James the brother of Jesus

Why does Jesus' brother James get so little attention?

Originally posted by FMF
Why does Jesus' brother James get so little attention?

Close, but no cigar?

Originally posted by FMF
Why does Jesus' brother James get so little attention?

why would jesus's brother be named an english name?

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
why would jesus's brother be named an english name?

His actual name may have been somewhat different - like Yákovos or Ya'akov or Xaume or Séamus or Iago - but seeing as I am writing here in English, I think it's conventional to refer to him as 'James'. Why do people refer to Peter, Andrew, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas by these particular names?

Originally posted by FMF
His actual name may have been somewhat different - like Yákovos or Ya'akov or Xaume or Séamus or Iago - but seeing as I am writing here in English, I think it's conventional to refer to him as 'James'. Why do people refer to Peter, Andrew, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas by these particular names?

James, English equivalent of Jacob, meaning, “One Seizing the Heel; Supplanter” I think he is an excellent character, not an Apostle of course. A half brother of Christ (Christs father being God) the book that bears his name has some beautiful expressions and like Christ he uses very common, yet apt and profound illustrations to help his readers understand the point he is making. It is he who calls God, 'the father of the celestial lights'.

His being called “James the Just” is based on traditions that say he was so designated because of his way of life. There is no record in the scriptures of James death. The secular historian Josephus, however, says that during the interval between the death of Governor Festus, about 62 C.E., and the arrival of his successor Albinus, the high priest, Ananus (Ananias), “convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned.”—Jewish Antiquities, XX, 200 (ix, 1).

After you have read this FMF, if you get this far, Wolfgangs Vault has some amazing Grateful Dead live concerts which you can listen to freely 🙂

Originally posted by FMF
Why does Jesus' brother James get so little attention?

What is the purpose of this question? What sort of attention should James be getting that he is not getting?

Originally posted by Badwater
What is the purpose of this question? What sort of attention should James be getting that he is not getting?

Hey Baddy check out the cream concerts in wolfgangs vault, i was listening to them last night, Clapton before he became all popy and middle of the roady. 🙂

Originally posted by Badwater
What is the purpose of this question? What sort of attention should James be getting that he is not getting?

The sort of attention that this thread might afford him.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
James, English equivalent of Jacob, meaning, “One Seizing the Heel; Supplanter” I think he is an excellent character, not an Apostle of course. A half brother of Christ (Christs father being God) the book that bears his name has some beautiful expressions and like Christ he uses very common, yet apt and profound illustrations to help his readers understand the point he is making.

Was acknowledgement of James' role and authority knowingly diluted by those Early Christians who sought to shift focus and prominence to Peter and Paul?

Originally posted by FMF
Was acknowledgement of James' role and authority knowingly diluted by those Early Christians who sought to shift focus and prominence to Peter and Paul?

mmm, not that i am aware of. From what we understand, at least what i understand, is that Hellenistic schools of learning had prominent individuals who gave their name to a particular school and who had disciples, thus we read in the scriptures of the influence of this among early Christians , 'I belong to Apollos,', 'i to Paul', where the apostle Paul goes to great lengths to get them to give up the idea due to its potential for causing division.

(1 Corinthians 1:10-15) . . .Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.  For the disclosure was made to me about you, my brothers, by those of the house of Chloe, that dissensions exist among you.  What I mean is this, that each one of you says: “I belong to Paul,” “But I to Apollos,” “But I to Cephas,” “But I to Christ.”  The Christ exists divided. Paul was not impaled for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?  I am thankful I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,  so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.

THus it seems that some were attaching great importance to individuals perhaps due to the background of the Hellenistic schools of thought.

What of James?

I appears that James was initially, not opposed to Christ, but simply a non believer. this changed, according to scripture when the resurrected Christ appeared to James as reported at 1 Corinthians 15:7, so convincing this onetime non-believer that he was indeed the Messiah. Thereafter James became a prominent member and, apparently, an “apostle” of the Jerusalem congregation. Thus, at Pauls first visit with the Jerusalem brothers (about 36 C.E.), he says he spent 15 days with Peter but “saw no one else of the apostles, only James the brother of the Lord.” (Ga 1:18, 19) Peter, after his miraculous release from prison, instructed the brothers at John Mark’s home, “Report these things to James and the brothers,” thereby indicating James prominence. (Ac 12:12, 17) About 49 C.E. the issue of circumcision came before “the apostles and the older men” at Jerusalem. Following personal testimony by Peter, Barnabas, and Paul, James spoke, offering a decision that was approved and adopted by the assembly. (Ac 15:6-29) Referring to that occasion, Paul says that James, Cephas, and John “seemed to be pillars” among those at Jerusalem. (Ga 2:1-9) At the close of a later missionary tour, Paul, in Jerusalem, reported on his ministry to James and “all the older men,” and these then gave him certain counsel to follow.—Ac 21:15-26; see also Ga 2:11-14.

Thus it seems FMF that James was indeed fairly prominent, according to these scriptural instances. What prompts you to ask the question? Do you feel that others such as Peter and John are given more prominence in comparison?

🙂

Originally posted by FMF
Why does Jesus' brother James get so little attention?

Er...um.....perhaps because they were not the Messiah?

Originally posted by FMF
His actual name may have been somewhat different - like Yákovos or Ya'akov or Xaume or Séamus or Iago - but seeing as I am writing here in English, I think it's conventional to refer to him as 'James'. Why do people refer to Peter, Andrew, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas by these particular names?

because americans are evil imperialists bent on world domination and kicking of puppies.

on a more serious note i just thought my question about english baptizing other dudes because they are too lazy to try to pronounce their real names was as relevant as the fictional brother of jesus.

Originally posted by FMF
Why does Jesus' brother James get so little attention?

Quite the contrary. In the early church James got a whole LOT of attention.

James the brother of Jesus was apparently the most enfluential of the elders in the church in Jerusalem. He made the final decision in the council concerning what to do agout circumcising the Gentles. He seems to have had the final say RATHER than Peter.

As it stands, James was a man in transition. And I think his grasp of the New Testament economy proved not to be as clear as that of Paul's. This is understandable for all they had known before was Judaism.

More so than Paul, James seems to still have one foot in Judaism. And I think God used Paul to pull the church out of that enfluence. But Paul had to learn this the hard way.

He listened to James' advice to try to placate the Jews in Jerusalem who were zealous for the law. Paul agreed to take a vow and pretend to be an OT law p keeper. It all blew up in Paul's face.

Afterwards Paul wrote his strongest letters teaching that the new way of God was of grace and not of law keeping.

Sorry I'm so verbose. But in the early days of the church in Jerusalem James was the preeminent enfluence. It is typical of people that they would consider the flesh brother of Jesus to be very valuable. And he was. But he was not so as the revelation of the new covenant was, I think, more clearly seen by Paul.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
on a more serious note i just thought my question about english baptizing other dudes because they are too lazy to try to pronounce their real names was as relevant as the fictional brother of jesus.

"Fictional" in what sense?

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
Thus it seems FMF that James was indeed fairly prominent, according to these scriptural instances. What prompts you to ask the question? Do you feel that others such as Peter and John are given more prominence in comparison?

It was a very political time.