Editing Simony (section)

==Origin==
The earliest church legislation against simony may be that of the forty-eighth canon of the [[Synod of Elvira]] ({{circa|305}}), against the practice of making a donation following a baptism.<ref name=Weber1909/>{{rp|60}}

Following the [[Edict of Milan]] (313), the increased power and wealth of the church hierarchy attracted simony.<ref name=Weber1909/>{{rp|30}} There are several accusations of simony (not by that name) against [[Arianism|Arians]], from [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], [[Hilary of Poitiers]], [[Pope Liberius]] and [[Gregory of Nazianzus]].<ref name=Weber1909>{{cite book|last1=Weber|first1=N. A.|title=A History of Simony in the Christian Church: from the beginning to the death of Charlemagne (814)|publisher=J. H. Furst|location=Baltimore|year=1909|url=https://www.agape-biblia.org/orthodoxy/Seek_the_Welfare_of_the_City/History_of_Simony_in_the_Christian_Church.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|34–36}} Many Church Fathers, such as [[Ambrose]], spoke out against the selling of ministries.<ref name=Weber1909/>{{rp|56}}

Anti-simony provisions in [[Synod|Church Council]] canons (and [[papal bull]]s) became common: the [[First Council of Nicaea| First Council of Nicaea (325)]], the [[Synods of Antioch#The Synod of Antioch in 341|Synod of Antioch (341)]], and the Councils of [[Council of Serdica|Serdica]] (343–344), [[Council of Chalcedon|Chalcedon (451)]], and [[Council of Orléans 533|Orléans (533)]], etc.<ref name=Weber1909/>{{rp|62, 66, 121}}

The purchase or sale of ecclesiastical office was associated with the figure of [[Simon Magus]] in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] and his name came into use as a term.<ref name=Acts8/> Important in popularizing the word 'Simony' was [[Pope Gregory I]] (590–604), who called such exchanges the "simoniac heresy".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosé|first=Isabelle|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01822846|title=Simon le Magicien hérésiaque ?|year=2017|publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes|isbn=978-2-7535-5904-2}}</ref>