Chapter VIII.—Simon Magus.

But that very sapient fellow Simon makes his statement thus, that there is an indefinite power, and that this is the root of the universe. And this indefinite power, he says, which is fire, is in itself not anything which is simple, as the gross bulk of speculators maintain, when they assert that there are four incomposite elements, and have supposed fire, as one of these, to be uncompounded. Simon, on the other hand, alleges that the nature of fire is twofold; and one portion of this twofold (nature) he calls a something secret, and another (a something) manifest. And he asserts that the secret is concealed in the manifest parts of the fire, and that the manifest parts of the fire have been produced from the secret. And he says that all the parts of the fire, visible and invisible, have been supposed to be in possession of a capacity of perception.  The world, therefore, he says, that is begotten, has been produced from the unbegotten fire. And it commenced, he says, to exist thus: The Unbegotten One took six primal roots of the principle of generation from the principle of that fire. For he maintains that these roots have been generated in pairs from the fire; and these he denominates Mind and Intelligence, Voice and Name, Ratiocination and Reflection. And he asserts that in the six roots, at the same time, resides the indefinite power, which he affirms to be Him that stood, stands, and will stand. And when this one has been formed into a figure, He will, according to this heretic, exist in the six powers substantially and potentially. And He will be in magnitude and perfection one and the same with that unbegotten and indefinite power, possessing no attribute in any respect more deficient than that unbegotten, and unalterable, and indefinite power. If, however, He who stood, stands, and will stand, continues to exist only potentially in the six powers, and has not assumed any definite figure, He becomes, says Simon, utterly evanescent, and perishes. And this takes place in the same manner as the grammatical or geometrical capacity, which, though it has been implanted in man’s soul, suffers extinction when it does not obtain (the assistance of) a master of either of these arts, who would indoctrinate that soul into its principles. Now Simon affirms that he himself is He who stood, stands, and will stand, and that He is a power that is above all things. So far, then, for the opinions of Simon likewise.

[12] Ὁ δὲ πάνσοφος Σίμων οὕτως λέγει: ἀπέραντόν [τινα] εἶναι δύναμιν, ταύτην [δὲ] ῥίζωμα τῶν ὅλων εἶναι. ἔστι δέ [φησιν] ἡ ἀπέραντος δύναμις, τὸ πῦρ, κατ' αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ἁπλοῦν, καθάπερ οἱ πολλοὶ ἁπλᾶ λέγοντες εἶναι τὰ [δὲ] τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἁπλοῦν εἶναι νενομίκασιν, ἀλλ' εἶναι τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν φύσιν διπλῆν [τινα]: καὶ τῆς διπλῆς ταύτης καλεῖ τὸ μέν τι κρυπτόν, τὸ δέ [τι] φανερόν: κεκρύφθαι δὲ τὰ κρυπτὰ ἐν τοῖς φανεροῖς τοῦ πυρός, καὶ τὰ φανερὰ τοῦ πυρὸς ὑπὸ τῶν κρυπτῶν γεγονέναι. Πάντα δέ, φησί, νενόμισται τὰ μέρη τοῦ πυρός, ὁρατὰ καὶ ἀόρατα, «φρόνησιν ἔχειν». γέγονεν οὖν, φησίν, ὁ κόσμος ὁ γεννητὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου πυρός. ἤρξατο δέ, φησίν, οὕτως γίνεσθαι: ἓξ ῥίζας τὰς πρώτας τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς γενέσεως ὁ γεννητὸς ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ πυρὸς ἐκείνου λαβών. ταύτας γάρ [φησι τὰς] ῥίζας γεγονέναι κατὰ συζυγίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρός, ἅστινας καλεῖ Νοῦν καὶ Ἐπίνοιαν, Φωνὴν καὶ Ὄνομα, Λογισμὸν καὶ Ἐνθύμησιν. εἶναι δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἓξ ῥίζαις [ταύταις πᾶσαν] ὁμοῦ τὴν ἀπέραντον δύναμιν [δυνάμει, οὐκ ἐνεργείᾳ, ἥντινα ἀπέραντον δύναμιν] εἶναί φησι τὸν ἑστῶτα στάντα στησόμενον. ὃς [ἐὰν μὲν] ἐξεικονισθῇ, [ὢν] ἐν ταῖς ἓξ δυνάμεσιν, ἔσται οὐσίᾳ, δυνάμει, μεγέθει, ἀποτελέσματι μία καὶ [ἡ] αὐτὴ τῇ ἀγεννήτῳ καὶ ἀπεράντῳ δυνάμει, οὐδὲν ὅλως ἔχουσα ἐνδεέστερον ἐκείνης τῆς ἀγεννήτου καὶ ἀπαραλ[λ]άκτου καὶ ἀπεράντου δυνάμεως. ἐὰν δὲ μείνῃ δυνάμει μόνον ἐν ταῖς ἓξ δυνάμεσι καὶ μὴ ἐξεικονισθῇ, ἀφανίζεται, φησί, καὶ ἀπόλλυται, οὕτως ὡς ἡ δύναμις ἡ γραμματικὴ [ἢ] ἡ γεωμετρικὴ [ἐν] ἀνθρώπου ψυχῇ ὑπάρξασα, μὴ προσλαβοῦσα τεχνίτην τὸν διδάξοντα. αὑτὸν δὲ εἶναι ὁ Σίμω(ν) λέγει τὸν ἑστῶτα στάντα στησόμενον, ὄντα δύναμιν τὴν ὑπὲρ τὰ πάντα. τα(ῦ)τα τοίνυν καὶ ὁ Σίμων.