Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian
traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria,
and Phrygia. In the Roman Catholic Church, the feast
day of Philip, along with that of James the Just, was traditionally observed on
1 May, the anniversary of the dedication of the church dedicated to them in Rome.
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Philip's feast day on 14 November. One
of the Gnostic codices discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 bears
Philip's name in its title, on the bottom line.
New Testament The Synoptic Gospels list Philip as one
of the apostles. The Gospel of John describes Philip's calling as a disciple
of Jesus.[Jn 1:43] Philip is described as a disciple from the city of
Bethsaida, and connects him to Andrew and Peter, who were from the same town.
He also was among those surrounding the Baptist when the latter first pointed
out Jesus as the Lamb of God. It was Philip who first introduces Nathanael to
Jesus. According to Butler, Philip was among those attending the wedding at
Cana. Of the four Gospels, Philip figures most
prominently in the Gospel of John. Philip is asked by Jesus how to feed
5,000 people. Later he appears as a link to the Greek community. Philip bore a
Greek name and may have spoken Greek. He advises Andrew that certain Greeks wish
to meet Jesus, and together they inform him of this. During the Last Supper,
when Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, he provides Jesus the
opportunity to teach his disciples about the unity of the Father and the Son.
Philip the Apostle should not be confused with Philip the Evangelist, who
was appointed with Stephen to oversee charitable distributions.
Christian tradition Accounts of Philip's life and ministry
exist in the extra-canonical writings of later Christians. However, some can be
misleading, as many hagiographers conflated Philip the Apostle with Philip
the Evangelist. The most notable and influential example of this is the
hagiography of Eusebius, in which Eusebius clearly assumes that both
Philips are the same person. As early as 1260, Jacobus de Voragine noted in his
Golden Legend that the account of Philip's life given by Eusebius was not
to be trusted. An early story about St Philip is
preserved in the Letter from Peter to Philip, one of the texts in the Nag
Hammadi Library, and dated to the end of the 2nd century or early 3rd. This text
begins with a letter from St Peter to Philip the apostle, asking him to rejoin
the other apostles who had gathered at the Mount of Olives. Fred Lapham
believes that this letter indicates an early tradition that "at some point
between the Resurrection of Jesus and the final parting of his risen presence
from the disciples, Philip had undertaken a sole missionary enterprise,
and was, for some reason, reluctant to return to the rest of the Apostles."
This mission is in harmony with the later tradition that each disciple was
given a specific missionary charge. Lapham explains the central section, a
Gnostic dialogue between the risen Christ and his disciples, as a later
insertion. Later stories about Saint Philip's life
can be found in the anonymous Acts of Philip, probably written by a
contemporary of Eusebius. This non-canonical book recounts the
preaching and miracles of Philip. Following the resurrection of Jesus,
Philip was sent with his sister Mariamne and Bartholomew to preach in Greece,
Phrygia, and Syria. Included in the Acts of Philip is an appendix, entitled "Of
the Journey of Philip the Apostle: From the Fifteenth Act Until the End, and
Among Them the Martyrdom." This appendix gives an account of Philip's martyrdom
in the city of Hierapolis. According to this account, through a miraculous
healing and his preaching Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of
the city. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip, Bartholomew, and
Mariamne all tortured. Philip and Bartholomew were then crucified
upside-down, and Philip preached from his cross. As a result of Philip's
preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross, but Philip insisted that
they not release him, and Philip died on the cross. Another legend is that he was
martyred by beheading in the city of Hierapolis.
Iconography Philip is commonly associated with the
symbol of the Latin cross. Other symbols assigned to Philip include: the cross
with the two loaves, a basket filled with bread, a spear with the patriarchal
cross, and a cross with a carpenter's square.
Patronage Saint Philip is the patron saint of
hatters. Tomb discovered
On Wednesday, 27 July 2011, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that
archaeologists had unearthed a tomb that the project leader claims to be the Tomb
of Saint Philip during excavations in Hierapolis close to the Turkish city
Denizli. The Italian archaeologist, Professor Francesco D'Andria stated that
scientists had discovered the tomb within a newly revealed church. He
stated that the design of the Tomb, and writings on its walls, definitively
prove it belonged to the martyred Apostle of Jesus.
See also Philip the Evangelist
References External links
Catholic Encyclopedia: Apostle article regarding the title "Apostle" from The
Catholic Encyclopedia Catholic Forum: St. Philip
Holy, All-Praised Apostle Philip Orthodox icon and synaxarion