**G. (JAMES).** — Has the same etymology as Giacobbe (q.v.). From the Greek Ἰάκωβος comes Iacobus, Jacopo, G. In the New Testament, two Apostles are listed by the name of G.: G. of Zebedee or the Greater, and G. of Alphaeus. The latter is probably to be identified with G. the Less (brother [cousin] of the Lord).
I. **G. THE GREATER.** — Apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome (Mk. 15:40, cf. Mt. 27:56), brother of John the Evangelist. Called by Jesus while he and his brother were mending their nets by the Sea of Galilee, he left his father, the boat, and the hired men (Mt. 4:21-22; Mk. 1:19-20; Lk. 5:10-11). In the list of Apostles in Mk. 3:16-19, he occupies the second place; in those of Mt. 10:2-4; Lk. 6:13-16; Acts 1:13, the third (after Peter and Andrew).
With Peter and John, he is among the privileged: he witnesses the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mk. 5:37), the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:37), and asks about the end of the world (Mk. 13:3-4). Because of their impetuous character, the two brothers James and John received from Jesus the nickname of “sons of thunder” (q.V. BOANERGES): Mk. 3:17; they called down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans (Lk. 9:52-56) and aspired to the highest places (Mk. 10:35-40; cf. Mt. 20:20-23).
G. the Greater was beheaded by order of Herod Agrippa I (q.v.) around the year 42 (Acts 12:2); on his way to martyrdom, he is said to have converted his executioner (Clement of Alexandria, Hypotyposes, VII, in Eusebius, Hist. ecc., II, 9; PG 20, 157).
According to a legend spread by Isidore of Seville (De vita et obitu Sanctorum, 71: PL 93, 151), G. the Greater would have preached in Spain and composed the Epistle of James (q.V. below).
His body is venerated at Santiago de Compostela; it is said to have been discovered by Theodorus of Iria in the 9th century. His tomb is a destination of pilgrimages, especially famous in the 10th–15th centuries. He is the patron saint of Spain. His feast is celebrated on July 25 in the Roman Martyrology; it was earlier on December 27, then April 30 (by the Greeks), April 12 (by the Copts), and December 28 (by the Armenians).
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Pietro De Ambrogetti
FOLKLORE. — The extraordinary importance that the medieval shrine of St. G. at Compostela had, as a pilgrimage destination from all over Europe, left notable traces in popular tradition. The “Milky Way” is still called the Way of St. Jacopo. The miracles worked by the Saint inspired Latin hymns, a Provençal mystery play, a Tuscan sacred representation, and an “istory” in ottava rima preserved in Cod. 363 of the Vittorio Emanuele Library in Rome (published by Menghini and reprinted by Battelli; q.V. BIBLICA.). The memory of his miracles survives in oral tradition, as shown by a prose legend collected in Val Gardena and a Calabrian “istory” in hendecasyllables.
Patron of pharmacists, druggists, hatters, and shoemakers, the Saint is invoked against rheumatism and for fair weather. — See pl. XXVIII.
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P. G. THE LESSER. — Probably to be identified with the Apostle G. of Alphaeus, brother of the Lord, author of the Epistle of James (q.V. below).
In the lists of Apostles, G. of Zebedee (q.v.) is distinguished from a G. of Alphaeus (Mt. 10:2-4; Mk. 3:16-19; Lk. 6:14-16; Acts 1:13). St. Luke, in his lists preserved in the Gospel and in Acts, also lists an Apostle called Judas of James, commonly interpreted as “brother of James.” In the other lists, instead of this Judas of James, there is Thaddeus (or Lebbaeus; q.V. GIUDA TADDEO).
Among the reasons that lead to identifying G. the Lesser with the Apostle of the same name, son of Alphaeus, are the following. The author of Acts, in the cited list (1:13), distinguishes two Apostles named James; after narrating the martyrdom of the first (Acts 12:2), he continues to speak of another James who wields great authority in the church of Jerusalem (ibid. 12:17), who proposes a famous compromise at the Council (ibid. 15:13-19), and who receives St. Paul on his return from the third missionary journey (ibid. 21:18). This Apostle lists our James among the pillars of the Church (Gal. 2:9), declares that when he went up to Jerusalem to pay a visit to Cephas, “I saw none of the other Apostles, except James the brother of the Lord” (Gal. 1:19). St. Paul also informs us that James (probably our James) was favored with a special vision of the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:7).
The inhabitants of Nazareth said of Jesus: “Whence has this man these things? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (Mk. 6:3). Among the pious women present at Calvary, St. Mark (15:40) recalls “Mary Magdalene and Mary [the mother] of James the Less and of Joses.” St. John (19:25) notes that with Jesus’ mother there was her sister, the mother of James and Joseph (Clopas).
On these data many hypotheses are made. Some identify Alphaeus with Clopas (Klopás), others, following the indications of Hegesippus cited by Eusebius (Hist. eccl., II, 23, 4-8), reconstruct the kinship thus: Alphaeus, of priestly stock, had by Mary two sons: James (called of Alphaeus, or the Less) and Joseph (Joses). After the death of Alphaeus, Mary married in second nuptials Clopas (Klopás), of priestly stock, brother of St. Joseph, thus becoming “sister,” in the sense of “sister-in-law,” of the mother of Jesus. Clopas, when he married Mary, was already the father of Judas and Simon. Thus James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas became “brothers,” in the sense of “cousins,” of Jesus. Eusebius, referring to Hegesippus, informs us that James called “the Just” lived as an ascetic and was the first bishop of Jerusalem.
According to Flavius Josephus (Antiq. Iud., XX, 9, 1), James “the Just” was martyred by Ananus (q.V. ANNAM, 2), the high priest who governed in the interim between the death of the procurator Festus and the arrival of his successor Albinus, at the Passover of 62.
The Latin liturgy celebrates the feast of St. James (together with that of St. Philip) on May 19; the Greek liturgy commemorates James of Alphaeus on October 5 and James, bishop of Jerusalem, on October 25. The head of St. James the Less is venerated in the cathedral of Ancona. The Saint is normally depicted with the fuller’s club, the instrument of his martyrdom.
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Pietro De Ambrogii
III. EPISTLE OF JAMES. — The first of the seven Catholic Epistles (q.v.) of the New Testament.
There is no central theme developed according to a logical division. The main ideas follow in this order: Ch. 1 “G., servant of Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes [living] in the Diaspora [wishes] joy” — Rejoice in suffering: ask God for this wisdom. — Temptation does not come from God, but from passions; from God comes every good. — Listen to and practice the word of God. Ch. 2: Do not show partiality toward the rich. — Faith without works is dead. Ch. 3: Restrain your tongue. — True wisdom is charitable. Ch. 4: The cause of wars are passions. Master them with charity and patience. — Avoid slander and rash plans. Ch. 5: Woe to you, O rich, proud, unjust, and vicious! — You, the oppressed, have patience, imitating the farmer, the prophets, and Job. — Do not swear falsely. — Whoever suffers should pray. Whoever is joyful should sing hymns. — The sick should call the presbyters, who will administer Extreme Unction (v.). — Confess your sins. — Pray as righteous ones. — Convert sinners.
The best interpreters see in G., the author of the Epistle, the brother (or cousin) of the Lord, to be identified, probably, with the Apostle called G. the Less, head of the church of Jerusalem. Some Spanish authors (St. Isidore of Seville: PL 83, 151; 85, 540; G. Sanchez, De profectione S. Iacobi in Hispaniam, 3), along with Dante (Par., XXV), attribute this Epistle to G. the Greater. But this opinion is unsustainable.
Some rationalists (L. Massebieau, F. Spitta, and especially A. Meyer, Das Rätsel des Jakobusbriefes, Giessen 1930) attribute this writing to an unconverted Jew of the 1st century A.D., who writes in the name of G. to the twelve tribes descended from him. — It is replied that the Christian character of the Epistle is evident not only from the words “Jesus Christ” (in 1:1 and 2:1, which, according to Meyer, would be glosses), but from the entire context, imbued with the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount.
The questions of its relationship with Paul, its date, recipients, and purpose, much debated, are closely connected. G. writes: “Faith without works is dead” (2:21). “A man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (2:24). Paul seems to contradict him when he writes: “We believed in order to be justified by faith and not by works of the Law” (Gal. 2:16; cf. Rom. 3:2 sg.). From the context it appears that G. is not referring to the works of the Mosaic Law; he assumes that his readers observe them and demands that they also perform the “good works,” those of charity, recommended by the Sermon on the Mount. Without these, faith, considered by G. as a mere intellectual assent to truths, comparable to that which even demons have, does not justify and does not produce an increase of grace.
Paul, on the other hand, writes against the Judaizers (v.), who perhaps, abusing the words of G., were proclaiming the necessity of observing the works of the Mosaic Law to obtain justification. He declares that to obtain justification (initial grace) the works of the Law are not sufficient, but faith alive, activated by charity (Gal. 5:6), and therefore united with good works, is required.
As can be seen, G. and Paul do not contradict each other, but use the same terms: works, faith, justification, with different meanings. From a comparison of the writings, it seems that G. wrote before Paul, to lax Judeo-Christians who dispensed themselves from good works. The question of legalism had not yet arisen. Therefore, the date of James can be fixed before the Council of Jerusalem, between 45 and 49.
The Judeo-Christian recipients of the Diaspora must be those converted very early, dispersed in Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, and Cyprus. These recognized as their spiritual leader the bishop of Jerusalem. It is possible that among the faithful of the Diaspora G. also includes the Hellenistic Jews converted and settled in Palestine. It does not seem, however, that he intends all Christians, as if “the twelve” tribes were equivalent to the “Israel of God” of Paul (Gal. 6:16).
The purpose of James is eminently moral, analogous to that of the Sermon on the Mount, not a polemic against Paul, as Luther supposed. Scholars who uphold the priority of Paul over G. postpone this Epistle to near the end of the author’s life (after the Epistle to the Romans) or (non-Catholics) to a later period.
James is among the so-called deuterocanonical books of the New Testament. Eusebius lists it among the disputed books (antilegomena) recognized by many (Hist. eccl., III, 25).
Explicit testimonies begin with Origen. It is certain, however, that James was read in the churches that used the Coptic-Sahidic, Ethiopic, and Syro-Peshitta versions. In the West it was used by Clement of Rome, and read in the Old Latin; although it is not cited by the Muratorian Canon, Tertullian, Cyprian, or Lactantius, it is evident that by the 4th century it was accepted in the churches of Italy, Gaul, Spain, and Africa. St. Jerome summarizes the history of the question by writing: “James, who
GIACOMO — GIACOMO D’ASCOLI
on the mountain. It follows the narrative of the assassination of the high priest Zechariah, perpetrated by Herod, and a brief epilogue in which G. declares to have written this history.