Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Pseudo-Clementine Literature/The Clementine Homilies/Homily XVII/Chapter 2

Chapter II.&#8212;Simon&#8217;s Speech Against Peter.

Now he said:&#160; &#8220;He accuses you, Peter, of being the servant of wickedness, of having great power in magic, and as charming the souls of men in a way worse than idolatry. &#160; To prove that you are a magician, he seemed to me to adduce the following evidence, saying:&#160; &#8216;I am conscious of this, that when I come to hold a discussion with him, I do not remember a single word of what I have been meditating on by myself.&#160; For while he is discoursing, and my mind is engaged in recollecting what it is that I thought of saying on coming to a conference with him, I do not hear anything whatsoever of what he is saying.&#160; Now, since I do not experience this in the presence of any other than in his alone, is it not plain that I am under the influence of his magic?&#160; And as to his doctrines being worse than those of idolatry, I can make that quite clear to any one who has understanding.&#160; For there is no other benefit than this, that the soul should be freed from images of every kind.&#160; For when the soul brings an image before its eye, it is bound by fear, and it pines away through anxiety lest it should suffer some calamity; and being altered, it falls under the influence of a demon; and being under his influence, it seems to the mass to be wise.