Now of the death of Paul and Peter—both the time and the manner, and besides, the place of the deposition of their bodily remains after their departure from life—has already been shown by us before.
And concerning John, the matters relating to the time have in some way already been told; but the place of his bodily remains is shown from an epistle of Polycrates—he was bishop of the diocese at Ephesus—which, writing to Victor, bishop of the Romans, he makes mention together both of him and of Philip the apostle and of his daughters, somewhat thus: 'For in Asia also great luminaries have fallen asleep, who shall rise again on the last day of the Lord's coming, when he comes with glory from heaven and shall seek out all the saints—Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who has fallen asleep at Hierapolis, and his two daughters who grew old as virgins, and his other daughter, who lived her life in the Holy Spirit and rests at Ephesus;
and there is John too, who reclined upon the breast of the Lord, who became a priest wearing the petalon, both a martyr and a teacher; this one has fallen asleep at Ephesus.' So much also concerning the death of these men.
And in the dialogue of Gaius, whom we mentioned a little before, Proclus, against whom he was carrying on the disputation, concerning the death of Philip and his daughters, in agreement with what has been set forth, speaks thus: 'And after this there were four prophetesses, the daughters of Philip, at Hierapolis in Asia; their tomb is there, and that of their father.'
These things this man says. But Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions the daughters of Philip, who at that time were staying with their father in Caesarea of Judaea and had been counted worthy of the gift of prophecy, recording it word for word somewhat thus: 'We came to Caesarea, and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was of the seven, we stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.'
Having now distinguished the things that have come to our knowledge concerning the apostles themselves and the apostolic times—both the sacred writings they have left us, and those which are disputed yet nevertheless used publicly in very many churches among many people, and those which are altogether spurious and alien to apostolic orthodoxy—let us go on to the history that follows.