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{{short description|Christian saint and apostle}}{{Distinguish|Philip the Evangelist}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

factoids
honorific_prefix	Saint|name = Philip the Apostle|birth_date = 1st century AD|death_date = AD 80|feast_day = As Philip and James, Apostles, in the Roman Rite and in Protestant commemorations:3 May: Roman Rite, Protestant Church in Germany1 May: Anglican Communion, Old Catholics, ELCA, LCMS

Philip the Apostle (; Aramaic: ܦܝܠܝܦܘܣ; , Philippos) 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 Asia-Minor.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 dedication of the church dedicated to them in Rome (now called the Church of the Twelve Apostles). In the short-lived calendar reform of 1960, it was transferred to 11 May, but since 1969 it has been assigned to 3 May. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Philip's feast day on 14 November. File:Philip the Apostle. Detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale. Ravena, Italy.jpg|thumb|Philip the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, RavennaRavenna

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.{{bibleverse|Jn|1:43|KJV}} 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. It was Philip who first introduced Nathanael (sometimes identified with Bartholomew) to Jesus.WEB,weblink CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Philip the Apostle, According to Butler, Philip was among those attending the wedding at Cana.Butler, Alban. "St. Philip, Apostle", The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, Vol. V, D. & J. Sadlier, & Company, 1864Of the four Gospels, Philip figures most prominently in the Gospel of John.{{efn|Philip is mentioned 11 times in the New King James Version of John's Gospel, and three times in each of the other Gospels}} Jesus tests Philip (John 6:6) when he asks him how to feed the 5,000 people. Later he appears as a link to the Greek community. Philip bore a Greek name, could likely speak Greek,Nicoll, W. R., Expositor's Greek Testament on John 12, accessed 10 June 2016 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 provides Jesus the opportunity to teach his disciples about the unity of the Father and the Son.

Distinct from Philip the Evangelist

Philip the Apostle should not be confused with Philip the Evangelist, who was appointed with Stephen and five others to oversee charitable distributions (Acts 6:5).BOOK,weblink Introducing the New Testament, Drane, John, 2010, Lion Books, 9780745955049, 240, en,

Apocryphal accounts

Nag Hammadi texts

One of the Gnostic codices discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 bears Philip's name in its title, on the bottom line.Martha Lee Turner, The Gospel According to Philip: The Sources and Coherence of an Early Christian Collection, page 9 (E. J. Brill, 1996). {{ISBN|90-04-10443-7}}An early extra-biblical story about St. Philip is preserved in the apocryphal Letter from Peter to Philip, also one of the texts in the Nag Hammadi Library, and dated to the end of the 2nd century or early 3rd.Translated in James M. Robinson, editor, The Nag Hammadi Library (New York: HarperCollins, 1990), pp. 431–437 This text begins with a letter from St. Peter to St. Philip, 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.Fred Lapham, An Introduction to the New Testament Apocrypha (London: T & T Clark International, 2003), p. 78 Lapham explains the central section, a Gnostic dialogue between the risen Christ and his disciples, as a later insertion.Lapham, An Introduction, p. 80

Acts: miracles and martyrdom

Later stories about Philip's life can be found in the anonymous Acts of Philip, probably written by a contemporary of Eusebius.Craig A. Blaising, "Philip, Apostle" in The Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, ed. Everett Ferguson (New York: Garland Publishing, 1997). This non-canonical book recounts the preaching and miracles of Philip. According to these accounts, following the resurrection of Jesus, Philip was sent with his sister Mariamne and Bartholomew to preach in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria.WEB,weblink Acts of Philip – especially Book 8, 14 March 2007, meta-religion.com, 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 embellished account of Philip's martyrdom in the city of Hierapolis.WEB,weblink Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, 14 March 2007, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Schaff, Philip, 1885, 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. Philip is also said to have been martyred by beheading, rather than crucifixion, in the city of Hierapolis.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}File:Menologion of Basil 002.jpg|thumb|Martyrdom of Philip the Apostle. Scene from the Menologion of Basil IIMenologion of Basil II

Relics

The relics of Philip the Apostle are currently found in the crypt of Basilica Santi Apostoli, Rome,{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} as well as the Church of St. Philip the Apostle in Cheektowaga, New York.WEB,weblink Relic of St. Philip the Apostle, 24 May 2022, St. Philip the Apostle Parish,

Possible tomb location

(File:Tomb of Philip the Apostle Hierapolis.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Philip the Apostle, Hierapolis)In 2011, Italian archaeologist Francesco D'Andria claimed to have discovered the original tomb of Philip during excavations in ancient Hierapolis, close to the modern Turkish city of Denizli.WEB,weblink Tomb of Apostle Philip Found, 16 August 2014, 1 September 2015, biblicalarchaeology.org, The 1st-century tomb, found to be empty of relics, stood at the centre of the 4th- or 5th-century three-naved basilica, the Church of the Sepulchre, which was one of the focal points of an entire ancient pilgrimage hill complex dedicated to Philip. Ancient Greek prayers are carved into the walls of the tomb and church venerating Philip the Apostle, and a 6th-century bread stamp ({{Interlanguage link|Sello de pan|lt=signum pistoris|es}}) shows Philip holding bread (John 6) with this specific three-naved church on his left side, and the previously identified nearby martyrion church to his right, removing all doubts about the basilica being the one to contain the original tomb of the apostle. The church built on his tomb and the martyrion church some 40 yards away were places of intense veneration for centuries: In Philip's Church of the Sepulchre the marble floors were worn down by thousands of people.WEB, John, How I Discovered the Tomb of the Apostle Philip: Interview With Archaeologist Francesco D'Andria,weblink 2022-04-12, In 2012, Bartholomew, the patriarch of Constantinople and primate of the Orthodox church, celebrated the liturgy of St. Philip in the Church of the Sepulchre and in the martyrion church of the apostle.

Iconography

(File:Coa_Illustration_Cross_of_St_Philip.svg|thumb|Cross of Philip)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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}File:Philippus San Giovanni in Laterano 2006-09-07.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of Philip in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran by Giuseppe Mazzuoli ]]

Veneration

Philip is remembered (with James) in the Church of England with a Festival on 1 May.WEB, The Calendar,weblink 2021-03-27, The Church of England, en, The Holy and All-praised Apostle Philip is commemorated on 14 November and 30 June (Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Twelve Apostles) in the Eastern Orthodox Church.WEB, Святой апостол Филипп,weblink 2022-07-14, Православный Церковный календарь, ru, WEB, ФИЛИПП, АПОСТОЛ ОТ 12 - Древо,weblink 2022-07-14, drevo-info.ru, ru, His feast day begins the Nativity Fast in the Eastern Orthodox Church, that is called Philip's Fast (or the Philippian Fast),WEB, Рубрика "Рождественский пост" - Пять ступеней веры,weblink 2022-07-14, azbyka.ru, ru-RU, the Fast is Eastern equivalent of Western Advent.WEB, Advent and Nativity Fast,weblink 2022-07-14, Vanderbilt University, en,

Patronage

Saint Philip is the patron saint of hatters.WEB, Grube, Madison, St. Philip the Apostle and History,weblink 2022-05-14, The Falcon's Flyer,

See also

• Gospel of Philip
• List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources
• Nordic cross flag
• Philip the Evangelist
• (Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/May 3|Saint Philip the Apostle, patron saint archive)

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Saint Philip}}

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Apostle article regarding the title "Apostle" from the Catholic Encyclopedia
• EB9, Philip (1.), XVIII, 742, 1,
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070226234127weblink">Catholic Forum: St. Philip
• Holy, All-Praised Apostle Philip Orthodox icon and synaxarion

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