Philip first enters the biblical record among the first group of deacons appointed to serve the early church. After a dispute over the distribution of food to widows, the disciples said, “Let us appoint seven men, good reputations, full of the Spirit and wisdom, to attend to the daily work” (Acts 6:5), and “also Philip” is named alongside Stephen and the others, marking him as one of the first seven.
Shortly thereafter Philip is sent to Samaria, where he “went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there” (Acts 8:5). His preaching “as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” led many to believe and be baptized, “both men and women” (Acts 8:12). The Samaritan response, recorded in the narrative, demonstrates how the gospel moved beyond Jerusalem’s boundaries, and many scholars view Philip’s Samarian ministry as a pivotal expansion of the early mission (see also Acts 8:13–14 for the subsequent miracle of tongues).
When the Jerusalem apostles heard that “Samaria had received the word of God,” they sent Peter and John “to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for they had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:14‑15). The laying on of hands “they received
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