The beginning of heresies was thus. Satan possessed a man, Simon, who was a magician, and who had formerly been his servant ; and when we, by the gift of the Lord our God and the power of the Holy Ghost, were doing miracles of healing in Jerusalem, and by means of the laying on of hands the gift and fellowship of the Holy Spirit were being given to those who came near, then Simon offered us much silver, and wished that as he had deprived Adam of the knowledge of life by means of the eating of the tree, thus also by the gift of silver he should deprive us of (S. + the gift of) God ; and (S. + by the gift of a possession) should get hold of our mind, so that we might exchange and give him for silver the power of the Holy Ghost ; and we were all shaken about this. Then Peter looked