Warning***Yawner Alert***When I start a new series, I always include these Introductory Posts that may be a little dry. But I promise it will get better….
Lookahead: There additionally seems to be very solid historical evidence that James the Great was murdered by Herod Agrippa…One can’t totally understand the impact that this must have had on the nascent church, as well as the Apostles. Their cowardice had been the stuff of legends prior to Pentecost. Then they had emerged from the Upper Room totally bold and unstoppable, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now one of Jesus’ inner circle had been ruthlessly/brutally murdered. That could not have helped but had a profound effect on the apostles, who now had a better understanding of what “drinking the cup” might mean. (Matthew 20:22)
With regard to the candidates (proposed in the last post) whom I considered viable based on available biblical and historical information, our question now becomes –
Was the author of the Book of James: James the Great, James the Less, or James the Just?
It appears that all three men were martyred ☹ And actually the church traditions that engender the specifics may, in fact, rule out one of candidates.
James the Great:
According to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, James the Great’s Martyrdom occurred as follows: It was not until ten years after the death of Stephen that the second martyrdom took place; for no sooner had Herod Agrippa been appointed governor of Judea, than, with a view to ingratiate himself with them, he raised a sharp persecution against the Christians, and determined to make an effectual blow, by striking at their leaders. The account given us by an eminent primitive writer, Clemens Alexandrinus, ought not to be overlooked; that, as James was led to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his conduct by the apostle’s extraordinary courage and undauntedness, and fell down at his feet to request his pardon, professing himself a Christian, and resolving that James should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone. Hence they were both beheaded at the same time. Thus did the first apostolic martyr cheerfully and resolutely receive that cup, which he had told our Savior he was ready to drink. Timon and Parmenas suffered martyrdom about the same time; the one at Philippi, and the other in Macedonia. These events took place A.D. 44.1
James the Less:
Interestingly enough, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs then went on to treat James the Less and James the Just as one and the same, and only gave one account of the martyrdom.
On the other hand, early church fathers differentiated the two theorizing that James the Less was one of the apostles, and a Son of Alphaeus – which might or might not mean that he was the Apostle Matthew’s brother.
(And) the Orthodox chronicler Nikephoros suggests James son of Alphaeus wound up in Egypt, in the ancient city of Ostrakine (Historia Ecclesiastica II:40).2
Tradition says that James the son of Alphaeus preached in Palestine and Egypt. Philip Schaff adds he was crucified at Ostrakine in Lower Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel [History of the Apostolic Church, page 389. Citing Nikephoros, Historia Ecclesiastica II:40.]3
(James the Less) labored, according to the tradition of the Greek church which distinguishes him from James the brother of the Lord, the Bishop of Jerusalem and author of the Catholic epistle…first in the south-western part of Palestine, afterwards in Egypt…4
(I tried for quite some time to find the original Ecclesiastica source on line, to no avail.)
However, wiki had some further info on Ostrakine: Established as a harbour in the first century BC, near Sirbonis, the longtime border between Egypt and Syria, archaeological evidence suggests that Ostrakine was a centre of glass-making in the classical period. A bishopric during the Byzantine period, there is evidence of three Byzantine churches, and that the town remained important as a stop along the trade route in the early Muslim period. Ostrakine has traditionally been thought to be the site of the tomb of the prophet Habakkuk and the martyrdom of James the Less.5
James the Just:
CSB Study Bible probably had a good summary of James the Just: James was one of several brothers of Christ, probably the oldest since he heads the list in Mt 13:55. At first he did not believe in Jesus and even challenged him and misunderstood his mission (Jn 7:2–5). Later he became very prominent in the church: He was one of the select individuals Christ appeared to after his resurrection (see 1Co 15:7 and note). Paul called him a “pillar” of the church (Gal 2:9). Paul, on his first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem, saw James (Gal 1:19). Paul did the same on his last visit (Ac 21:18). When Peter was rescued from prison, he told his friends to tell James (Ac 12:17). James was a leader in the important council of Jerusalem (Ac 15:13). Jude could identify himself simply as “a brother of James” (Jude 1:1), so well known was James. He was martyred c. a.d. 62.6
As to the specifics of James the Just’s martyrdom, the most detailed account that I could find came from the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus: But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.7
However, historians were not in complete agreement on this. Josephus theorized that James may have died by stoning…”But Hegesippus, an early Christian writer, quoted by the 3rd century Christian Historian, Eusebius, says James was cast down from the temple tower. This version of his death further states that he was not killed by the fall and so his head was smashed in with a fuller’s club, which may have been a club used to beat clothing or a hammer used by blacksmiths.”8
In sum, although at this juncture we can’t conclusively say who wrote the Book of James, there is a very strong chance that the author was later martyred in a most unpleasant way.
There additionally seems to be very solid historical evidence that James the Great was murdered by Herod Agrippa. Due to the fact that the date of the latter’s death is part of chronicled Roman history, we know this execution occurred prior to A.D. 44.
One can’t totally understand the impact that this must have had on the nascent church, as well as the Apostles. Their cowardice had been the stuff of legends prior to Pentecost. Then they had emerged from the Upper Room totally bold and unstoppable, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now one of Jesus’ inner circle had been ruthlessly/brutally murdered. That could not have helped but had a profound effect on the apostles, who now had a better understanding of what “drinking the cup” might mean. (Matthew 20:22)
In his epistle, James wrote to a church that needed some major encouragement and guidelines on dealing with persecution. Commentators say that this rules James the Great out as the potential author, as (like Moses in Deuteronomy) he could not have written about details related to his death, i.e., ensuing persecution. But Stephen had been similarly martyred seven years prior, causing a big backlash during which many Christians actually fled Jerusalem (Acts 8:1,4). So I’m sure that James the Great was well acquainted with the persecution that was increasing in lockstep with the Church’s growth. Therefore, I think the jury’s still out on the three remaining candidates.
Next post – Diaspora Defined and Baby James
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1http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Foxes%20Book%20of%20Martyrs.pdf
2https://overviewbible.com/james-son-of-alphaeus/
4https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AJG9467.0001.001/407?rgn=full+text;view=image
5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrakine
6https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/csb-study-bible/james-intro.html
7 https://pages.charlotte.edu/james-tabor/ancient-judaism/josephus-james/
8https://the-end-time.org/category/foxes-book-of-martyrs/page/2/
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