Jerome reports in his biography of St. Paula that possessed persons in Samaria “howled like wolves, barked like dogs, roared like lions, hissed like serpents, and bellowed like bulls”.  Part of the letter written about Paula is here cited:

Turning away thence Paula saw the tombs of the twelve patriarchs, and Samaria which in honour of Augustus Herod renamed Augusta or in Greek Sebaste. There lie the prophets Elisha and Obadiah and John the Baptist than whom there is not a greater among those that are born of women.?²⁸⁶¹ And here she was filled with terror by the marvels she beheld; for she saw demons screaming under different tortures before the tombs of the saints, and men howling like wolves, baying like dogs, roaring like lions, hissing like serpents and bellowing like bulls. They twisted their heads and bent them backwards until they touched the ground; women too were suspended head downward and their clothes did not fall off.?²⁸⁶² Paula pitied them all, and shedding tears over them prayed Christ to have mercy on them. And weak as she was she climbed the mountain on foot; for in two of its caves Obadiah in a time of persecution and famine had fed a hundred prophets with bread and water.?²⁸⁶³ Then she passed quickly through Nazareth the nursery of the Lord; Cana and Capernaum familiar with the signs wrought by Him; the lake of Tiberias sanctified by His voyages upon it; the wilderness where countless Gentiles were satisfied with a few loaves while the twelve baskets of the tribes of Israel were filled with the fragments left by them that had eaten.?²⁸⁶⁴ She made the ascent of Mount Tabor whereon the Lord was transfigured.?²⁸⁶⁵ In the distance she beheld the range of Hermon;?²⁸⁶⁶ and the wide stretching plains of Galilee where Sisera and all his host had once been overcome by Barak; and the torrent?²⁸⁶⁷ Kishon separating the level ground into two parts. Hard by also the town of Nain was pointed out to her, where the widow’s son was raised.?²⁸⁶⁸ Time would fail me sooner than speech were I to recount all the places to which the revered Paula was carried by her incredible faith.

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2861 1 Kings xviii. 4.

2862 Matt. xiv. 13–21.

2863 According to the common tradition, but Hermon is more likely to have been the place.

2864 In the original ‘Hermon and the Hermons?0’; an allusion to the Hebrew text of Ps. xlii. 6.

2865 Jud. v. 21, Vulg.

2866 Luke vii. 11–15.

2867 Jud. xv. 17–19, R.V.

2868 Micah i. 1, Micah i. 14.

In the early church, a wave of heathenism spread throughout Christendom known as Gnosticism.  The best definition of Gnosticism is that it is a belief and religious system that exalts knowledge and revelation over grace and faith as the key to one’s salvation, and incorporates many philosophies into itself, especially heathenism, exalting heathenism above all.  Gnosticism consists of Oriental mysticism, Greek philosophy, Alexander, Platonistic, Cabbalistic Judaism, and other heathen philosophies combined with a perverted Christian thought.Gnosticism taught quite well also that it was impossible to grasp knowledge about God through the mind, understanding, and reason, and that true knowledge can only come through the spirit (or spiritual means).²⁰

This belief system destroys the need of the Bible, and as such makes each person his own god (as it can be said), for the final authority becomes each person rather than the Scriptures themselves.  Undeniably, the Gnostics had several schemes of redemption, having day by day new spiritual revelations that contradicted the Word of God, and a knowledge thought of as perfect redemption.  The hatred of the Gnostics to that of anything of matter, or anything of the senses leads them to deny that genuine divine knowledge could come through physical means, and be in a written form.  As such, the Word of God to them is nothing more than whatever they so make it to be.

IrenFus himself gives one account of the Gnostics, and their hatred of the outward senses.  So much so that only those who knew as animal man should follow the outward senses.²¹ 

The ancient and modern Gnostics will attack this notion that the reason of a man should judge in the things of God.  However, the very fact that God imparted his mind and counsels in words and writing unto men is more a final authority than anyone can imagine, and oppose. 

20.IrenFus Against Heresies, 1:22.

21. Ibid., 1:5.

Second century Church father St. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote of many errors that attacked the early Church. In his book “Against the Heresies” he writes about the Gnostic teachings and ministry of Simon Magus that we might find interesting. Through Simon Magus, writes Irenaeus, “all heresies got their start.” This is the same Simon the sorcerer that Peter rebuked who wanted to purchase the Holy Ghost that he saw poured out on the believers in Philip’s meetings in Samaria. Scripture says, “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money” (Acts 8:18). Peter rebuked him and told him he needed to repent of such wickedness.
After this Irenaeus wrote that Simon “set himself eagerly to contend against the apostles in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful being and applied himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art that he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men.” Simon did this by forming a religious sect and introducing strange fire among the people. He taught that angels and archangels created the world and that “prophets uttered their predictions under the inspiration of those angels.” Irenaeus further wrote that Simon had a deliverance ministry, sold prophesies, potions and charms, tapped into familiar spirits (Paredri) and used occult powers (Oniropompi) to send out prophetic dreams to his followers and those he would merchandise. Simon wowed the crowds and became so popular among the people that Claudius Cesar even honored him with a statue.
Today we would do well to learn from history.  From history we know certainly that Simon Magus was deceived.  But what would have happened to the early church if Peter had not brought attention to this man’s heresies?  Others like Philip did not discern it and others remained quiet.  Peter was a watchman; one who would not keep quiet, but who would speak out.  Peter made it clear that all spiritual experiences must be judged by the Word of God, never the Word of God by experiences. 
Irenaeus stated that Simon’s activities brought much confusion and damaged the early Church because “they mislead the minds of the more ignorant and ensnare them by falsifying the Lord’s words. Thus they become wicked interpreters of genuine words. They bring many to ruin by leading them, under the pretense of knowledge away from Him who established and adorned this universe, as if they had something more sublime and excellent to manifest than the God who made heaven and all things in them. By cleverness with words they persuasively allure the simple folk to this style of searching, but then, absurdly, bring them to perdition by trumping up their blasphemous and impious opinion against the Creator. In this matter they just cannot distinguish what is false from what is true.”