James

JAMES. - It has the same etymology as Jacob (v.). From the Greek Ἰάσοβος comes Iacobus, Jacopo, J. In the New Testament two Apostles are listed with the name of J.: James the son of Zebedee, or the Greater, and James the son of Alphaeus. The latter is probably to be identified with James the Less (brother [cousin] of the Lord).

I. JAMES THE GREATER

Apostle, son of Zebedee and of Salome (Mk. 15:10, cf. Mt. 27:56), brother of John the Evangelist. Called by Jesus while he and his brother were busy mending their nets by the Lake of Gennesaret, he left his father, the boat and the hired men (Mt. 5:21 ff.; Mk. 1:19 ff.; Lk. 5:10 ff.). In the list of the Apostles in Mk. 3:16-19 he occupies second place; in that 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 ones: he is present at the raising of Jairus's daughter (Mk. 5:36), at the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:37), and asks for information about the end of the world (Mk. 13:3 ff.). Because of their impetuous character the two brothers James and John received from Jesus the nickname "sons of thunder" (v. BOANERGES): Mk. 3:17; they called down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans (Lk. 9:52-56), and they coveted the first places (Mk. 10:35-40; cf. Mt. 20:20-23).

James the Greater was beheaded by order of Herod Agrippa I (v.) around the year 42 (Acts 12:2); while he was being taken to the place of martyrdom he is said to have converted his escort (Clement of Alexandria, Hypot., VII, in Eusebius, Hist. eccl., II, 9: PG 20, 157).

According to a legend spread by Isidore of Seville (De vita et obitu Sanctorum, 71: PL 93, 151), James the Greater evangelized Spain and composed the Epistle of James (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, famous especially in the 10th-15th centuries. He is the patron of Spain. His feast is commemorated on July 25 in the Roman Martyrology; in ancient times on Dec. 27, then on Apr. 30 (by the Greeks), on Apr. 12 (by the Copts), on Dec. 28 (by the Armenians).

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FOLKLORE

The extraordinary importance that the sanctuary of St. James at Compostela, a destination of pilgrimages from all over Europe, had in the Middle Ages has left notable traces in popular tradition. The "Milky Way" is still called the road of St. James. The miracles worked by the Saint have inspired Latin hymns, a Provençal mystery play, a Tuscan sacred representation and a "story" in octaves, preserved in Cod. 363 of the Vittorio Emanuele [library] in Rome (published by Menghini and reprinted by Battelli: v. bibl.). The memory of his miracles still survives in oral tradition, as proved by a prose legend collected in Val Gardena and a Calabrian "story" in hendecasyllables.

A protector of pharmacists, grocers, hatters and hosiers, the Saint is invoked against rheumatism and for good weather. - See plate XXVIII.

Paolo Toschi

II. JAMES THE LESS

To be identified probably with the apostle G. son of Alphaeus, brother of the Lord, author of the Epistle of G. (v. below).

In the lists of the Apostles, G. son of Zebedee (v.) is distinguished from a G. son 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 the Acts, also enumerates an apostle called Jude of G., which is commonly interpreted as "brother of G." In the other lists, instead of this Jude of G., there is Thaddaeus (or Lebbaeus; 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 the Acts, who in the cited list (1, 13) distinguishes two Apostles called G., after having spoken of the martyrdom of the first (Acts 12, 2) continues to speak of another G. who enjoys great authority in the church of Jerusalem (ibid. 12, 17), who in the Council proposes a famous compromise (ibid. 15, 13-19), who receives St. Paul on his return from the third apostolic journey (ibid. 21, 18). This Apostle lists our James among the pillars of the Church (Gal. 2, 9), and declares that, when he went up to Jerusalem to pay his respects 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 ours) was favored with a special vision of the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15, 7).

The inhabitants of Nazareth said of Jesus: "Where did this man get all this? Is not this man (Jesus) the son of Mary and the brother of James and of Joseph (Joses) and of Judas and of Simon?" (Mk. 6, 3 ff.). Among the holy women present on Calvary, St. Mark (15, 40) mentions "Mary Magdalene and Mary [the mother] of James the Less and of Joseph (Joses)." St. John (19, 25) notes that together with the mother of Jesus there was the sister of his mother [called] Mary, the wife of Clopas (Klopas).

Many hypotheses are built on these data. Some identify Alphaeus with Clopas (Klopas); others, following the indications of Hegesippus cited by Eusebius (Hist. eccl., II, 23, 4-8), reconstruct the relationship thus: Alphaeus, of priestly origin, had by Mary two sons: James (called of Alphaeus, or the Less) and Joseph (Joses). After the death of Alphaeus, Mary married in second wedlock Clopas (Klopas), of priestly stock, the brother of St. Joseph, thus becoming the "sister," in the sense of "sister-in-law," of the namesake mother of Jesus. Clopas, when he married Mary, was already the father of Judas and of 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. Jud., XX, 9, 1) James "the Just" was martyred by Ananus (v. ANNA, 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 1; the Greek liturgy commemorates James of Alphaeus on Oct. 5 and James, bishop of Jerusalem, on Oct. 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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III. EPISTLE of James

The first of the seven catholic epistles (v.) of the New Testament.

There is no central theme, developed according to a logical division. The main ideas follow one another in this order: Ch. 1 "James, servant of Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes [living] in the diaspora [wishes] joy" — Rejoice in sorrow: ask God for this wisdom. — Temptation does not come from God, but from the passions; from God comes every good thing. — Listen to and practice the word of God. Ch. 2: Show no favoritism toward the rich. — Faith without works is dead. Ch. 3: Bridle the tongue. — True wisdom is charitable. Ch. 4: The cause of wars is the passions. Master them with charity and patience. — Avoid slander and reckless plans. Ch. 5: Woe to you, O rich, proud, unjust, vicious! — You who are oppressed, be patient, imitating the farmer, the prophets, Job. — Do not swear in vain. — Let the one who suffers pray. Let the one who is cheerful sing psalms. — Let the sick person call the presbyters, who will administer Extreme Unction (v.) to him. — Confess your sins. — Pray as the just do. — Convert sinners.

The best interpreters see in James, the author of the Epistle, the brother (cousin) of the Lord, to be identified, probably, with the Apostle called James 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 James the Greater. But this opinion is untenable.

Some rationalists (L. Massebicau, 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 addresses himself, in the name of James, to the twelve tribes born from him. — The answer is that the Christian character of the Epistle stands out not only from the words "Jesus Christ" (in 1, 1 and 2, 1 which, according to Meyer, would be glosses), but from the whole context, imbued with the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount.

The questions of its relations with Paul, the date, the recipients, the purpose, much discussed, are intimately connected with one another. James writes: "Faith without works is barren" (2, 21). "A man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (2, 24). Paul seems to contradict him, writing: "We believed in order to be justified by faith and not by the works of the Law" (Gal. 2, 16; cf. Rom. 3, 2 ff.). From the context it emerges that James is not raising the question of 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 James as a simple adherence of the intellect to the truths, comparable to that which even the demons have, does not justify, does not produce an increase of grace.

Paul, on the other hand, writes against the Judaizers (v.) who perhaps, abusing the words of James, were proclaiming the necessity of observing the works of the Mosaic Law in order to obtain justification. He declares that, in order to obtain justification (first grace), the works of the Law are not enough, but living faith is required, activated by charity (Gal. 5, 6), and therefore united with good works.

As can be seen, James 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 James wrote before Paul, to lax Judeo-Christians, who exempted themselves from good works. The question of the legalists 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, Cyprus. These recognized the bishop of Jerusalem as their spiritual head. It is possible that among the faithful of the diaspora James also includes the converted Hellenistic Jews settled in Palestine. It does not seem, however, that he means all Christians, as if "the twelve" tribes were equivalent to Paul's "Israel of God" (Gal. 6, 16).

The purpose of James is eminently moral, analogous to that of the Sermon on the Mount, not anti-Pauline polemic, as Luther supposed. Scholars who maintain the priority of Paul over James postpone this Epistle to around the end of the author's life (after the Epistle to the Romans) or (the 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).

The 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, it was read in the Old Latin; although it is not cited by the Muratorian canon, by 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, writing: "James, who is called brother of the Lord,...wrote a single epistle which is part of the catholic epistles; it is asserted that...it was published by someone else under his name, although, little by little, in the course of time, it obtained authority" (De vir. ill., 2: PL 23, 609). After the 4th century agreement on its canonicity is morally unanimous.

The Greek language is relatively elegant. Nevertheless, traces of Semitisms are not lacking. Perhaps G. himself made use of a secretary-editor who knew Greek well.

IV. PROTOEVANGELIUM of G

An apocryphon belonging to the series of the Infancy Gospels.

1. Subject matter

It is developed in 3 parts. In the 1st (chaps. 1-16) is recounted the birth of the Virgin Mary from her aged parents Joachim (v.) and Anne (v.), her presentation in the Temple, where she remained from the age of 3 to 12, her marriage to the carpenter Joseph, already the father of 4 children, the Annunciation, the visit to Elizabeth, the perplexity of the spouse, resolved before the tribunal by the test of the bitter waters, brilliantly passed.

The 2nd part (chaps. 17-21) describes the wondrous circumstances that accompanied the birth of the Savior: at that instant all life was as it were suspended; an unbelieving midwife, Salome, who wished to verify the virginity in childbirth, was punished and then healed by the Newborn Child. The account of the coming and the departure of the Magi conforms to Mt. 2.

The 3rd part (chaps. 22-24, an appendix of a different character) speaks of the massacre of the innocents: on that occasion the Virgin is said to have hidden the child in a manger, while Elizabeth is said to have found refuge with the little John in a cleft that opened miraculously in the mountain. There follows the narration of the murder of the high priest Zechariah, perpetrated by Herod, and a brief epilogue in which G. declares that he has written this story.

2. Title

It was given to this writing by G. Postel, who brought a Greek codex of it from the East and published a Latin version of it at Basel in 1552. But neither that codex nor the others found later elsewhere bear this title. Origen knew it as the Book of G. (In Mt., X, 17: PG 13, 867 ff.). Several manuscripts entitle it: History of the Nativity of Mary.

3. Origin

The work, in its present state, is the product of a compilation. The 1st part, from the birth to the marriage of Mary, certainly goes back to the 2nd century. Symptomatic coincidences are noted between Protox, 12, 2 and St. Justin (Dial. 5). The 2nd part, with the abrupt passage from the third to the first person (19, 2: "And I, Joseph, was walking [and not walking]..."), presupposes another source: an apocryphon of Joseph on the birth of Jesus. This part too is from the 2nd century. Clement of Alexandria knows its reports concerning the previous marriage of St. Joseph and the verification of the virginity in partu (Strom., VII, 93: CB, III, p. 66). Origen knows from a book of G. that the brethren in the Lord are sons of Joseph, had from a previous marriage. The 3rd part, with the apocryphal legend of Zechariah, according to G. Bonaccorsi (v. bibl., p. xxiii), cannot be later than the end of the 3rd century or the beginning of the 4th, because the papyrus of Almunen (edited by E. Pistelli, Papiri della soc. ital., I, Florence 1912, pp. 9-16) is from the 4th century and contains fragments of the last two chapters. E. Amann holds that the book, in its present form, is not earlier than the 5th century. Pope Innocent I (Ad Exuperium) excludes from the canon "cetera omnia quae sub nomine Matthiae, sive Iacobi Minoris" (Denz-U, 96). The so-called Gelasian Decree (492-95) excludes an Evangelium nomine Iacobi and a Liber de infantia Salvatoris et de Maria, vel obstetricis.

The Protoevangelium of G. intends to glorify especially the holiness and virginity of Mary in childbirth. Some have wished to discern in it Gnostic or Ebionite tendencies. But these are very problematic indications. The best exegetes believe that the author, faithful to the Church, simply wished to satisfy the popular piety of the faithful.

4. Latin reworkings

There is no ancient Latin version of the whole Protoevangelium of G., but several reworkings of it are extant. One is the so-called Pseudo-Matthew, which in Latin is entitled: Liber de ortu Mariae et infantia Salvatoris, a beato Matthaeo hebraice scriptus, et a beato Hieronymo in latinum translatus. In the first 17 chapters it depends faithfully on the Protoevangelium of G.; then it adds reports on the flight into Egypt and the private life at Nazareth. It is a compilation of the 6th century. Another Latin reworking is the Gospel De nativitate Mariae, of the Carolingian era. It has softened the incongruities of the Pseudo-Matthew. - See plate XXIX.

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