Simon Magus and the Apostle Paul: a speculative reconstruction of Christian origins

Introduction

For centuries, Christian tradition has drawn a sharp line between heresy and orthodoxy. Figures such as Simon Magus, Paul the Apostle, and Mary Magdalene have been divided along this boundary, one a heretic, the other a saint, the last a misunderstood disciple. But when we strip away later dogma, a far stranger possibility emerges: that Paul and Simon Magus may in fact be the same person, and that Helena, Simon’s consort, may have been historicized under the name Mary Magdalene. This paper explores the speculative hypothesis, not to dogmatize, but to open neglected questions of identity, Gnostic theology, and early Christian propaganda.

1. Simon Magus and Paul: twin profiles

The Book of Acts presents Simon Magus as the archetypal heretic. In Acts 8:9–24, he is portrayed as a Samaritan magician who attempts to “buy the Holy Spirit” from the apostles. His punishment is swift, and he is forever branded the founder of Gnostic deception.

Paul, meanwhile, enters Acts just a few chapters later. He is a former persecutor of Christians who suddenly sees a vision on the road to Damascus and becomes the greatest apostle to the Gentiles. What is curious is that Paul is never introduced in the Gospels, nor is Simon Magus ever mentioned outside of Acts and patristic polemics. Both appear suddenly. Both are associated with visions. Both are rejected by the Jerusalem apostles. And both build their ministries far from the Jewish homeland.

Tertullian, in Against Marcion (Book V), equates Paul’s gospel with heresy and links it to Marcion’s later teachings. Even the Clementine Recognitions and Homilies, dated to the 3rd century but based on older materials, frame Simon Magus as Paul under a polemical disguise. The character of “Simon” in those texts mirrors Paul’s theology, travels, and Gentile mission.

Reference:

Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus (1997)

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies (Book VI)

Tertullian, Against Marcion

Clementine Recognitions and Homilies

Eisenman suggests the conflict between James and Paul was real and that Paul may have been recast in heretical memory as Simon, the ultimate deceiver.

2. The mystery of Helena: prostitute, Sophia, Magdalene?

According to early Christian heresiologists like Irenaeus (Against Heresies I.23), Simon Magus traveled with a woman named Helena, whom he claimed was the first thought (Ennoia) of God. She had descended into matter and become trapped in multiple reincarnations, including that of Helen of Troy, until Simon found her in a brothel in Tyre. He claimed she was the embodiment of Sophia, the divine wisdom, and that he came to redeem her.

This has striking parallels with later Gnostic views of Mary Magdalene, particularly in texts like the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Philip, and Pistis Sophia. In these texts, Mary is not merely a disciple, she is the revealer, the intimate companion, the one with special knowledge that outranks Peter and the rest.

In the Gospel of Philip, she is referred to as Jesus’ koinōnos, or spiritual partner, and is linked with the theme of sacred wisdom. Her image as a prostitute-turned-saint was solidified only later, especially by Pope Gregory I in a 6th-century homily that identified her with the sinful woman in Luke 7.

The 12th homily of Pope Gregory I (Homiliae in Evangelia) offers forgiveness to Mary Magdalene not just for sin, but for what he calls “erotic seduction” or veneficium—the Latin word sometimes connoting sorcery or sexual magic.

Could Mary Magdalene be a sanitized memory of Helena, the partner of Simon, who was associated with divine feminine wisdom in Gnostic circles? Did the church, in rebranding Simon as Paul and Helena as Magdalene, divide what was once a single Gnostic movement?

Reference:

Gospel of Philip (Nag Hammadi Codex II)

Gospel of Mary (Papyrus Berolinensis 8502)

Pistis Sophia (Codex Askewianus)

Irenaeus, Against Heresies I.23

Pope Gregory I, Homiliae in Evangelia XII

Karen L. King, The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle

April D. DeConick, The Gnostic New Age

3. Simon in Rome: resurrection, rivalry, and divinization

According to Justin Martyr (First Apology 26), Simon Magus went to Rome during the reign of Claudius and impressed the people so much that he was deified. A statue was allegedly erected in his honor inscribed “Simoni Deo Sancto” (To Simon the Holy God). Though some scholars debate whether the statue actually referred to Simon, Justin clearly believed that Simon had captivated Roman audiences.

Hippolytus records that Simon claimed to possess the power to raise the dead, and some legends say that he did in fact perform such a feat in Rome. Others say he levitated and was struck down by Peter’s prayers. Either way, the tradition surrounding Simon in Rome is one of immense magical power, dramatic miracles, and growing popularity—until his alleged defeat by Peter.

Yet here again we find echoes of Paul, who also went to Rome, also had a controversial reputation, and also claimed miraculous powers. Both Simon and Paul faced opposition from the Jerusalem church. Both were suspected of heresy. Both were remembered for grand theological systems divorced from Jewish law.

Reference:

Justin Martyr, First Apology 26

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Book VI

Pseudo-Clementine Homilies II–III

Origen, Contra Celsum VI.11

4. Pauline theology and Gnostic cosmology

Simon Magus preached that the world was created by lower angels, the Archons, who trapped divine sparks in human bodies. His goal was to free Helena, the divine Ennoia, from their grip. This cosmology is mirrored in later Valentinian and Sethian Gnostic systems.

Now compare this to Paul’s epistles. Paul speaks of “principalities and powers” in heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12), calls the Law a “curse,” and preaches liberation from the “elements of the world.” His Christ is not a Jewish messiah, but a cosmic redeemer. He speaks of mystical union with Christ, hidden wisdom, and a gospel he received “not from man, but by revelation.”

These parallels are impossible to ignore.

Reference:

Galatians 1:12

Ephesians 6:12

Romans 7

Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Paul

G.A. Wells, The Jesus Legend

Conclusion: rewriting the story

The early church painted Simon Magus as the villain. But what if Simon and Paul were one and the same? What if Helena, far from being a brothel girl rescued by a sorcerer, was the origin of Mary Magdalene as Sophia incarnate? What if Gnostic Christianity was the real original movement, and orthodoxy was the edited replacement?

By comparing Simon’s theology, miracles, consort, travels, and conflicts with Paul’s, a compelling hypothesis emerges: the same man remembered through different lenses. Simon in heretical memory. Paul in canonical hagiography.

Either way, the story we’ve been told is not the full story. There are cracks in the wall, and light is coming through.

Veritas Lux Mea.