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Anonymous, Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. The History of Philip, the apostle and evangelist
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Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (1871) Volume 2. pp.69-92. The History of Philip, the apostle and evangelist
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In the name of the unbegotten nature of the immortal God, I write the wondrous and marvellous history of the glorious acts of Philip the Apostle and Evangelist. Our Lord, help me with grace. Amen.
And our Lord Jesus the Messiah spake with Philip the Apostle in a vision of the night at Jerusalem, and said to him: "Rise, go to the city of Carthage, which is in Azotus, and drive out thence the ruler of Satan, for lo, he rejoices there like a destroying wolf, which rejoices in the flock that has no shepherd; and after thou hast driven him out, preach there the kingdom of Heaven." And Philip said to our Lord: "I beseech Thee, the Raiser to life of all souls, - Thou knowest me, that I am a man of Palestine, and I do not know Latin or Greek, and the people of Carthage are not acquainted with Aramaic,-and how shall I go (and) preach to them the Gospel of Thy kingdom?" Our Lord said to Philip: "Who made Adam in His image and His likeness? Who formed for him a mouth, and eyes, and a tongue to speak? Was it not I the Lord?" And Philip said to our Lord: "Thou art the chosen Son, who didst make Heaven by Thy might, and didst establish the world by Thy wisdom." And our Lord said to him: "Now go in my name, and doubt not. I shall be with thy mouth, and thou shalt speak every tongue that thou wilt." And Philip said to our Lord: "I go, Lord; but let not Thy grace be far from me."
And Philip went down from Jerusalem to Samaria, and from Samaria to Caesarea of Palestine, and went down to the harbour, to look for a ship that was going to the city of Carthage. And he found a ship that was lying ready, and waiting for a wind to blow for it, that it might sail. And Philip came near to the captain, and spake with him, that he might go with them to the city of Carthage. The captain answered and said to Philip: "Pr'ythee, do not annoy me; for lo, it is twenty days that we have been waiting for a wind to blow for us, that we might sail, and it has not blown. Now go, fetch thy baggage, and come; for perchance, by the help of thy prayers, God may send us a favourable wind, and we may go on our journey in peace; for I see that thou hast the appearance of a servant of God." Philip says to the captain: "Thou seest me and my baggage; I have nothing else in this world save Jesus the Messiah, and Him crucified. But because I see that there are in thee the fruits of faith, order the people who are going with us to come on board (and) sit down in the ship." And the captain ordered them, and they all came on board and sat down in it. And when the Apostle and the captain had come on board, Philip said to the people who were in the ship: "Let us rise (and) pray, and ask of the Messiah to send us a favourable wind, that we may go on our journey in peace and joy." And they all stood up for the prayer; and Philip prayed and said: "Our Lord Jesus the Messiah, come to our help, for I cry unto Thee at this time, that these people, who are here in this ship, may believe that Thou hast sent me." And he turned again to the west, and was strengthened by the Spirit of holiness, and said with a loud voice: "To thee I say, angel of peace, who hast charge of all favourable winds that serve this great sea,-in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, send me a favourable wind, which may come and convey me to the city of Carthage, not in fifty days, nor in twenty days, nor even in ten days, but today let us be there, that all these people, who are here, may know that He who sent me, Jesus, is the Son of the living God."
There was in the ship a Jew, whose name was Hananyā (Ananias), (who) did not pray, but blasphemed and said: "May Adonai recompense thee and the Messiah on whom thou callest, who, lo, has become dust and lies in Jerusalem, whilst thou livest and leadest astray ignorant men by His name."
And when the Apostle had prayed, there came a breeze, and an Angel with it, and entered into (i. e. filled) the sail of the ship, and she began to roll hither and thither from the violence of the wind. Then the sailors arose to loose the cables of the ship from the shore. And the Jew got up to help them to hoist the sail of the ship; and the Angel of the Lord bound him by the great toes and suspended him head downwards aloft on the top of the sail. And the ship was flying and going over the water like an eagle in the air; and the Jew was suspended head downwards. And he was crying out and saying: "O Apostle of Jesus the Messiah, who knows the secrets of men!"And Philip said to him: "No, by the life of thy friend Haman, thou shalt not come down thence, until thou confessest, how thou hast blasphemed Jesus the Messiah, and thy wicked thoughts against His worshippers. He has bound and suspended thee head downwards."
And the Jew cried out and said: "I confess, Sir, whilst I worship, that when ye arose and prayed in the ship, I did not pray, but blasphemed in my heart and said to thee, 'May Adonai recompense thee and the Messiah on whom thou callest, who, lo, has become dust and lies in Jerusalem, whilst thou livest and leadest astray ignorant men.' And straightway a breeze came, and its Angel with it, and filled the sail, and the ship began to roll .hither and thither from the violence of the wind. And when the sailors arose to loose the cables and hoist the sail, I too got up to help them. Then the Angel of thy God bound me by the great toes, and suspended me head downwards, as thy eyes behold me. And lo, his sword is drawn, and he is standing by me and lashing me with scourges of fire. But I beg of thee, Sir, order him to let me loose, for, lo, my soul is going forth from my nostrils."
Philip says to the Jew: "Now how dost thou view this matter? Dost thou believe in the Messiah that He is the Son of God? Yes or no?"
And the Jew cried out, weeping, and saying with a loud voice: "Yes, Sir, I believe in the Messiah thy God, that He is I am that I am, El Shaddai, Adonai, the Lord (of) Sabaoth, the Strong, the Glorious in His holiness, who made heaven and earth by His word; and He made Adam in His image and His likeness; and He accepted the offering of Abel, and He rejected the offering of Cain the murderer; and He removed Enoch without his tasting death; and He delivered Noah from the flood; and He spake with Abraham His friend; and He saved Lot from the midst of the overturned (city, i. e. Sodom); and He preserved Isaac from the knife; and He revealed Himself to Jacob at Beth-el; and He expounded His secrets to Joseph; and He led Israel out of Egypt; and He spake with Moses in the thorn-bush; and He divided the sea before the people; and He sent down the manna from Heaven and He brought up the quails from the sea; and He dashed to pieces Pharaoh and his host in the sea of Sūph, the Red Sea; and He delivered Joshua the son of Nun in the wars; and He revealed His mystery to Gideon; and He strengthened Barak and Deborah in Israel; and He spake with Samuel in the interior of the temple; and He destroyed Goliath before David; and He gave wisdom to Solomon; and He took up Elijah to Heaven; and He delivered Elisha from the armies; and He took Jonah out of the fish; and He brought Daniel out of the pit; and He extinguished the blazing fire of Ananias and his companions; and He rescued the wronged Susanna; and this is Emmanuel, the mighty God, in whose name the sea and land, and the winds and Angels, are subject unto thee."
And Philip rejoiced at the belief of the Jew, and glorified God, and said: "Praise be to Thee, our Lord Jesus the Messiah, who changest rebellious minds and blasphemous tongues, and suddenly makest them harps praising Thy glory. Yea, Lord, pardon Thy servant Hananyā, who has believed in Thee." And in that very hour the Angel of the Lord, who was standing beside him at his right hand, took him and brought him down and placed him in the midst of the ship.
Then Hananyā fell at the feet of Philip, and wept, and said: "Have mercy on me, O Apostle of the Messiah, and beg for me of the Preserver of all, that He will pardon my blasphemies, with which I have blasphemed against thee and against thy gods." And the Apostle lifted him up and said to him: "If the Messiah has absolved thee and pardoned thee, who shall condemn thee? Rise, and fear not. Jesus the Messiah will make thee worthy of His true baptism." And fear laid hold on the 495 men who were in the ship, and they were amazed and said: "It never was thus among men."
And whilst they were wondering at what had happened to the Jew, they lifted up their eyes and looked, and lo, the lighthouse (Pharos) of Carthage was visible. And then they began whispering one to another and saying: "Either this is a vision, or it is a dream, or a demon has deceived us, or of a truth God is with this man. Who has seen a wonder like this? or who has heard a marvel like this? that we have come seventy-five masyune in one day." But when Hananyā saw them whispering one to another, he began biting (one end of) his cloak, and said: "O blind, who see not! and wicked fools, who believe not! Have ye not seen what befell me, because I blasphemed in my heart against the Messiah? Be silent, and plot nothing against this chosen one, because at this moment ye are not all suspended head downwards. Will ye not believe in the God of this just man? for, if he commands that city in the name of the Messiah, it will take all its inhabitants and go (and) stop in Gibtusan."
And while the Jew was speaking thus, (the ship) was found to stop in the harbour of Carthage. And all those men cried out and say: "Glory to Thee, the God of Mār Philip, in whose name the sea and land, and the wind and the Angels, are made subject to Thee." And Philip blessed them in the name of the Lord, and let them go to their homes in peace. But he remained at the harbour that he might confirm the captain in the faith of God.
And on the Sunday Philip went up from the ship to enter the city of Carthage, and to drive out thence the ruler of Satan, as the Lord had commanded him. And as he was entering the gates of the city, he signed himself with the sign of the Cross, and sighed before the Messiah. And he saw an Indian man (i. e., a black man), who was sitting on a throne, with two serpents twined round his loins, and a wreath of vipers placed on his head; and his eyes were like coals of fire, and blazing flames issued from his mouth; and from the place where he was sitting a smell of smoke went up, and troops of Indians (blacks) were standing on his right hand and on his left. And when he saw that the Apostle had entered the gate and crossed himself, the ruler was overturned and fell backwards, and all his troops upon him. The Apostle says to the ruler: "Fall and rise not, thou portion of the fire and child of Gehenna, accursed from of old; (thou) bitter (one), who in (all) thy days didst never sweeten; (thou) hater of the just and enemy of all righteousness; deceiver of Adam, bringer of death upon Eve and upon all her children."
The ruler said to the Apostle: "Why cursest thou me, (thou) chosen of the Most High? Tell me, what have I done wrong? or wherein have I sinned against thee? Rebuke me, because I do not abide in this city, but my troops wander about on the whole earth, and come to me; till the third hour of the day; but to a single one of the disciples of Jesus they do not come near, because I have warned them, and commanded them, and said to them: 'Wherever the name of Jesus is mentioned, abide not there, lest ye bring judgement upon me before my time is come.' Woe is me, if perchance one of my troops has deceived me, and transgressed my command, and afflicted one of His disciples; for lo, the effacer of our footsteps is angry with me, and has sent this chosen one to drive me away from this city. Woe is me ! what has become of me? Woe is me! what has happened to me ? Alas, what has come upon me? Alas, what has befallen me? Alas, what has reached me? Alas, what has overtaken me? Whither shall I go and be delivered? Whither shall I flee and escape? Where shall I hide myself and be saved ? Where shall I conceal myself and be delivered ? Whither shall I go from this Mighty (One)? Whither shall I fly from this Strong (One)? Whether I say 'Woe is me,' or whether I am silent, I shall burn in the fire. If I cast myself into the sea, I shall be drowned, because the fire is prepared for me, and torment for all my troops. If I ascend unto Heaven, He will cast me down thence; and if Igo down to Hell, there He will breathe upon me. In the east His Star has made me ashamed; in the west they preach His Gospel; in the north they praise His right hand; in the south they worship His Cross. This Jesus has slain me by His death; He has humbled me by His exaltation; He has brought me to abjectness by His necessity. He has deceived me by His similitudes (or likenesses); He has shamed me by His resurrection; He has dazzled me with His humiliation; He has befooled me with His quietude; He has maddened me with His visions. My snares He has broken; my gins He has disclosed; my nets He has cut to pieces. My crown He has taken away from my head; my throne He has overturned behind Him; my power He has taken from me, and my glory He has given to others. He has made me a treading under foot for children, and offscourings and filth unto infants and the simple. He has made me a reproach unto the little, and a mockery and a scorn to the poor and sinners. He has taken everything from me, and given to me nothing at all, save the weeping and wailing and groans of the darkness, to me and to my ministers and to all my troops."
And the whole city was standing and hearing what the ruler was saying, but no man saw him, save that the Apostle saw him through the Spirit of holiness. Philip says to the ruler: "I bid thee in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, the Mighty God, who sent me against thee, arise; take thy throne, anda lead away all thy troops, and ye shall go forth from this city, for lo, 3795 years ye have enjoyed yourselves in it." And in that hour the ruler arose, and took his throne, and led away all his troops, and they went forth thence, flying in the air, and wailing as they went, and saying: "Woe is to us for thee, our ruler; woe is to us for thee, our king; woe is to us for thee, our monarch." And they ceased not from weeping, all of them, whilst they were going, till they entered the city of Babel, and there established the throne of their ruler.
And there was fear in the whole city, and they were praising God and saying: "Glory to Thee, Jesus the Messiah, the God of Philip, who hast not recompensed us according to our wickedness, nor dealt with us according to our sins; for we did not know Thee, Lord, and Thou in Thy mercy hast sent us a deliverer. Glory to Thy grace, which has been abundant upon us, for ever and ever, Amen." Philip says to the people of the city of Carthage: "Ye have seen, my brethren, what the ruler said, whilst burning and being scorched by the power of the Son of God, that is, Jesus the Messiah, the Power and Wisdom of His Father. And by this Power was (created) the heaven and the earth and all that is in them; and by this Wisdom was established the world and all its inhabitants. Now therefore, my brethren, leave that former opinion of idolatry, and go not after the mind of painters, and (after) images of wood and stone and gold and silver and brass and iron and tin and lead and clay, which men have made, which have eyes and see not, and have ears and hear not, and there is no breath in their mouth, and they feel not with their hands, and walk not with their feet, and smell not with their nostrils, and speak not with their throats; and with nails and spikes they fasten them, that they may not be broken in pieces; and they carry them about, because they cannot walk; and they are set up like masts, because they cannot speak. Be not afraid of them, because they can do neither harm nor good, and it is said concerning them by God, that their makers shall be like them and all who trust in them. Turn, therefore, to the Son of the living God, in whose hand your souls and spirits are placed. This is the first God, and there is none beside Him. Renounce Satan, my brethren, and believe in the Messiah. Flee from the darkness, and come to the celestial light. Quit the destroying left hand, and the unconquered right hand shall receive you. Be delivered from the fiery Gehenna, and ye shall rejoice and be glad in the Paradise of Eden. Strip off the old man, who is corrupted by the lusts of error, and put on the new man, Jesus the Messiah, who is renewed by knowledge in the likeness of His Creator. Avoid and flee from the desire of women, which burns like fire, and destroys those who are inflamed d with it ; and trust in God and be glad. Who has believed in Him, and He has forsaken him ? Or who has trusted in Him, and He has cast him off? Or who has called upon Him, and He has not answered him ? Because the Lord is gracious and merciful, and forgiving sins, and hearkening to the voice of those that do His will. Believe, my dear (friends), for He will forgive you your sins when ye turn to Him with all your heart, with a pure mind free from doubt."
And when the Apostle had spoken these words to the citizens, they cried out and say: "Glory to God, who has sent us a deliverer.'' And Philip blessed them, and went down to the ship, to the harbour, where the ship was lying, in which he came from Cæsarea of Palestine.
And on the Sabbath day (Saturday) all the Jews, who were in Carthage, were assembled unto their synagogues. And they sent and called Hananyā the Jew, who had believed in the Messiah. And the Jews answered and say to him: "Our brother Hananyā, are the things true which the sorcerer Philip did to thee in the ship?" And Hananyā signed himself with the sign of the Cross, and answered and said to them: "All that ye have heard concerning me is true; and far be it from me ever to renounce our Lord Jesus the Messiah." The Jews say to him: "Do not renounce Moses and believe in the Messiah, because the Messiah was an impostor, and his disciples go about with sorcery." Hananyā answered, rejoicing in the faith, and said to the Jews: "The deception of the Messiah be upon me and upon my wife and upon my children; and the sorcery that His disciples practise, be upon the bones of my parents in Sheol. But as for you, well did Isaiah the prophet prophesy concerning you, to whom God said: 'Go, say to this people of Israel that they shall see a sight and shall not see, and shall hear a report and shall not believe; for their eyes they have closed, and their ears they have stopped, that they may not hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and repent, and I forgive them their sins.' Rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, an evil and a provoking seed, a generation that has not set fast its heart and has not believed in the God of its spirit; children of crime, an evil and adulterous race, and generations of sinners; a race doomed to woe, a vine of Sodom and a plant of Gomorrha; foolish children and unwise; wise in evil things, but not knowing good things; a people uprooted and flayed; rejected silver; scattered millet; worn-out water-skins; a rent garment; a cloth that is of no use; a menstruous rag; an accursed fig-tree; an evil vineyard, the husbandmen of which are murderers; a restive heifer; broken cisterns in which they cannot collect water; perforated money of a cursed merchant; a dry fleece, the dew of which is sprinkled among the Gentiles; proclaimed sons, whom they do not reckon equal to slaves; bitter roots, which in their days have never yielded sweetness; exchanging their God for a calf; sacrificing their sons and their daughters to devils; haters of the Son, enemies of God, provokers of the Spirit of holiness; worshippers of the sun, offerers of sacrifice to Tamuz, servants of Baal, priests of idols; sons of Ahab, fosterlings of Jezebel; dumb dogs, which are unable to bark; stiff of neck and uncircumcised in heart. For in whom of the prophets have ye believed, that ye should believe in the feeble Hananyā? Moses and Aaron led forth your fathers from Egypt, and how often did ye stone them with stones? There arose Joshua the son of Nun, and ye sought to kill him with deadly poison. There arose Samson, and Gideon, and Barak, and Jephthah, and Deborah, and ye provoked them all their lives and all their days. There arose Eli your priest, and through your greed he was rejected from his priestly office. There arose Samuel the prophet, and ye rejected him and his God. There arose David the prophet, and with reproach ye drove him out of Jerusalem. There arose Solomon the king, and he worshipped Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians. There arose Isaiah the prophet, and ye sawed him with a saw of boxwood. There arose Ezekiel the prophet, and ye dragged him by his feet until his brains were dashed out. There arose Jeremiah the prophet, and ye cast him into a pit of mire. There arose Micah the prophet, and ye smote his cheeks as if (he had been) a child. There arose Amos (the prophet), and ye hindered him from prophesying. There arose Habakkuk the prophet, and through your sins he went astray from his prophetic office. There arose Zechariah the prophet, and him ye slew like a lamb before the altar of the Lord. There arose Malachi the prophet, and ye wearied his God with your words. There arose Elijah the prophet, and ye made him flee to Horeb. There arose Elisha the prophet, and ye wished to kill him. There arose too John the Baptist, a shining light, and ye cut off his head, and sat in darkness; and he began proclaiming the resurrection to the dead. And again, as the consummation of your sins, ye children of crime, ye crucified the Lord of the prophets on the tree. And lo, ye persecute these His disciples, who are about to sit at the day of judgement on twelve thrones of glory and to judge the twelve tribes of Jacob."
And all those Jews were looking on Hananyā, and were seeing that his face was like to the Angel of the Lord, and were gnashing their teeth like destroying wolves. And one of the priests arose and kicked Hananyā, and he died. And they dug a place there in their synagogue and buried him. And they swore one to another that none of them would disclose in his house what they had done.
And on the next day Philip arose to pray in the ship at the ninth hour, he and the citizens with him, and he made mention of Hananyā in his prayer and said: "Our Lord Jesus the Messiah, do Thou deliver Thy servant Hananyā from the perfidy of the Jews, and bring him to us that we may see and be gladdened by him." And God heard the prayer of Philip, and commanded the earth, and it gave a passage like a water-pipe, and (this) conveyed Hananyā down to the bottom of the sea. And the Lord prepared a large dolphin, and it carried Hananyā. And while the Apostle was praying in the ship, he lifted up his eyes and looked upon the water; and lo, the dolphin was swimming on the surface of the sea, with the corpse of Hananyā upon him. And when the people who were there, saw (this), they feared with a great fear, and were imagining that a demon had appeared to them. Then the Apostle answered and said to them: "Fear not, my brethren; for by means of this corpse many are about to believe in the Messiah." And Philip cried with a loud voice and said: "Glory to Thee, O Lord, the Restorer to life; for every one who believes in Thee, although he dies, shall live through Thee; and every one who does not believe in Thee, although he is alive and walking on the earth, is dead before Thee." And Philip said to the dolphin: "I bid thee in the name of the Messiah, the Lord of all creatures, go, convey Hananyā the martyr to the place from which thou didst take him, until I go up to the city and put his murderers to open shame." And the dolphin passed through the sea; and carried Hananyā to the place from which he had taken him; and the deeps conveyed Hananyā to the place in which he was killed; and the Lord commanded the earth, and it closed its barriers, that the deeps might not come up and sweep away the city.
And on the next day Philip the Apostle went up from the ship, and went into the city to the judge, and said to him: "One favour I ask of thee that thou wouldest do for me." The judge answered and said to him: "Command me, sir, and whatsoever thou wishest, I will do for thee." And Philip said to the judge: "Send (and) collect for me all the Jews that there are in this city, because I have a cause to plead with them before thee.'' And straightway the judge sent his officers, and collected unto him all the chiefs of the Jews. And Philip said to the hêgemôn: "Sit thou upon the tribunal of the town-hall, and hear the cause between me and them."
And when the king (sic) had seated himself on his tribunal, Philip said to the Jews : "Where is Hananyā, who came with me in the ship from the city of Cæsarea of Palestine, and became a Christian of the Messiah? For I know and am sure, through our Lord Jesus the Messiah, that ye have counselled him to confess Moses and renounce the Messiah." The Jews answered and said to Philip: "Are we the keepers of Hananyā, (who is) alienated from the Law?" And Philip said to the Jews: "Well did our Lord call you the children of Cain the murderer; for Cain, (when) he killed his brother Abel, thought that no man saw him; and God said to Cain, 'Where is thy brother Abel?' And Cain denied (it) like you, and said, 'I know not, because I am not his keeper.' And God said to Cain, "What hast thou done? Lo, the blood of thy brother Abel cries unto me from the ground. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. A wanderer and a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth, which has opened its mouth and received the blood of thy brother from thy hands.' And now, murderers, disclose to me where Hananyā the martyr is, and I will ask of the Messiah for you that He would forgive you your iniquities." The Jews answered and said: "Once we have said to thee, that Hananyā has not been seen by us, and we do not know what has become of him." And Philip said to the Jews: "Tell me, where is Hananyā, the confessor of the Messiah, who has given his life for his Master, and do not lie and deny (it) before me, for ye do not lie unto me, but to the Spirit of holiness which dwells in me." The Jews say to him: "If the Spirit were with thee, it would be clear to thee that we know nothing of Hananyā; but because thou art a liar and an impostor, and the truth is not in thee, lo, thou standest up and doest us wrong/' And again the Apostle said to them: " And if it be that Hananyā is found with you, what do ye deserve to have done to you?" And the Jews said to Philip: "If it be that he is found with us, we all deserve death from God, and Cæsar." And the Apostle said to them: "And if it be that ye rely upon yourselves, do not your consciences convict you of being conscious of the blood of Hananyā the confessor? Swear to me, for as the Paraclete who is with me commands me, will we do unto you." Then the Jews cried out and said: "No, by the God of Abraham, who spake with Moses from the midst of the thorn-bush, (we swear) that Hananyā has not been seen by us; and we do not know what has befallen him."
Then the Apostle was strengthened by the Spirit of holiness, and said to the assemblage who were standing-there: "Give me a little room." And when they had given him room, the Apostle of God lifted up his eyes and saw a man from the country, who was leading anox which was sick, and had brought it to town that he might sell it to the butchers. And the Apostle called him, and said to the ox: "To thee I speak, ox, beast without speech. I command thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, at whose word all creatures are afraid, be strong, and go to the synagogue of these murderous Jews, and call out there and say:'Hananyā, Hananyā, Philip, the disciple of our Lord, calls thee; rise, come, put to shame the murderous Jews.'" And straightway the ox dragged along his owner, and threw him down on the ground, and ran and went to the synagogue of the Jews, and called out and said, like a man: "Hananyā, Hananyā, Philip, the Apostle of the Messiah, calls thee. Rise, come, put to shame the Jews thy murderers." And at the word the dead (man) rose, and laid hold of the ox with his right hand; and they both ran and came to the Apostle of the Messiah, and the owner of the ox was running after them. And the three of them came and prostrated themselves before Philip. And the Apostle cried out and said to Hananyā: "Whence comest thou, my friend?" And Hananyā said to Philip: " From the synagogue of these murderous Jews, who are standing before thee; for they killed me and buried me in their synagogue, because I believed in the Lord Jesu the Messiah, who gave me life, and became a Christian. And now I ask of thee, Sir, do me justice upon these murdering Jews." And the Apostle said to Hananyā:"Listen, my son and friend Hananyā. It is written for US:'If thou do not judgement for thyself, I will do (it), saith God;' and: 'If thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him to drink, and when thou doest these things unto him, thou heapest coals of fire upon his head.' And again He has said: 'Let not evil overcome you, but overcome evil with good. And again it is written: 'Is there a man who envies thee or hates thee, thou shalt not pray for his harm, lest it be displeasing in the eyes of the Lord, and He turn away the calamity from him, and bring it upon thee and upon thy dwelling.' And our Lifegiver has commanded us: 'Pray for your enemies, and bless them that curse you, and do good to him who persecutes you and hates you, that ye may be the children of your Father who is in Heaven, who lets His sun shine upon the good and upon the bad, and lets His rain descend upon the righteous and upon the wicked.' And again our Lord commanded us: 'If ye do not forgive men their offences neither will your Father, who is in Heaven, forgive you your offences.' And again He said: 'Blessed are the merciful, for upon them shall mercy be (shown).' And now draw nigh unto the Jews thy murderers, and as the Spirit of holiness gives unto thee, speak with them." And when the Apostle had said these things to Hananyā, the ox spake again, and said to Philip: "Order me, Sir, that at this moment I may kill and knock down all these murderers, the enemies of the Messiah, with my horns." And the Apostle said to the ox: "Hurt no man but go with thy master, and serve him, and the Lord will heal thee and him (with such) a healing that thou shalt never have a pain." Then the ox and his master bowed down before the Apostle of God, and went to their village in peace.
The hêgemôn says to the Apostle: "These Jews, therefore, are deserving of death." The Apostle says: "The Lord has not sent me to slay but to give life, and to raise up those who, whilst alive, were slain by Satan through sin." And the murderers were standing before the Apostle and before the Judge, with their faces ashamed, and what answer they should give them they did not know. Their mouth was closed, when they saw the miracle that was (wrought) through the ox, which, spake like a man, and Hananyā, who had been killed, who stood before them.
And Hananyā, drew nigh to the Jews who slew him, and said to them: "Today is fulfilled regarding you the prophecy of Jeremiah the prophet, who said:'Like the shame of the thief, when he is found out, so are ashamed the children of Israel, they and their kings and their priests and their nobles, who say to wood, Our father art thou, and to stone, Thou art our mother.' And now ye shall go in peace, ye children of Cain the murderer. Our Jesus the Messiah, in whom I have believed, shall do me justice upon you, and shall demand my innocent blood of your hands." And the Apostle said to the Jews: "Hear, ye who are guilty of death for (shedding) innocent blood, thus has Solomon your king written: 'He who is conscious of (shedding) a man's blood, shall flee to the chosen, and he will not deliver him.' And it is written in your Law: 'Whoso slays a man, he too shall be slain and shall not be atoned for, and it shall not be forgiven him before the Lord, until the blood of him be shed, who shed innocent blood.' But us, followers of the Messiah, Christians, disciples of Jesus the Messiah, He has thus commanded: 'It was said to the ancients, Cheek for cheek, tooth for tooth; but I say unto you, Stand not up against evil, but whoso smites thee on thy right cheek, turn unto him the other too.'" And when the Apostle had spoken vehemently, and they did not repent, and did not ask pardon, the Apostle said to the judge: "Turn them out." And the judge ordered his young men, and they turned the Jews out from before him by tribes.
And afterwards fear seized all the Jews who were dwelling in the city of Carthage; and they were crying out and glorifying God and saying: "The God of Philip the Apostle is One, whom the sea and the winds and the Angels obey, and the dead rise to His glory, and beasts and dolphins praise the majesty of Jesus the Messiah, the God who (is) over all." And there became disciples on that day about three thousand souls of the Gentiles, and of the Jews fifteen hundred; and they received the sign (baptism) of the Messiah, and rejoiced in the love of Jesus the Messiah, who had held them worthy of His grace. But the Jews who did not believe in the word of the Apostle, went away from the city and settled in other cities; and ere the sun had set, the Angel of the Lord smote and slew forty priests of the Jews, because they had shed the innocent blood of a just and righteous man. And all who heard and saw, confessed and worshipped and bowed down and said: "The true God is One, our Lord Jesus the Messiah, and with Him His Father and His holy Spirit, to whom be glory and honour and praise and worship in all generations, for ever and ever, Amen and Amen."
Here ends the history of Philip, the Apostle and Evangelist, and to God be the glory for ever, Amen.
[All footnotes and biblical references have reluctantly been omitted. Note that a complete reprint of this book with all notes, page divisions and Syriac text can be bought online by visiting Gorgias Press, (and search on Wright)]
This text was transcribed by Colin Tunnicliffe, UK, 2004. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.