The third James
I like to study apologetics and one topic that I thought was very easy was about "the brothers of Jesus." My girlfriend is pentecostal and I went with her to sunday school and they mentioned something about the third James, the brother of Jesus. I never heard that before, I always that there was only James the less and James the greater. They say the the third James wrote the book of acts. Isnt that guy the Bishop of Jerusalem? But which James is he the greater or the less, or is there a third James? I read a few times and I cant see how one can prove that there was a third James.
QUESTION from Tizoc on March 22, 2004
Thank you
ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on March 25, 2004
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Dear Tizoc: Some Protestants tend to believe there were three persons named James: 1. James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Matt. 4:21; 10:2; Mark 1:19; 3:17; Luke 5:10), also known as James the Greater, and "son of thunder" along with his brother John. James was the first of the twelve to be martyred (Acts 12:2). His execution (about A.D. 44), by order of King Herod Agrippa I of Judea, was part of a larger persecution in which Peter was arrested (Acts 12:1-3). 2. James, the son of Alphaeus, one of the twelve disciples (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), maybe James the Less. 3. James, the brother of Jesus. However, the best scholarship shows that this reference to James is actually James the Less, sometimes known as son of Alphaeus. It is James the Less who is the author of the Book of James and the Bishop of Jerusalem. The best scholarship shows that the Book of Acts was written by St. Luke. In fact this same scholarship reveals the the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were part of the same writing (Part 1 and Part 2).
God Bless, |