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St. James, Brother of the Lord, Bishop of Jerusalem and
Apostle of the Seventy
I Century
One of the Apostles of the Seventy, St. James is called the brother of the
Lord, although no one is quite sure what that means. Clement of Alexandria
and Tertullian say James was a brother as the term is commonly understood.
Origen calls James Jesus' stepbrother, and Jerome infers that James was a
cousin. James was not a follower of his relative until after the
resurrection; he became, with Peter, a leader in the Christian community
at Jerusalem. Clement says that James was elected bishop of the city.
Although James observed the Jewish law himself and is thought to have been
James the Just because of that, he did not wish to impose the Jewish law
on Gentile converts and was the advocate for this policy and for Paul's
mission to the Gentiles at the Council of Jerusalem (49). Highly regarded
among the Jewish Christians, James was put to death by the Sanhedrin in
62. He is the author of the Epistle of James in the New Testament and the
Liturgy of St. James, one of the oldest known liturgies.
Karen Rae Keck
- ABOUT:
- W. Telfer:
James, the Lord's Brother, (1962).
From
The Office of a Bishop [in the Early Church],
(London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1962).
- [Pseudo?-] St. Andrew of Crete:
Vita et Martyrium S. Jacobi Apost. Frat. Dom.:
Probably not really by St. Andrew.
-
Un Éloge de Jacques, le frère du Seigneur.
Greek text with French translation by Noret and
Gaspart. Toronto: IPEM, 1978.
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