avg_rating: 4.37
name: James the Just
about: James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early leader of the Jerusalem Church of the Apostolic Age. Traditionally, it is believed he was martyred in AD 62 or 69 by being stoned to death by the Pharisees on order of High Priest Ananus ben Ananus.Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians teach that James, along with others named in the New Testament as "brothers" of Jesus, were not the biological children of Mary, mother of Jesus, but were possibly cousins of Jesus, or step-brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph (as related in the non-canonical Gospel of James).The Catholic tradition holds that this James is to be identified with James, son of Alphaeu James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early leader of the Jerusalem Church of the Apostolic Age. Traditionally, it is believed he was martyred in AD 62 or 69 by being stoned to death by the Pharisees on order of High Priest Ananus ben Ananus.Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians teach that James, along with others named in the New Testament as "brothers" of Jesus, were not the biological children of Mary, mother of Jesus, but were possibly cousins of Jesus, or step-brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph (as related in the non-canonical Gospel of James).The Catholic tradition holds that this James is to be identified with James, son of Alphaeus, and James the Less. It is agreed by most that he should not be confused with James, son of Zebedee also known as James the Great.According to the Church Fathers, he has posthumously been described as the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and is believed to be the author of the Epistle of James in the New Testament, the first of the Seventy Apostles, and originator of the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15. In the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul of Tarsus describes his first visit to Jerusalem where he met James and stayed with Cephas (Simon Peter). James is described by Josephus and in the New Testament as being "the brother of Jesus," and in the Liturgy of St James as "the brother of God" (Adelphotheos) Hegesippus (born 48 years after James' death) described him as a vegetarian. ...more