus” and the strange Vatican rejection after ten years of study and work have an explanation.
In 1756 after so many centuries (17) the Vatican wanted people to better forget the first Gnostic legend of Simon Magus. It was not politically correct for the Vatican to advertise Simon Magus more. The Apostle Peter had already been recognized as the founder of the Christian Church in Rome since the first century.
Pompeo Batoni’s brilliant painting stimulates curiosity and questions about the subject and the old competitors of the early Christian religion.
That was exactly what happened to me. I needed to know who was Simon Magus? The results of my research are a few web pages.
For more detailed information and image of “The Fall of Simon Magus” visit my website winner4us.com
