Acts of Philip

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The Acts of Philip is a text discovered in 1974 by François Bovon and Bertrand Bouvier in the library of Xenophontos Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece.^[1] The manuscript dates from the fourteenth century but it is thought to be a copy of a fourth century original.^[1] Many of the stories in the manuscript were already known from other sources, but some were hitherto unknown.^[2] The narrative claims that Jesus sent out a group of followers to spread his message. The followers were Philip, Bartholomew, and a woman named Mariamne who is identified as Philip's sister. A number of sources have alleged that Bovon claims that that Mariamne could be identical to Mary Magdalene.^[1] However, Bovon himself is said to have denied this.^{[citation needed]}

Among the accomplishments of the group was the conversion of a talking leopard and a talking goat,^[1] as well as the slaying of a dragon.^[3] The text discovered by Bovon also described a community that practised vegetarianism and celibacy.^[1] Women in the community wore men's clothes and held positions of authority comparable to men, serving as priests and deacons.^[1] The community used a form of the eucharist where vegetables and water were consumed in place of bread and wine.^[4]

The manuscript discovered by Bovon has been published in a French translation. An English translation was planned "within a few years" (as of 2000).^[1] Other English translations are based on collections of fragments known from before Bouvon's discovery.