Philip the Apostle
Encyclopedia
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 (now called the Church of the Twelve Apostles). The Eastern Orthodox Church
celebrates Philip's feast day on 14 November. One of the Gnostic texts found in the Nag Hammadi library
in 1945 has been given the modern title "Gospel of Philip
", though this text makes no claim to have been written by Philip. It gets the name simply because Philip is the only apostle ever mentioned in the text (73:8).
describes Philip's calling as a disciple
of Jesus. Philip is described as a disciple from the city of Bethsaida
, and connects him to Andrew
and Peter
, who were from the same town. It further connects him to Nathanael (sometimes identified with Bartholomew) whom Philip first introduces to Jesus. The authors of the Synoptic Gospels
also describe Philip as a disciple of Jesus.
Of the four Gospels, Philip figures most prominently in the Gospel of John. His two most notable appearances in the narrative are as a link to the Greek
community. Philip bore a Greek name (see Philip II of Macedon
) and we may infer from the context that Philip spoke Greek. Philip introduces members of this community to Jesus. 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 is always listed fifth among the apostles.
Other legendary material about Philip 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.
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
. Philip is commonly associated with the symbol of the Latin cross. Other symbols assigned to Philip include: the cross with the two loaves (because of his answer to the Lord in John 6:7), a basket filled with bread, a spear with the patriarchal cross
, and a cross with a carpenter's square.
also speaks of Jesus's disciples but does not mention their names, instead referring to them as "helpers to the work of God". Muslim exegesis and Qur'an commentary, however, names them and includes Philip amongst the disciples. Muslim exegesis also narrates that Philip later went to preach the faith of God in Qayrawan and Carthage
.
Professor Francesco D'Andria, the head of the excavation team in Hierapolis:
"This year, we have started the excavation in another place near the martyrdom of St. Philip. And we have found immediately another Church but different from the previos Church because its round plan. This is in three-edged and was covered by not a dome but normal roof. And in this tomb, in this church we have found a roman tomb. But this roman tomb was very much honoured, was the center of this church. The church was built in the 50 century from the emperor of Theodorus because we have found and inscription from emperor of Theodorus so also the connection between with the palace with the palace of emperor is another argument to prove that these places connected with Apostle of Jesus like Ephesus .Now we are sure because we have studied this problem for thirty years and made exploration all the area.This is the center of Philip's tomb. It's sure now we have one tomb that is connected with a very big church and was very big on earth in this context .So we can recognize now the tomb, the center of this system ,is the tomb of St. Philip.We are working at the beginning of our programm but I'm sure that many other elements will come from this side, this church and we wait to see may be an inscription may be some other objects that can prove more and more and more this wonderful reconstruction of our religious , cultural and historical tradition."
According to TRT
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Syria, and Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the feast day of Philip, along with that of James the Just
James the Just
James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...
, was traditionally observed on 1 May, the anniversary of the dedication of the church dedicated to them in Rome (now called the Church of the Twelve Apostles). The Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
celebrates Philip's feast day on 14 November. One of the Gnostic texts found in the Nag Hammadi library
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
in 1945 has been given the modern title "Gospel of Philip
Gospel of Philip
The Gospel of Philip is one of the Gnostic Gospels, a text of New Testament apocrypha, dating back to around the third century but lost to modern researchers until an Egyptian peasant rediscovered it by accident, buried in a cave near Nag Hammadi, in 1945...
", though this text makes no claim to have been written by Philip. It gets the name simply because Philip is the only apostle ever mentioned in the text (73:8).
New Testament
The Gospel of JohnGospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
describes Philip's calling as a disciple
Disciple (Christianity)
In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "the Twelve", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel...
of Jesus. Philip is described as a disciple from the city of Bethsaida
Bethsaida
Bethsaida is a place mentioned in the New Testament.- Bethsaida Julias :...
, and connects him to Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
and Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, who were from the same town. It further connects him to Nathanael (sometimes identified with Bartholomew) whom Philip first introduces to Jesus. The authors of the Synoptic Gospels
Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
also describe Philip as a disciple of Jesus.
Of the four Gospels, Philip figures most prominently in the Gospel of John. His two most notable appearances in the narrative are as a link to the Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
community. Philip bore a Greek name (see Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
) and we may infer from the context that Philip spoke Greek. Philip introduces members of this community to Jesus. During the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
when Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, he provides Jesus the opportunity to teach his disciples about the unity of the Father
God the Father
God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
and the Son
God the Son
God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit...
.
Philip is always listed fifth among the apostles.
Christian tradition
Christian stories about St Philip's life and ministry can be found more often in the extra-canonical writings of later Christians than in the New Testament.Other legendary material about Philip can be misleading, as many hagiographers
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
conflated Philip the Apostle with Philip the Evangelist
Philip the Evangelist
Saint Philip the Evangelist appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem . He preached and performed miracles in Samaria, converted Simon Magus, and met and baptised an Ethiopian man, an...
. 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
Jacobus de Voragine
Blessed Jacobus de Varagine or Voragine was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of Legenda Aurea, the Golden Legend, a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medieval church that was one of the most popular...
noted in his Golden Legend
Golden Legend
The Golden Legend is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that became a late medieval bestseller. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived, compared to twenty or so of its nearest rivals...
that the account of Philip's life given by Eusebius was not to be trusted.
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
Mariamne
Mariamne is a name frequently used in the Herodian royal house. In Greek it is spelled Μαριάμη by Josephus; in some editions of his work the second m is doubled . In later copies of those editions the spelling was dissimilated to its now most common form, Mariamne...
and Bartholomew
Bartholomew
Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and is usually identified as Nathaniel . He was introduced to Christ through St. Philip, another of the twelve apostles as per , where the name Nathaniel first appears. He is also mentioned as “Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee” in...
to preach in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
, and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. 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
Cross of St. Peter
The Cross of St. Peter or Petrine Cross is an inverted Latin cross traditionally used as a Christian symbol, but in recent times also used widely as an anti-Christ symbol .-In Christianity:The origin of this symbol comes from the Catholic tradition that Simon Peter was crucified upside...
, 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
Hierapolis
Hierapolis was the ancient Greco-Roman city which sat on top of hot springs located in south western Turkey near Denizli....
. Philip is commonly associated with the symbol of the Latin cross. Other symbols assigned to Philip include: the cross with the two loaves (because of his answer to the Lord in John 6:7), a basket filled with bread, a spear with the patriarchal cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
, and a cross with a carpenter's square.
In Islam
The Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
also speaks of Jesus's disciples but does not mention their names, instead referring to them as "helpers to the work of God". Muslim exegesis and Qur'an commentary, however, names them and includes Philip amongst the disciples. Muslim exegesis also narrates that Philip later went to preach the faith of God in Qayrawan and Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
.
Tomb discovery
On Wednesday, 27 July 2011 the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that archeologists had unearthed the Tomb of Saint Philip during excavations in Hierapolis close to the Turkish city Denizli. The Italian 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 EvangelistPhilip the EvangelistSaint Philip the Evangelist appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem . He preached and performed miracles in Samaria, converted Simon Magus, and met and baptised an Ethiopian man, an...
Professor Francesco D'Andria, the head of the excavation team in Hierapolis:
"This year, we have started the excavation in another place near the martyrdom of St. Philip. And we have found immediately another Church but different from the previos Church because its round plan. This is in three-edged and was covered by not a dome but normal roof. And in this tomb, in this church we have found a roman tomb. But this roman tomb was very much honoured, was the center of this church. The church was built in the 50 century from the emperor of Theodorus because we have found and inscription from emperor of Theodorus so also the connection between with the palace with the palace of emperor is another argument to prove that these places connected with Apostle of Jesus like Ephesus .Now we are sure because we have studied this problem for thirty years and made exploration all the area.This is the center of Philip's tomb. It's sure now we have one tomb that is connected with a very big church and was very big on earth in this context .So we can recognize now the tomb, the center of this system ,is the tomb of St. Philip.We are working at the beginning of our programm but I'm sure that many other elements will come from this side, this church and we wait to see may be an inscription may be some other objects that can prove more and more and more this wonderful reconstruction of our religious , cultural and historical tradition."
According to TRT
External links
- St. Philip the Apostle article from The Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Apostle article regarding the title "Apostle" from The Catholic Encyclopedia
- Catholic Forum: St. Philip
- Holy, All-Praised Apostle Philip Orthodox iconIconAn icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
and synaxarion