St. Philip of Gortyna

Saint Philip of Gortyna (Greek: Φίλιππος; died 180) was Bishop of Gortyna on Crete. Little is known about him except for his authorship of a now lost treatise against the Gnostics. An early Christian Apologist, he wrote in the time of Marcus Aurelius against Marcion. He was mentioned with great praise by Dionysius of Corinth in one of his letters to the Christian Community in Gortyna. He is generally commemorated with a feast day on 11 April, however in the Church of Crete his feast day is on 8 October.

The surviving historical record

The surviving biographical account of this saint is brief. It does not establish a complete chronology of childhood, family life, and daily activities. This page includes the available account rather than supplying imagined conversations or undocumented events. Where the account reports a tradition, it should be read as a tradition, not as a modern eyewitness record.