Philip

Early Christian testimony places Philip the Apostle at Hierapolis and says that he died and was buried there. The exact circumstances of his death are not preserved in the earliest testimony. Later Christian traditions describe him as a martyr who was crucified at Hierapolis, sometimes head downward. These details should be presented as later tradition, particularly because ancient accounts also show some possible confusion between Philip the Apostle and Philip the Evangelist.

The New Testament records Philip's calling as one of Jesus' disciples and includes him among the Twelve. The Gospel of John gives Philip a particularly visible role, including his conversations with Nathanael, Jesus at the feeding of the multitude, Greek visitors who wished to see Jesus, and Jesus during the Last Supper.

The New Testament does not tell us where Philip later preached, when he died, or how he died. Philip the Apostle should also be distinguished from Philip the Evangelist, one of the Seven in Acts, who lived at Caesarea and had four daughters who prophesied.

One of the most important early witnesses is Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, writing near the end of the second century. In a letter concerning the Christian observance of Passover, Polycrates lists notable Christians who had died in Asia. He specifically names "Philip, one of the twelve apostles," and says that Philip had fallen asleep at Hierapolis.

This testimony is significant because Polycrates explicitly identifies the Philip he means as one of the Twelve. It provides early evidence for the tradition that the apostle Philip died and was buried at Hierapolis, although it does not state how he died.

Eusebius preserves several traditions connecting Philip with Hierapolis. In addition to quoting Polycrates, he reports that Papias of Hierapolis knew traditions received from daughters of Philip. Eusebius also quotes Proclus as saying that Philip and his prophetic daughters had tombs at Hierapolis.

These accounts present an identification problem. Acts 21 describes Philip the Evangelist, not Philip the Apostle, as having four unmarried daughters who prophesied. Polycrates, on the other hand, explicitly identifies the Philip buried at Hierapolis as one of the Twelve. The ancient evidence therefore preserves both a strong association of Philip with Hierapolis and some apparent confusion between two early Christians bearing the same name.

Later Christian traditions describe Philip's death in considerably greater detail. A work transmitted under the name of Hippolytus says that Philip preached in Phrygia and was crucified head downward at Hierapolis. The apocryphal Acts of Philip likewise places his final ministry and martyrdom at Hierapolis and surrounds his death with an extended narrative involving opposition to his preaching and miraculous events.

These later accounts contributed strongly to the traditional picture of Philip as a martyr by crucifixion. Their detailed descriptions, however, survive from substantially later than the testimony of Polycrates and should not be treated as though they were contemporary reports.

The major difficulty in the tradition is the possible confusion between Philip the Apostle and Philip the Evangelist. Acts clearly says that Philip the Evangelist had four prophetic daughters. Later writers also speak of Philip and daughters living at Hierapolis. Polycrates, however, specifically calls the Philip buried there "one of the twelve apostles."

Traditions concerning Philip's manner of death also vary in detail. Later accounts describe crucifixion, sometimes specifically upside down, while the earlier testimony of Polycrates merely says that Philip had fallen asleep at Hierapolis. The exact circumstances and date of his death therefore remain uncertain.

Hierapolis in Asia Minor has an early association with Philip. Polycrates of Ephesus says that Philip, one of the Twelve, had fallen asleep at Hierapolis. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in the early second century, was also remembered as having received traditions from daughters of Philip who lived there. Some ancient testimony, however, may confuse Philip the Apostle with Philip the Evangelist, who is described in Acts as having four prophetic daughters.

There is significant early Christian testimony associating a Philip with Hierapolis, and Polycrates of Ephesus specifically identifies the man buried there as Philip the apostle, one of the Twelve. This provides meaningful early support for Hierapolis as the traditional place of Philip's death and burial.

The evidence for the precise manner of death is later. Traditions of crucifixion, including head-downward crucifixion, appear in later Christian writings and should be presented as such. An additional complication is the possibility that traditions concerning Philip the Apostle and Philip the Evangelist became intertwined, particularly because of references to Philip's daughters.

Polycrates of Ephesus, letter to Victor of Rome, preserved in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.31 and 5.24; Papias traditions preserved in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39; Proclus preserved in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.31; Pseudo-Hippolytus, On the Twelve Apostles; Acts of Philip; Acts 21:8–9.