Simon, the Samaritan sorcerer, professed conversion to Christianity and attempted to purchase an apostleship, as recorded in historical accounts. Despite a sharp rebuke, legends suggest Simon portrayed himself as a Christian apostle, notably in Rome, where he crafted a new religion by merging his interpretation of grace with elements of ancient Babylonian mysteries, attaching the name of Christ to it. Early Christian writers viewed Simon as a potential founder of Gnosticism, though authentic information is scarce, making it difficult to confirm his direct connection to such tenets. While a link between Simon and gnostic heresies is possible, historical evidence indicates broader tendencies at work during and before the Apostolic age that could explain the rise of Gnosticism. Veiled references to Simon's false Christianity and similar heretical sects appear in historical writings, with some texts pointedly opposing his doctrine that obedience to God's laws is unnecessary after conversion. Additionally, phrases about those falsely claiming spiritual identity may relate to Simon's Samaritan counterfeit of true Christianity, as historical accounts note Samaritans sometimes claimed false identities for personal gain.

Simon Magus appears in Acts 8 as a Samaritan sorcerer who had long bewitched the people of his city by claiming to be the great power of God. Through his sorceries he drew followers from the least to the greatest until Philip preached the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. After believing and being baptized, Simon continued with Philip, marveling at the miracles performed. This account supplies the earliest indication that Gnosticism, a mystical and charismatic philosophy relying on magic and ascetic practices, had begun to function as a religion capable of affecting the church. When Gnostic concepts merged with the zealous observance of Halakah among certain Jews, the resulting syncretism produced a persuasive and persistent opposition that subtly shifted the basis of acceptability before God onto personal mystical achievements and law keeping. Paul's use of the term "bewitched" in Galatians 3:1 directly echoes the language applied to Simon, while references to the elements of the world, suffering, and ritual performance further signal the same Gnostic-Jewish influence at work in Galatia. These teachings threatened to circumvent the Father's sovereignty in calling, the efficacy of Christ's death, and justification by grace through faith, prompting Paul to demonstrate that righteousness is imputed on the basis of Christ's sacrifice and that genuine faith produces obedient works empowered by the Holy Spirit rather than by magic, asceticism, or ritual.

Simon Magus is identified in the material as the leader to whom the Simonians attached themselves, forming one of the Gnostic groups present in the early church. Mentioned in Acts 8, he entered the fellowship quite early, at a time when the church had only recently begun under the apostles. Substantial historical evidence from the Roman Catholic church fathers between the second and fourth centuries, later supplemented by the Nag Hammadi library, confirms the existence of such Gnostic factions, including the Simonians alongside the Nicolaitans. These groups identified themselves as Christians while retaining core Gnostic teachings such as the immortality of the soul, dualism, Docetism, antinomianism, and eternal security. Simon Magus thus exemplifies the pattern in which converted Jews, steeped in Greek philosophy after two centuries of cultural influence in Judea, failed to fully disengage from pagan thought and instead carried it into the church, urging it upon others under the pretext of better engaging outsiders. This early infiltration of Gnostic elements through figures like Simon Magus connects directly to the broader message that the same deceptive spiritual flood of twisted teachings continues to threaten the end-time church, just as it destroyed the Worldwide Church of God in the twentieth century by leading members away from the eternal truths of God's Word and the requirement to walk in His law.

Simon Magus had practiced sorcery in Samaria and astonished the people by claiming to be someone great, so that from the least to the greatest they called him the great power of God and followed him for a long time because of his sorceries. After Philip preached the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ and performed miracles there, Simon himself believed, was baptized, and continued with Philip, remaining amazed at the signs and miracles he saw. When Peter and John arrived and laid hands on the new believers so that they received the Holy Spirit, Simon offered the apostles money in exchange for the same power to confer the Spirit on others. Peter rebuked him sharply, declaring that his money should perish with him because he had supposed the gift of God could be purchased with money, that he had neither part nor portion in the matter since his heart was not right before God, and that he was poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity; Peter urged him to repent and pray that the thought of his heart might be forgiven. Simon answered by asking Peter to pray to the Lord for him that none of the threatened consequences would come upon him. Early church writers identify this same Simon as the father of Gnosticism, revered by Samaritans as the highest God, and as the man who later traveled to Rome with a woman named Helen, whom he presented as incarnate thought, where he continued to astonish people with demonic signs until a dispute with the apostle Peter ended in his failure to rise from a self-imposed burial. Although Simon appeared sincere at the moment of his request for prayer, later events showed that he became a hard and bitter opponent of the true church. His case illustrates how an unconverted person could be intellectually impressed by the gospel and its power yet still seek spiritual authority for selfish ends, in contrast to the converted who understand that the Spirit is given for service rather than domination.