James the Just

James called "the Just", who is also called the Lord's brother in the New Testament, whom Josephus mentions and Eusebius praises, was the first Episcopos of Jerusalem and author of the Epistle of James, who afterward was slain for his witness to the Lord.

James the Just in the New Testament

Matthew 14:55
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Mark 6:3
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

Acts 12:17
But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

Acts 15:13(-21)
And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying Men and brethren, hearken unto me: ...

Acts 21:18
And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.

1 Corinthians 15:7
After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

Galatians 1:19
But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

Galatians 2:9, 12
⁹And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
¹²For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them of the circumcision.

James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Jude 1
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

James the Just in Eusebius

The following is adapted from The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus

James, called the brother of our Lord, because he is also called the son of Joseph, who was esteemed the father of Christ, because the Virgin, being betrothed to him "was found with child by the Holy Spirit before they came together."

This James, whom the ancients surnamed "the Just", because of his excellent virtue, was the first who received the episcopate of the church in Jerusalem. Clement, in the sixth book of his Institutions, says that Peter, James, and John, after the ascension of our Lord, though preferred by him, did not contend for that honor, but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem. And in his seventh book he says that the Lord imparted the gift of knowledge to James the Just, to John, and Peter after his resurrection, and delivered it to the rest of the apostles, and they to the seventy, of whom Barnabas was one.

During the forty years that God delayed the destruction of Jerusalem, the majority of the apostles and disciples, and James himself, the first bishop there, usually called the brother of our Lord, still surviving and still remaining at Jerusalem, remained the strongest protection of the place. For their sake the Divine Providence bore with the Jews with long-suffering, to see if by repentance for what they had done to Christ they might obtain pardon and salvation.

There were two Jameses: one who was beheaded, and the other called the Just, who was thrown from a wing of the temple, and beaten to death with a fuller's club.

The times of the bishops in Jerusalem have not been regularly recorded and preserved, because tradition says they all lived only briefly. However, from writers of the time, down to the invasion of Judea under Hadrian, there were fifteen successions of bishops in that church, all Hebrews from the beginning, who received the knowledge of Christ pure and unadulterated, so that, according to those who were able to judge, they were well-approved and worthy of the episcopal office. The first was James called the brother of our Lord; the second was Simeon, the third Justus, the fourth Zaccheus, the fifth Tobias, the sixth Benjamin, the seventh John, the eighth Matthew, the ninth Phillip, the tenth Seneca, the eleventh Justus, the twelfth Levi, the thirteenth Ephres, the fourteenth Joseph, and finally the fifteenth Judas.

James the Just in Josephus

The following is adapted from The Works of Josephus

When Festus died in A.D. 62, Nero Caesar sent Albinus to Judea as procurator. But before he arrived, King Herod Agrippa II quickly appointed Ananus, a man inclined to rashness, to the high priesthood. He was a son of the elder Ananus called Annas, son of the same Annas before whom Christ Jesus was brought after he was taken in the Garden of Gethsemane. This elder Annas, after having been high priest, had five sons, all of whom achieved that office, which was unparalleled. This younger Ananus with characteristic rashness followed the Sadducees, who were heartless when they sit in judgment. With Festus dead and Albinus still on the way Ananus thought he had his opportunity. He convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them James, the brother of Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, and certain other men, whom he accused of transgressing the law, and condemned them to be stoned to death.

The people of Jerusalem who were considered most fair-minded and strict in observing the law were offended. They privately urged King Agrippa to order Ananus to desist from any further such actions. Some of them even went to meet Albinus on his way from Alexandria, and informed him that without his permission Ananus had no authority to convene the Sanhedrin. Albinus angrily wrote to Ananus, threatening vengeance for this.

See also

Council of Jerusalem

Early Christianity