With a background established, we will return to Acts 8 where we find that Peter has severely rebuked Simon, telling him that his heart was not right with God, that he would burn with his money, that he was in the “… gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” He ended his rebuke by telling Simon that he had no part to play in God’s church. As we will soon see, Simon had no intention of remaining in God’s church. Secular history reveals that rather than drop out of religion, he would establish his own, one which would set the standard for hypocrisy, heathenism and deception until the end of the age. Beginning with only one man–Simon Magus–this church would go on to become the scourge of the religious world for many generations. Revelation tells us that during the final days of this era she will evolve into a one-world religion that will be in power at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who will destroy her with the Sword of His Mouth–His Word.

It is at this point that the Scriptures leave Simon, forcing the seeker of truth to depend on historians of  antiquity as well as more recent researchers to supply the information that is not readily available to us. What history tells us, as the reader will soon learn, will clarify a number of questions concerning “the church” as it is known today.

Historians tell us that Simon, having been put out of the church in Samaria, traveled to Rome during the time of Claudius Caesar, bringing with him a new religion, one that combined the major tenants of Christianity and Judaism as well as a variety of Babylonian beliefs and practices. Simon’s purpose was to create a church that would appeal to people of any and all religious persuasions regardless of their spiritual condition. In order to gain religious respectability in Rome, the sorcerer presented himself as Simon Peter, the Lord’s apostle. Posing as Peter, he went about establishing a church based primarily on Babylonian customs and traditions, injecting just enough Christian and Jewish teachings to make his new religion acceptable to those Jews and Gentiles who were familiar with the newly formed Christian church and its founder, Jesus of Nazareth. The church Simon the Sorcerer founded would become known the Universal Church, today known as Catholicism, whose doctrines and practices continue to reflect the work of its founder. She and her harlot daughters (Rev. 17:1-5–Protestant sects) continue to tread the path of heathenism and religiosity to this day, luring unsuspecting souls into their web as they spread their poisonous theologies throughout the world. See Bait and Switch.

Because much has been made of the “fact” that the Apostle Peter established the Catholic Church and became its first pope, it behooves the seeker of Truth to consult the Holy Scriptures in order to separate truth from fiction and wishful thinking. When the seeker does this, as we are commanded by God to do, he/she will find that much, if not most of what he/she has been told from pulpit and podium are lies put forth by Satan through his false prophets. Those seeking God’s Truth will learn, confess, repent, turn and embrace the Lord and His Word. Those without eyes to see and ears to hear will stay the course. To be continued. L.J.