<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
<p>Michael Wyatt wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>
<br>James the brother of Jesus is the author of the Book (or Epistle) of
James
<br>in the New Testament; he was the leader of the CHristian community
in
<br>Jerusalem and is prominent in the Book of Acts (where the martyrdom
of James
<br>the Greater--of Compostela--is mentioned). This James is thought
by those
<br>who hold to Mary's perpetual virginity to be Joseph's child by a previous
<br>marriage, which would make him Jesus' older step-brother. Those
who don't
<br>need Mary to be a perpetual virgin feel freer to assume he is Jesus'
younger
<br>half-brother (same mother, different father--of course, if God is Jesus'
<br>father).</blockquote>
.......a bit of clarification might be of interest on this James.
Those who hold Jesus' mother to be a perpetual virgin (as did the early
church fathers) recognize that the term "brother" in Aramaic is the
same term for cousin. There was no separate term in Aramaic for "cousin."
However, the Greek does have a spearate word for cousin and brother--and
when the gospels were written in Greek, the Greek term brother was employed,
even tho this term was not strictly analogous to the meaning of "brother"
in Aramaic.
<p>The Jewish custom was for the brother of a deceased elder brother to
marry the widow (And if there were no sons named for the dead brother,
when this new marriage produced a son, he was to be named for the dead
brother). This makes it possible for your uncle to be a step father as
well, and your half brother your cousin at the same time. It also means
that those who were only cousins were called brother since there was no
word to distinguish the two relationships.
<p>We can see this "brother" trerm used when it really means near kinsman--Lot,
for example is called Abraham's brother(Gen. 14:14), even though Lot was
his nephew.Or, Kish and Eleazar, the sons of Mahli. Kish had sons of his
own, but Eleazar had no sons, so his daughters, married their "brethren,"
(cousins) the sons of Kish (1 Chron. 23:21-22).
<p>This James is believed by many to be the cousin of Christ, a cousin
from the siblings of Joseph. Some scriptural corroboration can be
deduced by the fact that in Mark 6:3 Jesus is referred to as " <u>The</u>
son of MAry" not a son of Mary. Even when "brothers" are referred
to as brothers of Jesus, nowhere are they reffered to a sons of Mary. Or,
think of the finding of Jesus in the Temple--no metntion made of other
siblings --a natural place for the family to be described. Or, when
from the cross, Jesus gave his mother to John, something he was not likley
to do if in fact he had a brother to to take care of her. MAny scholars
think that James was the son of Mary, wife of of Clopas [Alphaeus
in Aramaic](John19:25).
<p>There is also the second-century historian Hegesippus, who explains
that Cleophas was the brother of Joseph, foster-father of Jesus. THis makes
James Joseph's nephew, thus a cousin of Jesus.
<p>The non-canonical book, Protoevangelium of James (A.D. 125) that you
mention throws some light on the perpetual virginity idea, too. It
records that Joseph was among a group of widowers to be chosen as
the husband/protector of Mary, who was a virgin consecrated to God. When
he was chosen, Joseph objected: "I have children, and I am an old man,
and she is a young girl" (4: 8-9).
<p>Hope this helps unravel the who's who of all those James!
<br>MJ Anderson
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>
<br>The Protoevangelion or Apocryphal Gospel of James is by an unidentified
<br>James. Nothing in that text makes clear who the author might
be. I had
<br>speculated that it is likely to be "James the brother of Jesus," since
it
<br>treats of Jesus' family, but have since heard that a "critical text"
<br>suggests that it could be "our" James of Compostela.
<br>Though I am neither Linda, Kathy, Maryjane, Elyn, Rosina, nor the
<br>mysteriously named "Help," I trust my Ph.D. and seminary training for
this;
<br>I hope you can, too.
<p>Michael</blockquote>
</html>