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(Acts 8:5–17; John 6:27–33) “Simon himself believed and, having been baptized, did not leave Philip” (Acts 8:13). And he believed and was baptized, but nothing came of him. One must think that there was something improper in the structure of his faith. Sincere faith is the denial of one's mind. The mind must be laid bare and presented to faith as a blank slate, so that it can inscribe itself on it as it is, without any admixture of outside sayings and positions. When the principles remain in the mind, then after writing the provisions of faith on it, there will be a mixture of provisions in it: consciousness will be confused, encountering between the actions of faith and the philosophies of the mind. Such was Simon - a model for all heretics; such are all those who, with their wisdom, enter the realm of faith, both before and now. They are confused in faith, and nothing comes of them except harm: for themselves - when they remain voiceless, for others - when this confusion is not kept within them alone, but breaks out through their thirst to be teachers. From here there always emerges a party of people who have more or less sinned in the faith, with an unhappy confidence in infallibility and a disastrous urge to remake everyone in their own way. You might be interested in: