Philip the Apostle

Philip the Apostle (Greek: Φίλιππος) was one of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, according to the New Testament. Later Christian tradition says he preached in Carthage, Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor. In the Roman Catholic Church, his feast day is shared with James the Less. It was traditionally held on 1 May, the anniversary of the dedication of their church in Rome (now the Church of the Twelve Apostles).

New Testament

A 1960 calendar reform moved it to 11 May, but since 1969 it has been on 3 May. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on 14 November. Philip appears in all three synoptic Gospels and the Book of Acts, always listed fifth among the apostles. The Gospel of John gives the most detail about him.

It says Jesus found and directly called Philip, who was from Bethsaida—the same town as Andrew and Peter. John does not mention Philip being a disciple of John the Baptist first. Philip then brought Nathanael (sometimes identified with Bartholomew) to Jesus.

According to Butler, Philip was also at the wedding at Cana. Jesus tested Philip by asking how to feed the 5,000 people (John 6:6). Later, Philip—who had a Greek name and probably spoke Greek—acted as a bridge to Greek pilgrims in Jerusalem. He told Andrew that some Greeks wanted to meet Jesus, and together they informed Jesus (John 12:21).

Early traditions

At the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, which led Jesus to teach about the unity of the Father and the Son. Eusebius, in his history of the early Church, quotes Clement of Alexandria saying that Philip, like Peter, was married, had children, and gave his daughters in marriage. Eusebius also quotes Polycrates, who confirms Philip was married, had three daughters, and was buried at Hierapolis alongside two of them; the third daughter was buried at Ephesus. The non-canonical Acts of Philip, probably written around Eusebius’s time, tells more stories.

It says that after Jesus’ resurrection, Philip was sent with his sister Mariamne and Bartholomew to preach in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria. An appendix to this work describes Philip’s martyrdom in Hierapolis. According to that account, Philip healed and converted the wife of the city’s proconsul, which angered the proconsul. He had Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne tortured.

Philip and Bartholomew were crucified upside down, and Philip preached from the cross. The crowd released Bartholomew, but Philip insisted on staying, and he died on the cross. Another tradition says Philip was beheaded in Hierapolis instead. Philip the Apostle is not the same as Philip the Evangelist, who was chosen with Stephen and five others to oversee charitable distributions (Acts 6:5).

Apocryphal writings

A Gnostic text found in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 is titled after Philip. Another early non-biblical story about Philip appears in the Letter from Peter to Philip, also from Nag Hammadi and dated to the late 2nd or early 3rd century. This text begins with a letter from Peter asking Philip to rejoin the other apostles at the Mount of Olives.

Possible tomb location

Scholar Fred Lapham thinks this suggests an early tradition that, after Jesus’ resurrection, Philip had gone on a solo mission and was reluctant to return. The relics of Philip the Apostle are now in the crypt of the Basilica Santi Apostoli in Rome, as well as in the Church of St. Philip the Apostle in Cheektowaga, New York. In 2011, Italian archaeologist Francesco D’Andria claimed to have found Philip’s tomb during excavations in ancient Hierapolis, near modern Denizli, Turkey. The 1st-century tomb was empty of relics and stood at the center of a 4th- or 5th-century three-naved basilica called the Church of the Sepulchre.

This church was part of a pilgrimage hill complex dedicated to Philip. Ancient Greek prayers carved into the tomb and church walls honor Philip. A 6th-century bread stamp shows Philip holding bread (referencing John 6) with a three-naved church on his left and the nearby martyrion church on his right, supporting the claim that the basilica contains Philip’s original tomb. The church built over his tomb and the martyrion church, about 40 yards away, were sites of intense veneration for centuries; in Philip’s Church of the Sepulchre, the marble floors were worn down by pilgrims.