Philip the Evangelist

Biography

Philip was chosen alongside Stephen as one of the seven men of good reputation appointed to serve the practical needs of the growing Jerusalem church. When persecution scattered believers following Stephen's martyrdom, Philip went down to Samaria and proclaimed Christ there, performing signs that drew great crowds, including the sorcerer Simon, and bringing joy to a city long divided from the Jews. An angel of the Lord then directed Philip to a desert road toward Gaza, where he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, reading from Isaiah's prophecy of the Suffering Servant but unable to understand it. Philip explained that the prophecy pointed to Jesus, and the eunuch, believing, asked to be baptized at the first water they found. As soon as they came up from the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing, carrying the gospel toward Africa. Philip's later life is recorded briefly: he settled in Caesarea, where years later the apostle Paul stayed in his home on the way to Jerusalem. By this time Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied, a household marked by the Spirit's continuing work across a generation. Philip's ministry demonstrates the early church's expansion beyond Jerusalem into Samaria and toward the Gentile world, fulfilling Christ's commission that the gospel would go to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.