This book retells the legendary conflict between ancient magic and the Apostolic Church—a story that, in our present age, has largely faded from memory. The dramatic confrontation between the Apostles and Simon Magus once stood at the centre of early Christian imagination, raising profound questions about the nature of miracles, the limits of magic, and the struggle for spiritual authority.
The author examines how ancient magical operations—necromancy, transmutation, sex magic, transvection, and other arcane practices—functioned as opposing forces to the sacramental powers of the Primitive Church. While Simon Magus appears briefly and colourfully in the New Testament, the biblical account leaves far more unsaid than revealed. To understand him, researchers must turn to apocryphal legends, early Christian apologists, and the polemical literature of the first centuries.
This book restores a forgotten chapter of early Christian history—one that reveals how the first believers understood power, authority, and the supernatural. It offers the most accessible modern synthesis of the Simon Magus tradition, drawing together sources that are otherwise difficult to locate or interpret. For anyone studying early Christianity, Western esotericism, or the Church's early struggle with magical and occult traditions, it provides essential context. By transforming a brief biblical episode into a rich, multidimensional narrative, it deepens our understanding of both ancient magic and apostolic faith. For scholars, seekers, and readers fascinated by the intersection of religion and the occult, this volume is indispensable.
The appearance of Simon Magus in the New Testament is colourful but fleeting, raising more questions than it answers. To understand him, researchers must turn to apocryphal legends and the writings of early Christian apologists. Some accounts of his magic are fantastical, others more restrained, yet theologians often dismiss them as mere polemic. At times, the pendulum swings the other way, with Simon reimagined as a Gnostic counterpart to St Paul. What, then, is the truth—and what were Simon's magical operations actually like?
The author approaches these questions by setting aside the polemics and taking Simon's magic seriously. If we treat the apocryphal and apologetic material as containing at least some authentic historical memory, we can begin to reconstruct his life, beliefs, and practices. This study follows Simon's conflict with Peter from Samaria to Rome, examining both men to understand what early Christians and Jews regarded as legitimate or illegitimate magic. Did the Apostles practise magic? Does the Church still do so? What truly distinguishes a miracle from a magical act?
Equally compelling is Simon's status as a false messiah or antichrist. The New Testament uses these terms in varied ways, distinguishing false messiahs from the False Messiah, and antichrists from the Antichrist. Where does Simon fit within this spectrum, and does his magic or moral conduct shed any light on the matter? What relevance might this have for a modern, secular world?
While the surviving sources are limited, careful analysis allows us to reconstruct the most plausible scenario. The book argues that Simon Magus was a real magician, practising largely negative operations and presenting himself as a false messiah. To illustrate the broader magical context, the author includes images from both the early Church period and the later Middle Ages, reflecting the manuscript's exploration of connections between ancient Jewish magic and medieval grimoires.
This book brings clarity and coherence to a subject long obscured by polemic and myth. It gathers and interprets sources scattered across centuries, making them accessible in one authoritative study, and illuminates the early Christian world's struggle to define the boundaries between miracle, magic, and heresy.
"Osborne provides us with a summarised version of most of the extant passages about the life of Simon Magus, providing all the key passages, while bringing his own scholarship to bear in interpreting them and comparing the sources ... This is excellent work, with a Preface by Tony Hutchins, is well researched and written."
Piers A. Vaughan
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