Apostolic Constitutions VI, 9
Constitutiones Apostolorum VI, 9
AnonymousΧ.
Ὁ μέντοι Σίμων ἐμοὶ Πέτρῳ πρῶτον μὲν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ Στρατωνος, ἔνθα Κορνήλιος ὁ πιστὸς ἐπίστευσεν ὢν ἐθνικὸς ὢν κύριον Ἰησοῦν δι' ἐμοῦ, συντυχὼν μοι ἐπειράτο διαστρέφειν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, συμπαρόντων μοι τῶν ἱερῶν τέκνων, Ματθαίου τοῦ ποτε τελώνου καὶ Βαρνάβα, καὶ Νικήτου καὶ Ἀκύλα τῶν Κλήμεντος τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου τε καὶ πολίτου, μαθητευθέντος δὲ καὶ Παύλῳ τῷ συναποστόλῳ ἡμῶν καὶ συνεργῷ
τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ· καὶ τρίτον ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν διαλεχθεὶς αὐτῷ εἰς τὸν περὶ προφήτου λόγον καὶ περὶ θεοῦ μοναρχίας, ἡττήσας αὐτὸν δυνάμει τοῦ κυρίου καὶ εἰς ἀφωνίαν καταβαλὼν φυγάδα κατέστησα εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν. 2 (ΙΧ). γενόμενος δὲ ἐν Ῥώμῃ πολὺ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἔσκυλεν, πολλοὺς ἀνατρέπων καὶ ἑαυτῷ περιποιούμενος, τά τε ἔθνη ἐξιστῶν μαγικῇ ἐμπειρίᾳ καὶ δαιμόνων ἐνεργείᾳ, ὡς καὶ ποτε μέσης ἡμέρας προελθὼν εἰς τὸ θέατρον αὐτῶν, κελεύσας τοῖς δήμοις ἁρπαγῆναι κἀμέ, ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ἐπηγγέλλετο πτῆναι δι᾽ ἀέρος. 3. πάντων δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μετεώρων τυγχανόντων ἐγὼ προσηυχόμην καθ᾽ ἑαυτόν, καὶ δὴ μετεωρισθεὶς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων ἵπτατο μετάρσιος εἰς ἀέρα, λέγων εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνιέναι κἀκεῖθεν τούτοις τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐπιχορηγήσειν· τῶν δὲ δήμων ἐπευφημούντων τοῦτον ὡς θεόν, ἐκτείνας ἐγὼ τὰς χεῖρας εἰς οὐρανὸν σὺν αὐτῇ τῇ διανοίᾳ ἱκέτευον τὸν θεὸν διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ῥῆξαι τὸν Σιμεῶνα καὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν τῶν δαιμόνων περικόψαι ἐπ᾽ ἀπάτῃ καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ ἀνθρώπων κεχρημένων αὐτῇ, ῥάξαντα δὲ μὴ θανατῶσαι, ἀλλὰ συντρῖψαι. 4. καὶ ὑπολαβὼν, ἀτενίσας εἶπον τῷ Σίμωνι· Εἰ „θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος" ἐγώ, ἀπόστολος δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀληθής καὶ διδάσκαλος εὐσεβείας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πλάνης, οἷος σὺ Σίμων, προστάσσω ταῖς πονηραῖς δυνάμεσιν τοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀποστάτου, ἐφ᾽ αἷς ὀχεῖται Σίμων ὁ μάγος, ἀφεῖναι τῆς κρατήσεως, ὅπως ἐξ ὕψους κατενεχθῇ εἰς γέλωτα τῶν ἀπατηθέντων ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ· καὶ εἰπόντος μου ταῦτα, περικοπεὶς τῶν δυνάμεων ὁ Σίμων κατηνέχθη μετὰ μεγάλου ἤχου καὶ ῥαγεὶς ἐξαίσιον συντρίβεται τὸ ἰσχίον καὶ τῶν ποδῶν τοὺς ταρσούς. 5. καὶ φωνὴ τῶν ὄχλων λέγουσα· Εἷς ὁ θεός, ὃν Πέτρος δικαίως καταγγέλλει τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μόνον· καὶ πολλοὶ ἀπέστησαν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, τινὲς δὲ ἄξιοι τῆς ἀπωλείας αὐτοῦ ὄντες παρέμειναν αὐτοῦ τῇ μοχθηρᾷ διδασκαλίᾳ. 6. καὶ οὕτως πρώτη ἐπάγη ἡ τῶν Σιμωνιανῶν ἀθεωτάτη αἵρεσις ἐν Ῥώμῃ, καὶ διὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ψευδαποστόλων ἐνήργει ὁ διάβολος.
X.
Simon, however, first encountered me, Peter, in Caesarea Stratonis — where the faithful Cornelius, though a Gentile, came to believe in the Lord Jesus through my ministry — and attempted to pervert the word of God, with the holy brethren present alongside me: Matthew, formerly a tax-collector, and Barnabas, and Nicetas and Aquila, disciples of Clement, bishop and citizen of Rome, who had also been trained under Paul, our fellow apostle and co-worker
in the gospel. And engaging him a third time before the same witnesses in a dispute concerning the prophet and the sole sovereignty of God, I defeated him by the power of the Lord, struck him dumb, and drove him as a fugitive into Italy. 2 (IX). Arriving in Rome, he wreaked great havoc upon the church, overturning many and drawing them to himself, and astonishing the nations by his skill in magic and the working of demons — so that on one occasion, coming out at midday into their theater and ordering the crowds to seize me as well, he proclaimed that he would fly through the air. 3. While everyone was on edge with anticipation, I was praying by myself; and indeed, lifted up by demons, he flew aloft through the air, declaring that he was ascending into the heavens and would from there supply them with good things. But while the crowds were cheering him as a god, I stretched out my hands toward heaven with my whole mind, and implored God through Jesus the Lord to shatter Simon and cut off the power of the demons who were employing it for the deception and destruction of men — to dash him down but not to kill him, only to shatter him. 4. Then, collecting myself, I fixed my gaze and said to Simon: “If I am a ‘man of God,’ a true apostle of Jesus Christ and a teacher of piety — not of error, as you are, Simon — I command the wicked powers of the apostate from piety, upon which Simon the Magician is borne aloft, to release their hold, so that he may be brought down from the height to the ridicule of those he has deceived.” When I had said this, Simon, severed from the [supporting] powers, was brought down with a great crash; and being dashed violently, his hip and the soles of his feet were shattered. 5. And a voice from the crowds cried out: “There is one God, whom Peter rightly proclaims with truth alone!” And many turned away from Simon, though some, being worthy of his perdition, remained devoted to his wicked teaching. 6. And so the most godless heresy of the Simonians was first planted in Rome, and through the remaining false apostles the devil was at work.