Re: RI January 2025

Bobbie Sellers wrote:

  On 6/22/25 23:54, The Horny Goat wrote:

On Mon, 24 Feb 2025 08:46:47 -0800, Paul S Person
<psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>

As to Simon Magus, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Magus> notes
that the Early Fathers did attribute Gnosticism to him but modern
scholars are divided on whether he actually was a Gnostic or was
merely regarded as one by the Church Fathers. All of whom, since Simon
Magus and Peter the Apostle were contemporaries, were writing a
century or two after he died.
>

That's what I remembered and I was therefore mystified by how Simon
Magus could still be around in the time of Marcus Aurelius.

      Might there not have been another Simon Magus or a charlatan assuming
the name to increase his reputation?

It was very common for writers in the ancient world to publish works under the name of an older, famous writer.
Thus the "false Geber" published his alchemy under the name of an earlier alchemist.  Somewhat ironic as the false Geber was a better alchemist than Geber (details in Asimov's "biographical encyclopedia of science and technology).
And of course people who were not Paul writing letters as Paul would be a more famous example.
But as Simon Magus was given a very bad reputation (the sin of Simony being named after him) using his name would be of value only in unusual circumstances.
William Hyde