Philip The Apostle Series

Philip the Apostle (Not to be confused with Philip the Evangelist.)

Saint

Philip the Apostle

Apostle and Martyr

Born 3 AD

Bethsaida, Galilee, Roman Empire

Died 80 AD

Hierapolis, Asia, Roman Empire

Venerated in Anglicanism

Catholicism

Eastern Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy

Lutheranism

Canonized

Pre-congregation

Today, all sainthood causes must be investigated by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican. They may recommend to the pope that a case be approved for sainthood. The pope, alone, then makes the decision. Prior to the Sacred Congregation, any bishop could declare a saint, usually at the urging of a parish, diocese, or religious order. This came to an end in the 12th century. Those declared a saint in these early years are called precongregational saints

Major shrine

relics in Basilica Santi Apostoli, Rome

Feast

As Philip and James, Apostles, in versions of the General Roman Calendar and Protestant commemorations:

3 May (Philip and James, Apostles) GRC 1969, EKD

1 May GRC 1954, Anglican Communion, Old Catholics, ECLA, LCMS

11 May GRC 1960,

14 November Eastern Orthodox Church (Translation of relics on 31 June)

Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the Apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia. In the Roman Rite, the feast day of Philip, along with that of James the Less, was traditionally observed on 1 May, the anniversary of the church's dedication to them in Rome (now called the Church of the Twelve Apostles). The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Philip's feast day on 14 November. On the bottom line, one of the Gnostic codices (manuscripts) discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 bears Philip's name in its title.

New Testament. The Synoptic Gospels list Philip as one of the apostles. The Gospel of John recounts Philip's calling as a disciple of Jesus.[Jn 1:43] Philip is described as a disciple from the city of Bethsaida, and the evangelist connects him with Andrew and Peter, who were from the same town. He also was among those surrounding John the Baptist when the latter first pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God. Philip first introduced Nathanael (sometimes identified with Bartholomew) 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. Jesus asks Philip how to feed the 5,000 people. Later he appears as a link to the Greek community. Philip bore a Greek name, may have spoken Greek and may have been known to the Greek pilgrims in Jerusalem. He advises Andrew that certain Greeks wish to meet Jesus, and together they inform Jesus of this (John 12:21). During the Last Supper, when Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, he provided 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 (Acts 6:5).

Christian tradition. Philip's life and ministry are accounted for in the extra-canonical writings of later Christians. However, some can be misleading, as many hagiographers[1] conflated (merged) Philip the Apostle with Philip the Evangelist. The most notable and influential example of this is the hagiography of Eusebius, in which Eusebius assumes that both Philips are the same person.

[1] Synonyms & Near Synonyms for hagiographer

• archivist,

• chronologist,

• genealogist

• autobiographer,

• biographer

• annalist,

• chronicler,

• historian

An early extra-biblical story about St. Philip is preserved in the apocryphal Letter from Peter to Philip, one of the texts in the Nag Hammadi Library, and dated to the end of the second century or early third. This text begins with a letter from St Peter to Philip, the Apostle, asking him to rejoin the other apostles 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." Lapham explains the central section, a Gnostic dialogue between the risen Christ and his disciples, as a later insertion. This mission is in harmony with the later tradition that each disciple was given a specific missionary charge.

Later stories about 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 Hierapolis. According to this account, through a miraculous healing and 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 do not release him, and Philip died on the cross. Another legend is that he was martyred by beheading in the city of Hierapolis.