Disambiguation time! Philip the Apostle is not to be confused with a couple of other Philips in the New Testament. Matthew 14, Mark 6 and Luke 3 all mention a brother of Herod named Philip, the first husband of Herodias and father of Salome (she of the seven veils). He's not the saint in question. Also not him is Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven deacons appointed in Acts 6 along with Stephen. This Philip preached to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 and played host to Paul and his companions in Acts 21. But again, he's not this saint.
The other times a man named Philip is named in the N.T., it's the Philip named in lists of the 12 apostles in Matthew 10, Mark 3, Luke 6 and Acts 1. He's one of the first half-dozen or so disciples of Jesus, present to witness the first of Jesus' miracles at the wedding at Cana. Only John's gospel presents him as a speaking character and reveals that he comes from the city of Bethsaida in Galilee, also the hometown of Andrew, Peter and Nathanael. It is Philip who tells Nathanael, in John 1:45, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." It is Philip who reports to Jesus, in John 6, that feeding the 5,000 will exceed the disciples' financial resources. It is Philip, in John 12, who brings word to Andrew that the Greeks want to see Jesus, which Andrew passes on to the Lord. And Philip, Thomas and "Judas (not Iscariot)" enter the dialog in John 14, each feeding Jesus a prompt during his after-the-Last-Supper sermon. Philip's comment is, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us," to which Jesus replies, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip?"
Aaand Philip is never heard of again. I mean, he has some apocryphal writings named after him, and there's an early-church tradition about him that claims he was executed in Hierapolis, a city in what is now Turkey, by being either crucified upside-down or beheaded. The crucifixion version is a little silly in its details (look it up for yourself), but that's hagiography for you.
Then there's James, literally Jacob(!!), one of two apostles by that name. The one who shares May 1 with Philip is not to be confused with James the Elder, the son of Zebedee and brother of John the Evangelist, whose feast is held on July 25. The James we're concerned with is the son of Alphaeus, listed among the 12 apostles in Matthew 10, Mark 3, Luke 6 and Acts 1. Scripture says no more of him, unless he's the same guy as "James the Less" (or "the Younger") mentioned in Mark 15 along with his mother Mary and brother Joses; see also Matthew 27, Mark 16 and Luke 24. Then there's James of Jerusalem, or James the Just, celebrated on Oct. 23 on the Lutheran sanctoral calendar. Assuming, as Lutheranism does, that he's a separate James, he was technically not an apostle, but an early bishop of Jerusalem (Acts 12, 15, 21; 1 Corinthians 15) who wrote the N.T. epistle of James, and is known as a (half-)brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3, Galatians 1:19), along with Jude (Jude 1).
Of James the son of Alphaeus / James the Less (assuming they're one and the same), Scripture only records his name and those of some immediate family members. He doesn't get any lines, even in John's gospel. Tradition mentions him preaching in Jerusalem, where he was thrown to his death and/or stoned and/or clubbed to death. But since, again, Scripture is silent, he gets to wear the rear half of the two-man saint costume on May 1. And now, at long last, the hymn:
O Christ, who armed the church for strife
The night before You died,
You are the Way, the Truth, the Life
And there is none beside.
Where hearts are troubled, let the grace
Poured from Your ruptured side
Flow with assurance that a place
In heaven You provide.
When to the cross for all You went,
You bore sin's darts and slings,
Then rose—and great was Your ascent—
To fill and rule all things.
At God's right hand, and One with Him,
To us His face You show;
Though we be weak, our eyesight dim,
In You God's way we know.
On You, the Cornerstone, now stands
A living house whose parts
We are, with saints from many lands,
A temple built of hearts.
Knit us as one, so that therein
The Holy Ghost may dwell—
A shrine of life, made hard from sin
And from the gates of hell.
By word and sacrament, from youth
Your love has held us fast.
By men like James and Philip, truth
Shall keep us to the last.
Wait, Lord! Have mercy, though our feet
May stumble on the way;
Restore our steps, until we greet
That glad reunion day.
ART: SS James and Philip, 12th century painting, public domain.
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