James was one of the brothers of Jesus named in Mark 6:3. He is not among the Twelve, and John says Jesus’s brothers did not at first believe in him, but Paul lists James among those to whom the risen Jesus appeared and calls him ‘the Lord’s brother’. By the 40s he led the Jerusalem community. Catholic and Orthodox traditions understand ‘brother’ as a cousin or stepbrother.
Josephus reports that in AD 62 the high priest Ananus had ‘the brother of Jesus who was called Christ, whose name was James’ stoned, a passage most historians accept as authentic. Scholars still debate whether the ossuary inscribed ‘brother of Jesus’ is his. Hegesippus, quoted by Eusebius, remembered him as ‘the Just’, and the Letter of James bears his name.
Where to start
Every mention
10 writings- AD 52Paul’s Letter to the GalatiansThe New Testament2×
- AD 62The James ossuary (disputed)Stones and Scrolls8×
- AD 80The Letter of JamesThe New Testament2×
- AD 93Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18: the Testimonium Flavianum and John the BaptistWitnesses Outside the Church1×
- AD 93Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 20: the death of James, brother of JesusWitnesses Outside the Church2×
- AD 125The Gospel of ThomasThe Other Gospels2×
- AD 248Origen, Against Celsus, Book IThe Early Church4×
- AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IVThe Early Church2×
- 2026The documentary record of Jesus and the movements that interpreted himThe Dossier1×
- 2026Sources and further readingThe Dossier1×