Acts 8:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He baptizes only as a disciple. The completing grace is bestowed by those apostles to whom authority was given to bestow such a gift.

Some say that Philip did not bring down the Spirit upon those baptized because he was only a deacon, one advanced from among those who were with Stephen. He had neither the rank of presbyter nor that of bishop, as the chosen disciples of the Lord had.

That he was a deacon is witnessed by Paul in the “canons.” He testifies not only about him, but also about Ananias, who baptized Paul himself.

Being a deacon, Philip baptized first because presbyters were lacking in Samaria. In a case of necessity, when there is no presbyter, deacons also are permitted to baptize.

The Spirit Himself taught this, when He inspired the same Philip with the thought to approach the eunuch.

It must be noted that after baptism, through the laying on of hands and by the power of prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit descends upon those being baptized.

Therefore this rite is preserved in the same form even to the present day.

They consider that Church more holy in which they are received more generously. Such men do not care for what is higher and do not give it even the slightest attention.

Therefore know, most wondrous one, that what valiant Jerome said is true and has proof in divine Scripture.

For it was not Philip the Apostle, numbered among the Twelve, but one of the seven chosen with Stephen for the care of widows, who baptized the eunuch and instructed Simon.

Stephen was the valiant commander of the good-victorious martyrs.

Since you ask for testimonies on this subject from Scripture, hear what the all-valiant Luke wrote in Acts. After Stephen had been put to death, “there arose a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem.

They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1).

From this it is clear that Philip the Apostle remained in Jerusalem with the other apostles.

If you search the Scriptures with love of learning, you will find in them other testimonies explaining the matter we are considering.

When only the apostles remained in Jerusalem, and all the other disciples were scattered in various places, this Philip was among those scattered (Acts 8:4-5).

After instructing Simon in Samaria and baptizing the eunuch by God’s command, he was caught up by the Spirit of the Lord and “was found at Azotus” (Acts 8:40).

Then he set his course for Caesarea, his own homeland. For he was grieving over Stephen, and perhaps fearing that he might suffer something similar, he was returning home.

Since you desire many proofs, here is another. Philip baptized those whom he had taught in Samaria.

But the apostles Peter and John came to them from Jerusalem and bestowed upon them the grace of the Holy Spirit.

If the one who baptized had been one of the apostles, he himself would have had the right to bestow the Spirit upon them.

But Philip only baptized, as a disciple. The apostles imparted the grace, for to them the right of such a giving had been granted.

From this it is evident that in the Church of apostolic times there was both baptism in water and the imparting of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17-18).

These mysteries are performed to this day in the holy Orthodox Church. Only the imparting of the gift of the Holy Spirit is performed not through the laying on of hands, but through chrismation.

Moreover, the journey to Samaria by Peter and John, mentioned later (Acts 8:14), would be inexplicable if this Philip were one of the Twelve. They were sent by the apostles.

In all probability he was the second of the seven deacons mentioned above (Acts 6:5). He is later mentioned as an evangelist, one of the seven (Acts 21:8). Chrysostom and Theophylact also say this.

Perhaps his name is mentioned second among the seven deacons after Stephen precisely because his work in evangelical preaching was more prominent than that of the others.

This was so, except for Stephen, the glorious protomartyr and confessor.

On the other hand, it is very natural that the persecution after Stephen’s death was directed first and chiefly against Stephen’s closest fellow laborers, the deacons.

For this reason Philip had to withdraw from Jerusalem sooner.

“He came to a city of Samaria.” It seems that Philip had a house and family in Caesarea, the Caesarea of Straton (cf. the note on Acts 8:40), according to Acts 21:8.

Perhaps, while passing there from Jerusalem, he stopped in Samaria and preached Christ there. At least, after fulfilling there all that had been appointed for him, he departed for Caesarea (Acts 8:40).

There, as is evident, he remained for a time.

The writer of Acts does not state directly which Samaritan city Philip entered with the preaching of Christ. Conjectures here would be unnecessary.

Yet one may probably suppose that it was the chief city of Samaria. It had formerly also been called Samaria, and Herod the Great renamed it Sebaste.

This does not contradict the Greek turn of phrase here, and it seems to accord better with the fact that Simon the magician stayed there.

Nevertheless, this is only a probability. According to others, it was Shechem, where the Lord Himself sowed the first seeds of His teaching and promised the apostles a harvest (Jn 4).

Since they were not recognized as pure Hebrews, they had long ago separated from them in faith. The words of the later prophets did not reach them, and therefore they acknowledged only the Pentateuch.

As time went on, the division between them and the Jews increased more and more. At last the Jews even became afraid to have contact with the Samaritans.

Yet among them there were many good and merciful Samaritans. All of them awaited the Messiah as the Reconciler of their disputes, and above all as the Savior of all (cf. Jn 4:21, 25, 42).

The conversation of Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman near Shechem showed that among the Samaritans there were many people without prejudice, ready to hear the true word of God.

Therefore it is understandable that, when the confident and grace-filled evangelical word of the Apostle Philip resounded, the Samaritans willingly and wholeheartedly gave themselves to hearing it.

This was especially so because, for unprejudiced, upright, and sincere people, it was evident that the worker of great miracles of mercy toward sufferers was surely God’s messenger, an apostle of Christ.

His word could not be ignored. And if one attended to him sincerely, one could not but submit to it.