James and James the Less

James is easily the most difficult apostle to follow through the ages because there were several men in the gospels named James. Most importantly, many traditions surrounding James say that he was the brother to Jesus! As a flesh relative to Jesus there is a deep and important significance to exactly who James is, and what James did in the church. Traditions have many titles for these James: “James son of Alpheus”, “James son of Zebedee”, “James brother of John”, “James brother of the Lord”, “James the Just”, “James the Less”, “James the Greater”, and “The Righteous One”. Some of the titles for these traditions overlap; some try to explain the titles, others give us heroic legends, but, the most important events about James take place within the time of Acts of the Apostles. No matter which account of his title you accept, a James, was critical to the early Jerusalem Church trying with his very life to keep the fragile church together.  His opposition, or “enemy”, was the best and most difficult any man could ever have faced – it was with none other than Paul. Traditions say that Paul and James’ opposition came to blows – but that’s getting a little ahead.

Which James ?

Who was James according to the New Testament? A detailed listing of all the references to James in the NT shows that there is no clear answer (See Appendix A for a verse by verse listing of all instances of “James”):

Titles for James:	Matt	Mark	Luke	John	Acts	Galatians	Jude
Son of Zebedee	x	x	x
Son of Alpheaus	x	x	x		x
Brother of John	x	x			x
Son of Mary	x	x	x
Son of Joseph	x	x
Brother of Jesus	x					x
Brother of Simon		x
Brother of Juda		x	x		x		x
Brother of Jose	x	x
James the Less		x

The highlighted rows shows that one of the James was a relative of Jesus, probably even a brother since he is called “brother” explicitly. The lighter shading for Simon, and Juda, (also spelled ‘Simeon’ and ‘Jude’) are less direct relations because in other texts Simeon and Jude are referred to Jesus’ brothers, in a roundabout way becoming James relatives. No matter how you slice it, clearly one of the James’ is a relative to Jesus.

Was he the brother? A valid argument is that the term “brother” is often used in other countries in the same way that we use the term “Uncle”. We sometimes use it to show affection to someone (male) who may not even be related. Even today, in places like northern India, the phrase “brother” can mean brother, half-brother, or even cousin. There is also the view that “brother” simply meant any male of the “brotherhood”, as in all apostles were spiritual brothers.

There are good arguments against these generalized views from the NT itself, supporting the idea that James was the “brother”, or possibly “half-brother”. For one, when Paul writes of meeting with the apostles (in Galatians) he gives James the title “the brother of the Lord”, but uses no titles for any of the other apostles. Clearly, Paul insisted on addressing James above the others, and his “rank” was established by being blood related to Jesus. Oddly enough, John does not speak of any James, be it his own brother, or any details about any brother to Jesus, but he does tell us that Jesus did have brothers (John 7:2-5), but in this verse he is speaking about the “unbelieving” brothers.

This leaves us with three separate and distinct James: James the son of Zebedee, James the son of Alpheaus, and James the brother of Jesus. James the son of Zebedee, was John’s older brother, he was married, had four children, and thirty years when he was called (26AD). As mentioned in Andrew, the brothers were fishermen working with Andrew and Peter. Before being called, James the son of Zebedee lived in Bethsaida near Capernaum. He was killed by Herod’s sword, in 41AD so closing out the NT records of this James. James son of Alphaeus, This James lived near Kheresa and was brother to Judas Alphaeus (Jude Thaddaeus). Both James and Jude were called to serve by the Zebedee brothers and at the time they were twenty-six, apparently fraternal twins, and both married. James with three children and Judas Alphaeus had two. [death ??]

Brother James

Turning to the “James brother of the Lord” title, if we go with John’s assertion that James (as a brother) was not a believer of Jesus until after the resurrection, we would have an explanation why James the Brother was not spoken of during the Gospels. Even though he may have had little influence during the ministry, it is this James who shaped the early church after the resurrection. After the resurrection Jesus appears to James (1 Corinth 15:7), and this is when James comes to know that his brother was truly the messiah. Clement of Rome, who lived in the time of the Apostles from 30AD to 97AD, Roman Catholic Pope, gives us a detailed account of his own personal conversion in a writing to James, and in that letter he clearly specifies that James is in fact the brother of Jesus.

Now that he believes, James takes charge and leads the Jerusalem Church. Yet by all accounts he still he is devout in the Laws of Moses with a devotion so strong that Jews, Christians and Romans alike respected and admired him for his righteousness – so giving him the title “James the Just” and “James the Righteous One”. His devotion is so pure that he alone is allowed to enter the Holy of Holies to meet with Gd face-to-face. The Holy of Holies is the innermost sanctuary of the Temple. This place, where the Ark of the Covenant sat, was so holy that no illumination was permitted, no people were permitted to enter, but most importantly, this is where Gd, in the physical, actually dwelled. Once a year on the high holy day, one Jewish priest would be permitted to enter the HH to beg forgiveness for the entire body of believers. This priest must be devout, pure, and worthy of being in the presence of Gd. By several ancient written accounts James had this ultimate honor:

The book “The Ascents of James”, says “To James alone was it allowed to enter once a year into the Holy of Holies because he was a Nazarite and connected to the priesthood.” Another important book “Gospel of the Hebrews” said “The Lord went to James, blessed him after the resurrection”. Both these books no longer exist; these two quotes come from Ephiphanius, the Bishop of Salamis, who quoted these two books in the late 380s.” There is also written accounts of James by a people who lived during his life time. First there is Josephus [cover Josephus in Intro] who wrote in his memoirs “The things [revolt and destruction of the temple in the late 60s] happened to the Jews in requital for James the Righteous, who was a brother of Jesus known as the Christ, […] he was the most righteous of men…” As mentioned above, Clement of Rome lived during the time of James, who wrote about his travels and training from Peter in a book that was sent to James. The book addresses James as the brother of the Lord, and as the leader of the Apostles. In fact, one passage says that Peter was commanded to give yearly status reports to James.

The Jerusalem church was under James’ care for eleven years. During this time those who said that Jesus was the messiah (as they were not yet called “Christians”) still considered themselves Jewish, and Jews together worshipped at the Temple. Eventually this caused problems with the local Jewish leaders. Clement writes about an attempt to kill James by a leading Sadducee named Saul. He was commissioned by the high-priest to find evidence that could be used to convict James of breaking the Law of Moses. It is important to understand that the Law of Moses was not simply a collection of ethical suggestions as we see it today; it was both the civil and spiritual law of Judea.

Saul searched for James, finally finding him in the Temple on his knees praying. Saul stormed into the Temple and started verbally attacking James. James retaliated with scriptural arguments, quickly the words spread and a riot broke out. Saul grabbed James and dragged him to the top of the staircase shoving him headfirst to the ground. James hit the limestone pavement; the sounds of his broken bones satisfied Saul that he was dead. Saul left the Temple. James, who had broken his legs, was not dead. James’ followers gathered the broken man and retreated to James House. Before dawn, James and his 5,000 followers fled to Jericho (it is suggested that this is the same event and 5,000 of Acts 4:4). Saul having chased the movement out of Jerusalem asked for permission to continue the “cleansing” in Damascus (Acts 8:3- 9:23). According to Clement Saul was actually in pursuit of arresting Peter. On his way to Damascus, Saul, the most feared and terrible threat to the movement became the most important man to the movement – he became Paul. [1]

Around the year 62AD events began to happen in Jerusalem at an accelerating pace. The Roman proconsul Festus, having recently replaced Pilate, died. The replacement proconsul Albinus was on his way to Judea. According to Josephus, who lived in Judea at the time of these events, Ananus called the Sanhedrin together to proclaim James brother to Jesus as a heretic, a law breaker and that he should be stoned. The many supporters of James, who were growing upset, began to gather around the Temple where the Sanhedrin held him.

The Sanhedrin brought James to the pinnacle of the Temple to humiliate him publicly, demanding that James publicly denounce Jesus as the messiah. James cried out “No! He is the Son of God and also the Judge of this World”. Furious, they threw him over the edge and began to stone him for his heresy. James cried out “Father, Father forgive them they know not what they do!” This was the last insult; a cloth-maker with his cloth-making club in hand, smashed James skull. Many traditions say that it was the year 44AD that James the Less was killed, but, Paul mentions that he met James during the Apostolic Synod which was around the year 50AD. For the next three years the tension boiled between the Jews who claimed “Jesus the Messiah” and the Jews who did not. Finally, the messiahists fled Jerusalem to Pella in 65AD. Two years later the Jews rebelled against the Romans, and the Roman general Titus responded:

Titus then went into Antonia, intending the next morning to attack and overwhelm the temple with his entire force. But on that day-the tenth of Lous [August 30, 70AD], the same day on which Solomon's temple had been destroyed by the king of Babylon, the structure was doomed.

Josephus, Jewish War

James was more than just the local leader of the developing Christian movement. He was a Nazarene, like Simon the Zealot, Sampson, and Jesus. As a Nazarene James would not drink wine, eat meat or cut his hair. The Nazarenes, according to the Torah, were seen as devout people whose devotion and self-appointed mission would lead Israel to freedom from their conquerors (even James’ name “Yakkov”, in Hebrew, means “savior”). That devotion came in whole-hearted adherence to the Law of Moses, in deed and in heart. Even Jesus says “In all matters go to James the Just, for his sake heaven and earth came into being” (Gospel of Thomas, #12). No one questioned James’ dedication to his faith, except his nemesis Paul. Even after his conversion Paul (“Saul” before) continued to hold a theologically opposite view of how Christianity should operate.

Topic	James	Paul
(todo)

The comparison is based primarily on the epistle of James, which according to some scholars was written as early as the year 49AD. Most scholars agree it was written between 60 and 62AD.

James and Paul

Even though they were apparently irreconcilably opposed, Paul subjected himself to James. The mighty Saul who was a vehement Jewish leader, the man who helped kill the first martyr Stephen (Acts 22:20) and broke James’ legs, yielded to James the Just. In Galatians (Galatians 2:9) Paul says how he came to the Apostolic Meeting (50AD), made his case that he be permitted to preach with his own views and was given the blessings of James and Peter, provided Paul stay out of Judea. James was undoubtedly the anchor of the early Church and possibly more than the leader of the “Christian” church. There is debate that James is the “Teacher of Righteousness” as mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. [explain]

After his death the lore of James takes on epic proportions affecting countries, continents, wars and pilgrimages. One tradition holds that James, (which of the James is not made clear) originally traveled as far as Spain unsuccessfully preaching the word. After having converted eight people to the faith, this particular James returned to Jerusalem and was killed shortly afterwards.

The greatest and best known legend of James begins where his life ends – at the hands of the fullers club. Here his followers, Teodoro and Atanásio took up his body and brought James to the ocean. In despair the followers bought a boat and set his body inside, then  unfurled the sails and let the wind carry them to where divine providence would have them go. The story says they sailed from the middle-east up through the Mediterranean, around the straits of Gibraltar and came to rest on the Atlantic Ocean side of Spain to the river Ria de Arosa which is in a region called “Fin Terra” by the Romans, or, “Lands End”.

Figure 9 - Travel of St. James to Spain

Queen Lupa

The angel directed the boat to a small creek “Ulla” where they made landfall. The spot that they tied up the boat is kept in sanctuary under the altar in Santiago de Padron. [verify] The followers saw a castle in the distance and went there looking for assistance and a suitable burial spot. When they arrived at the castle they requested to meet with the King. There was no king, only Queen Lupa (“Lupus” in Latin) which means she-wolf, and she was aptly named. Furious with the arrogance of the followers to ask for a king, she ordered them arrested. Late that night a shinning light appeared in the prison causing the locks to fall open. The followers made a hasty escape, but were chased by the keep’s guards. The followers raced over a bridge, when the guards reached the bridge the shinning light caused it to collapse under them.

The next day the followers boldly returned, this time demanding to see the Queen. “Queen Lupa, it will be better for you to help us. We merely need a cart and a couple of oxen to transport our deceased master James”. The vengeful Queen granted them the cart, but ordered that they have wild bulls rather than domesticated oxen. Her plan was that the bulls would run off destroying the body, and maybe killing one or more of the followers. Gladly the followers accepted the cart and wild bulls. In the hands of the followers the wild bulls were tamer than any oxen in the land. The Queen began to come around to Christianity, later ordering the destruction of the Celtic pagan temple Ara Solis. The followers brought the body to a secret location and buried James. When the followers died they were buried next to James. The tomb was lost to time and no one remembered where it was.

Eight hundred years later (813AD) the hermit Pelayo heard music off in the distance. Beautiful sweet music like he had never heard before, he followed the music through the forest, as he drew closer he saw a radiant light. The spot was later named “Campus Stellae” Latin for “field of the star”, today it is known as “Campostella” in Spain. Pelayo brought the news to the local bishop who launched an investigation. The bishop went to the site to personally for three days he fasted and labored to clear the site of debris. He discovered the tomb and a tablet describing the tomb to be that of James.

 [http://www.fbento.pt/rot/0997/a01-00-00.html]

Tablets and Relics

Bishop Teodomiro declared that the site and relics were authentically that of James. Later, King Alphonse II built a chapel to James at this location, which according to tradition brought about miracles by James. One miracle is said to be James fighting with King Ramiro I against the Moors. The battle was important as it turned the tide of Moorish control of Spain. The site then became the most important Christian pilgrimage site in Europe. The pilgrimage was so important that the Roman Pope Leo III declared that any pilgrim who made the journey to Santiago (“Saint Iago”, which is Saint James in English) would be absolved of sins. This road “Camino de Santiago” (“Way of Saint James”) stretched approximately five hundred miles from the coast of Spain through the Pyrenees Mountains and into France. It was also called the “Milky Way” suggesting how many pilgrims came. Parts of that journey path are still pilgrimage sites today with ancient road markers still visible.

Figure 10 - Interior of the Cathedral

The number of pilgrims was so great that “hotels” were built along the highway to accommodate them, even bridges and highways were constructed to ease the journey. The details of this journey are actually detailed in a book from the 1140s “The Pilgrims Guide”. The book implies that the journey could be completed in thirteen days, but it’s not likely that the journey could be completed in so short a time, especially considering some of the waypoints are sixty miles apart. [2]

Figure 11 - Camino de Santiago Route