Today, May 3, as our Church celebrates the Feast of Philip and James, Apostles, we are invited to reflect on a passage from the Acts of the Apostles (5:12-32), entitled "The apostles in the primitive Church". Our treasure, which follows, is from a treatise On the Prescription of Heretics by Tertullian, priest.
Saints Philip and James the Lesser were both among the original twelve apostles of Jesus. The Church celebrates their shared feast day to honor their faithfulness to Jesus and their roles in the early Church. The sharing of the same feast day also may be due to their relics being brought to Rome together in early May of 560 AD and placed in a Basilica dedicated to them.
Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee and was one of the first disciples called by Jesus, It's believed that Philip was influenced by John the Baptist's ministry.
Philip brought his friend Nathanael to Jesus, proclaiming him to be the Messiah. He is also the apostle who recognized the need to provide food for a large crowd during the story when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish,.
James was the son of Alphaeus and was sometimes called James the Less. Tradition holds that James was the first bishop of Jerusalem and played a key role in the Council of Jerusalem.
Tertullian was a priest and a prolific second century Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He was an early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy. His most famous quotes include: "Nature soaks every evil with either fear or shame", "Hope is patience with the lamp lit", "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church".
In his short treatise entitled "On the prescription of Heretics" Tertullian taught on how Christians should deal with heresy and heretical arguments, mostly from pagans. He argued that the apostles transmitted the truth down to their approved successors, and that essentially no heresy is new.
The Acts of the Apostles, the second volume of Luke's two-volume work, continues Luke's presentation of biblical history, describing how the salvation promised to Israel in the Old Testament and accomplished by Jesus has now under the guidance of the holy Spirit been extended to the Gentiles. This was accomplished through the divinely chosen representatives whom Jesus prepared during his historical ministry and commissioned after his resurrection as witnesses to all that he taught. Luke's preoccupation with the Christian community as the Spirit-guided bearer of the word of salvation rules out of his book detailed histories of the activity of most of the preachers. Only the main lines of the roles of Peter and Paul serve Luke's interest.
