Philip the Evangelist

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Philip the Evangelist appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles but should not be confused with Philip the Apostle. He was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts 6). He preached and performed miracles in Samaria, converted Simon Magus, and met and baptised an Ethiopian eunuch in Gaza, traditionally marking the start of the Ethiopian Church (Acts 8). Later, he lived in Caesarea with his four preaching daughters, where he was visited by Paul (Acts 21).

He is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (vi. 5) as one of "the seven" who were chosen to attend to certain temporal affairs of the church in Jerusalem in consequence of the murmurings of the Hellenists against the Hebrews. After the martyrdom of Stephen he went to "the city of Samaria", where he preached with much success, Simon Magus being one of his converts. He afterwards instructed and baptized the Ethiopian eunuch on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza; next he was "caught away" by the Spirit and "found at Azotus" (Ashdod), whence "passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea" (Acts viii.). Here some years afterwards, according to Acts xxi. 8, 9, where he is described as "the evangelist" (a term found again in the New Testament only in Ephesians iv. 11; 2 Timothy iv. 5), he entertained Paul and his companion on their way to Jerusalem; at that time "he had four daughters which did prophesy". At a very early period he came to be confounded with the apostle Philip (see above); the confusion was all the more easy because, as an esteemed member of the apostolic company, he may readily have been described as an apostle in the wider sense of that word^[1].

A late tradition describes him as settling at Tralles in Asia Minor, where he became the overseer or ruler of the church. "Philip the deacon" is commemorated on the 6th of June.