Philip the Deacon & Evangelist

Philip the Deacon and Evangelist was one of seven men chosen to oversee charitable distribution in the Jerusalem church, and became one of the early Church's most effective missionaries. Acts records his successful evangelization of Samaria—the first expansion of the gospel beyond Jewish communities—and his conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch on the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. He later settled in Caesarea Maritima, where Paul visited him, and his four daughters were renowned for the gift of prophecy.

Traditionally, Philip's mission to Samaria has been understood as the first formal breach of the Jewish-Gentile boundary, preceding even Peter's vision of the clean and unclean animals. The Ethiopian eunuch's conversion is regarded as the seed of African Christianity. Philip's four prophesying daughters were remembered by Papias and Polycrates as important sources of apostolic tradition and wisdom sayings in the early Church.

Philip first appears in Acts 6 as one of seven men 'of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,' chosen to resolve a dispute over the daily distribution of food to Greek-speaking widows in the Jerusalem church. Though appointed to a practical ministry of service, Philip quickly proved himself an evangelist of extraordinary power.

When persecution scattered the Jerusalem believers after Stephen's martyrdom, Philip went to Samaria—a bold move, given the deep hostility between Jews and Samaritans. His preaching was accompanied by healings and exorcisms, and 'there was much joy in that city.' Even Simon the Magician, a figure of considerable local influence, believed and was baptized. The apostles Peter and John came from Jerusalem to confirm Philip's work, laying hands on the Samaritan believers.

Philip's most celebrated act was his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace (queen) of Ethiopia. Directed by an angel to the desert road, Philip found the Ethiopian reading Isaiah's suffering servant passage in his chariot but unable to understand it. Philip explained the passage as fulfilled in Jesus, and the eunuch responded with immediate faith: 'See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?' The baptism of a Gentile, a eunuch, and an African—each category carrying barriers under Jewish law—demonstrated the radical inclusiveness of the gospel.

• Deacon
• Evangelist