/Philip the Apostle-فیلیپ/2/

Philip and James were both Apostles, chosen by Jesus to follow him and to continue his work of building the Kingdom of God. We celebrate their feast on the same day because, although they died at different times and in different places, their bodies were moved and are buried together in the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Rome.

We meet Philip in John’s Gospel. Philip is also a fisherman, the third man Jesus called to “Follow me” (John 1:43). We know that Philip immediately recognized that Jesus had been sent from God. The first thing he did as Jesus’ newest disciple was to invite his friend, Nathanael, to come and see the Lord. From the very beginning, he wanted to share the Good News about Jesus with others!

Philip was also a curious man who wanted to learn everything he could about Jesus and his teachings. At the Last Supper, Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Jesus was shocked by Philip’s request. He replied, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Philip’s question and Jesus’ answer help us to understand that we are called to continue growing in our faith every day.

After receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Philip is said to have traveled to Asia Minor, the area we now call Turkey, to tell others about Jesus’ life and teachings. He died as a martyr for our faith.

We don’t learn much about Philip from the synoptic gospels or Book of Acts—in fact, pretty much all we learn is that he’s always listed with Bartholomew. But the Gospel of John and the early church fill in some blanks and help us understand a little more about who he was.

“For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the last day, at the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who sleeps in Hierapolis, and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus.”

Much later in Acts 21:8–9, Paul and his companions stay at Philip’s house in Caesarea with his four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. This Philip is explicitly identified as “the evangelist” and “one of the Seven.” If this were Philip the Apostle, it would be odd for Luke to provide two distinguishing details and not call him the apostle. And presumably, if he did not use distinguishing details, the early church would’ve assumed he meant Philip the Apostle—the most well-known Philip. (This is one of the main arguments for assuming that all New Testament references to Mark are talking about John Mark, the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark.)

Most scholars believe that either Papias was talking about Philip the Evangelist (due to the reference to his daughters) and using the term apostle more broadly, or else Papias confused the two. Polycrates seems to have clearly blurred the two Philips, and Eusebius never caught the mistake. As a result, the church has doubted Eusebius’ account of Philip for nearly a millennia.

Church tradition holds that Philip preached the gospel in Scythia (a region in central Eurasia), Syria, and Phrygia (Turkey). However, this tradition largely originates with Acts of Philip, a dubious fourth-century text which intermingled true accounts with legends, including a narrative involving a dragon.

Aside from the lists of apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts, Philip appears in four narratives in the Gospel of John. They don’t tell us much, but they’re all we really have to go on.

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’

Like Andrew, Philip’s first reaction after meeting Jesus was to go tell someone about him. He played an active role in leading another apostle to Jesus.

Jesus already knew exactly what he was going to do, but he asked Philip what it would take to feed these people—perhaps as a joke, or possibly, to illustrate that it would take a miracle to feed this many. (Since Taco Bell wasn’t an option.)

“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.” —John 12:20–22

It’s hard to say how Philip died, especially since he was confused with Philip the Evangelist early on, and there are conflicting accounts. One record says he died of natural causes. Another says he was beheaded. Or stoned to death. Or crucified upside down.

Most of the earliest traditions seem to point to him being martyred in Hierapolis. In a letter to Pope Victor, Polycrates of Ephesus said: “I speak of Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who is laid to rest at Hierapolis. . .”

The Acts of Philip provides the earliest, most detailed account of his martyrdom, but again, it’s hard to say how much we can trust it. Allegedly, he converted a proconsul’s wife, which angered the proconsul enough to have him and Bartholomew crucified upside down. While hanging there, Philip preached, and the crowd was moved to release them. He told them to free Bartholomew, but not to take him down.

Philip was a native of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, as were Peter and Andrew. On the day after Peter's call, Jesus found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Philip obeyed and a little later told Nathanael about Jesus. Sceptical, Nathanael asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip replied, "Come and see." This is the invitation of St. Philip's Parish: "Come and see!" (John 1:43-46 ).

Philip is listed among the twelve in Matthew 10.2-4, Mark 3.14-19 and Luke, 6.13-16. Acts 1.13 also mentions Philip as belonging to the disciples who were at Pentecost. Beyond this, only the Gospel of John mentions Philip.

"Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" Jesus said to Philip as they faced the large crowd needing food. (The gospel says that Jesus did this to test Philip.) Philip answered, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." (John 6.5-7)

When Greeks came to Philip and asked to see Jesus, Philip reported this to Andrew and they both told Jesus (John 12.21). Was Philip a little shy?

During the Last Supper, after Jesus spoke about knowing and seeing the Father, it was Philip who said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14.8-9)

Ancient traditions about Philip are confused with those concerning Philip the deacon and evangelist. One of the two Philips was buried in Hieropolis in Phrygia in Asia Minor. Some ancient writers say that Philip the apostle had three daughters, yet Acts 21.8-9 mentions four daughters of Philip the deacon and evangelist, which one tradition also says were buried in Hieropolis.

فیلیپ در هیروپولیس به همراه بارتولومئو موعظه می کرد و از طریق دعا، مار بزرگی را در معبدی که به پرستش مار اختصاص داشت، کشت. فیلیپ همچنین بسیاری از نیش مار را شفا داد. فرماندار شهر و کشیش بت پرست آن که خشمگین شده بودند، فیلیپ و بارتولمیوس را به صلیب کشیدند. هنگامی که دو شاگرد روی صلیب بودند، زمین لرزه همه را به زمین زد و فیلیپ برای سلامتی آنها دعا کرد. مردم با دیدن کاهش زلزله، خواستار آزادی فیلیپ و بارتولومی شدند. بارتولمیوس زنده ماند، اما فیلیپ درگذشت.