Philip the Apostle

Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth and is to be distinguished from Philip the Evangelist, one of the Seven chosen in Jerusalem according to the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of John states that Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee, the town of Andrew and Peter, and that Jesus found him and called him with the words 'Follow me.' Philip in turn found Nathanael—commonly identified in later tradition with Bartholomew—and brought him to Jesus, inviting him to 'come and see.' In the lists of the Twelve in the Synoptic Gospels and in Acts, Philip's name regularly appears in the second group of four, after the two pairs of brothers.

John's Gospel gives Philip a more distinct voice than the Synoptics. Before the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus asks Philip where bread might be bought for the crowd; Philip answers in terms of the impossibility of the sum required, after which the miracle is performed. When some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for Passover wish to see Jesus, they approach Philip, who tells Andrew, and the two together tell Jesus. At the Last Supper Philip says, 'Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied,' prompting Jesus' reply that whoever has seen him has seen the Father. These scenes portray Philip as a practical, somewhat literal disciple through whom the evangelist develops themes of seeing, following, and the identity of Jesus.

The New Testament is silent about Philip's life after the gathering of the apostles in Jerusalem in the opening of Acts. Later Christian writers located his missionary work in Greece, Syria, and especially Phrygia in Asia Minor. An apocryphal Acts of Philip, generally dated to the fourth century or somewhat later, recounts journeys, exorcisms, and confrontations with pagan worship, culminating in a martyrdom at Hierapolis. Church tradition commonly holds that he died at Hierapolis (near present-day Pamukkale in Turkey), by crucifixion, hanging, or beheading; a date in the later first century, often given as about the year 80, is conventional rather than documented by contemporary evidence. Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus in the late second century, wrote—as quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea—that Philip, 'one of the twelve apostles,' had fallen asleep at Hierapolis, that two of his daughters had grown old as virgins there, and that another daughter rested at Ephesus. Historians have long noted that this report may conflate the Apostle with Philip the Evangelist, who according to Acts lived at Caesarea and had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. Clement of Alexandria, writing around the beginning of the third century, stated that Peter and Philip had children and that Philip gave his daughters in marriage; again the two men named Philip are not easy to separate in the sources.

A monumental octagonal martyrium dedicated to Saint Philip was built at Hierapolis in late antiquity. In 2011 the Italian archaeological mission directed by Francesco D'Andria reported the excavation of a first-century tomb in that complex which they associated with the apostle; the identification remains a matter of scholarly discussion. Relics attributed to Philip, together with those of James the Less, have been venerated since the sixth century in the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in Rome. In the Roman Catholic Church the two apostles share the feast of 3 May (in earlier centuries 1 May). The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Philip on 14 November. He is honored as a patron of Luxembourg and of Uruguay and is invoked by hatters and pastry chefs, among other local and professional dedications.