The Epistle of James the Brother of Jesus

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Jesus (center) his brother James (left) and Peter.  Artist unknown.
Jesus (center) his brother James (left) and Peter. Artist unknown.

Many Christians aren’t aware that Jesus‘ brother may have his very own letter in the bible. Yet it’s there, tucked inconspicuously under the thirteen letters attributed to Paul. The Catholic Encyclopedia claims there’s no doubt who the author was:

“Internal evidence (contents of the Epistle, its style, address, date, and place of composition) points unmistakably to James, the Lord’s brother, the Bishop of Jerusalem, as the author; he exactly, and he alone, fulfils the conditions required in the writer of the Epistle.” Yet it’s surprising that the authors acknowledge James was Jesus’ brother here, when it’s denied elsewhere in the same publication by calling him Jesus’ cousin. They call James a bishop, thereby implying he was a Christian, which he most definitely wasn’t. There’s never been a Jewish bishop. Nor did Christian bishops exist anywhere until (at earliest) the 90’s CE, thirty years after James died.

I don’t think we can be sure Jesus’ brother wrote James’ letter, but even if he didn’t, it’s from an early Jewish source, so one probably close to Jesus. Many scholars date it to about 60 CE,  although the Catholic Encyclopedia states “about A.D. 47.”

The letter is addressed to the twelve Jewish tribes of the dispersion, so was to be distributed outside Jerusalem. It has a mildly authoritarian tone, as one would expect from a leader.
The author doesn’t mention the word “church.” The communities he wrote to (outside Jerusalem) worshipped in synagogues:

“Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue…” (James 2:2, NJB.)

James says nothing about his famous brother’s exploits. He doesn’t mention Jesus’ divinity, miracles, sacrificial death or resurrection. Let’s imagine ourselves in James’ sandals. If you thought your brother, or your close associate, was a miracle working son of God, and you knew he’d risen from the dead, there wouldn’t be much else worth talking about! All your letters would be laced with excited expletives about supernatural events. James’ letter isn’t, because he didn’t believe bullshit about Jesus.

He was a pious Jew. A central theme of the letter is that it’s important to obey “the Law.”

“You see, if a man keeps the whole of the Law, except for one small point at which he fails, he is still guilty of breaking it all” (James 2:10 JB.)

“But the man who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and makes that his habit – not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice – will be happy in all that he does” (James 1:25 JB.) He was referring to the Jewish Law, which the Jerusalem Bible admits in a footnote. This is the opposite of Paul’s proposition that salvation is secured by releasing oneself from obedience to the Law, an admission also admitted in another footnote.

James wrote that faith was pointless without good works:

“Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead” (James 2:14–17, NJB.)

He emphasized the importance of action:

“If there are any wise or learned men among you, let them show it by their good lives, with humility and wisdom in their actions” (James 3:13, NJB.) It’s obvious James had heard Paul’s preaching about faith, and quite rightly rebutted it as nonsense.

Consider the following:

“Remember this, my dear brothers, be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to rouse your temper, God’s righteousness is never served by man’s anger.” (James 1:19–20, NJB.) James was cut from a different cloth to the self righteous, often angry Paul, a man who rarely listened to others.

James wrote

“Above all, my brothers, do not swear by heaven or by earth, or use any oaths at all. If you mean ‘yes,’ you must say ‘yes;’ if you mean ‘no,’ say ‘no’. Otherwise you make yourselves liable to judgment” (James 5:12, NJB.) This is refreshingly real, although one might hope to hear something a little more profound from the brother of the son of God!

James believed in Jewish scripture. He didn’t tolerate hypocrisy. He had some almost socialist ideals, which one would expect from a pious Jew. Jesus may have believed something similar.

There’s nothing to suggest an anti-Roman stance, but the letter may have been edited. It’s also possible James knew that if any anti-Roman literature found its way into the government’s hands he’d suffer the same fate as John the Baptist and Jesus…a gruesome death.

James’ letter only just made it into the canon. In the fourth century, its status was disputed. Augustine and Jerome accepted it very reluctantly, so probably others at the time couldn’t ignore the connection with Jesus.

Martin Luther thought the letter had little doctrinal value because it so blatantly contradicted Paul’s teachings. Paul was Luther’s hero. He called James’ letter “an Epistle of straw.” He clearly had a very limited understanding of the real history. Modern readers have the benefit of another 500 years of scholarship.

About Post Author

Mark Fulton

Dr Mark Fulton is a practising physician living on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. He has spent many years researching the origins of Christianity, and has written a book, soon to be published, titled "Get over Christianity by Understanding it." His website is at www.markfulton.org
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10 years ago

I was with you at ‘Many Christians’ but didn’t really pick it up again until ‘500 years of scholarship’….

My apologies. I can be inordinately thick.

er…what’s an Epistle?….and do I need to know? Sorry, no offence, just asking….

Should I just go away now? I don’t mind…really I don’t….;-)

Joe Hagstrom
10 years ago

Us Catholics know about James as we use the “faith without good deeds is dead” line to refute Protestants who claim faith alone is what gets you into Heaven.

That or the line from Paul which said it is by the grace of God that you go to Heaven. Or are saved or whatever. In the end most of the Jesus folk I know think God thinks like them so if they think somebody will go to Heaven or Hell then that must be what God thinks also.

I have no idea what God thinks. I just hope to Him He has a good sense of humor.

Reply to  Joe Hagstrom
10 years ago

Dear Joe,

God doesn’t think because there is no god.

Strong letter to follow.

MJS 🙂

Joe Hagstrom
Reply to  Professor Mike
10 years ago

When you stand before The Almighty on Judgment Day you may want to rethink that MadMike.

If I’m next to you I apologize now. I was going to tell Him you made me do all that shit.

Reply to  Joe Hagstrom
10 years ago

Praise the Jeebus!!

Rachael
10 years ago

Marsha I’ve always been fascinated by Judaism but haven’t really done anything about it. Your reference to Jewish mysticism has ignited the fires if curiosity once again and I think ill do some research. The Christian crap is just that so I’m not interested in anything that is deity based and yet suspect they all are.

Marsha Woerner
10 years ago

All of that aside…
I know that I’m not schooled in the appropriate Christian versions of the Bible, but what is “NJB”? I only fairly recently learned what “KJV” is, so bear with me :-). I am thinking that I need a copy of the Christian Bible for my library; we already have a copy of the Koran, a copy of the book of Mormon, and of course a copy of the Tanach (the complete Jewish Bible). I love fairy tales, and I think it’s important to have a fairly complete collection. On an aside, does anyone have other suggestions for me to add to my collection? I know, I’m totally off topic. Please excuse me. But there is some method to my madness. Being able to read some of what others think is important to their lives gives me a better concept of their personalities. Oh, and we need a copy of the Kabalah, the book of Jewish mysticism. I think the thing I like about Reform Judaism is it’s kind of a do-it-yourself thing. You don’t want to believe in a magician in the sky? Okay. And the religion is based on discussions of rabbis interpreting, agreeing, disagreeing, putting their all of their own spins on everything. But I’m really going too far astray…

Admin
10 years ago

James I’m with you man…it’s all nonsense. There is no contemporary evidence what so ever that Jesus existed. There’s no documentation, not a shred, that mentions the Jesus in the relevant time period. Secondly, the Romans, known for meticulous records keeping, apparently forgot to record his “trial” or execution. The list goes on and on, and I for one, don’t believe anything about the Jesus Myth, except that it is a “myth.”

10 years ago

All of this ignores the simple fact that there is not a single contemporary account of any Jesus character.

As stated by Dr. Bart Ehrman, Professor of religious studies at the University of North Caroline, Chapel Hill, NC said, “In the entire first Christian century, Jesus is not mentioned by a single Greek or Roman scholar, politician, philosopher, or poet. His name never appears in a single inscription, and it is never found in a single piece of private correspondence. Zero! Zip references!”

From my own researches:

In the case of the historical Jesus, there is not one contemporary record of his existence. The Romans, who otherwise kept very good records never mentioned a figure who was supposed to be socially, politically, and spiritually so significant as well as publicly performing many miracles; then was executed after a very public trial.

Not until the Gospel of Mark, written from 40 to over 100 years after the supposed crucifixion, (depending upon which biblical scholar you choose to believe) is there any mention of Jesus. If we look at the fables of Horus, Attis, and Mithra, we see amazing similarities. Born in low circumstances on December 25, 12 followers, executed at an early age, son of a god, the list goes on. It would appear that the early church, in need of a powerful central figure, “borrowed” from earlier myths to create a rallying point for their religion.

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