Author Description

*Includes pictures. *Discusses the mysteries and legends surrounding James's relationship to Jesus, his death, and more. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' Legends of the Bible series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of the Bible's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. James the Just is one of the most important and enigmatic figures in the history of early Christianity. He is best remembered for being the brother of Jesus, as documented by several sources, including the gospels, the Epistle of James, and other non-canonical texts. He was also the first bishop of Jerusalem before he was put to death in 62 or 69 A.D. Biblical scholars have long been fascinated about James as a historical figure, especially in trying to determine his relationship to Jesus. The gospels seemingly contradicted themselves when it came to their description of James, and since he is labeled a brother of Jesus, he is a central figure in the debate over the origins of the virgin birth of Jesus and the Christian tradition that maintained Mary was a perpetual virgin. In attempting to answer this, St. Jerome went so far as to speculate that James was actually a cousin of Jesus, not a brother, and the lack of a Greek term for stepbrother or half-brother only adds to the intrigue. While his relationship to Jesus is the most important issue, other aspects of James's life have long been open sources of speculation, including his potentially tense relationship with Paul, the manner and timing of his death, and whether he was the author of the Epistle of James. With different sources seemingly saying different things, early Church fathers and historians attempted to piece together James's life,