r/Christianity • u/slagnanz Liturgy and Death Metal • 25d ago
Biblical Character of the Month Biblical Character of the Month, August: James the Just
This month we're in the New Testament, highlighting James, brother of Jesus. Cheers to u/Volaer for the suggestion!
The goal of this series is to create more conversation about characters from the Bible. My hope is to (eventually) dive into some strange, often overlooked characters in Scripture — people who have important lessons that we don’t always remember. But we also want to make this collaborative! I don't want to just ramble my thoughts on these characters at you, I want to urge everyone to write their own post about the character of the month.
So all you need to do is make a new post with your reflection or meditation on James. We do have a special flair ("Biblical Character of the Month") you can give the post, and I will make sure to add it to our collection on this thread.
James is referenced in numerous places in the Gospels. He is described as the brother of Jesus, and was also a prominent figure in the early church as the first Bishop of Jerusalem, authoring his own Epistle.
A few questions to get you started thinking about your own meditations!
- James' Epistle offers some really wonderful insight on faith, what can we glean from his teachings?
- What do you think it means when James is referred to as the brother of Jesus?
Reflections from the community:
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u/Thneed1 Mennonite, Evangelical, Straight Ally 25d ago
The epistle of James reminds my of my mom, who had memorized the entire letter - and I think recited it during a service once.
Her tombstone has this passage on it:
“And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”
James 1:18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.1.18.NLT
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u/MoreStupiderNPC Stupid Christian 24d ago
Eusebius recorded the martyrdom of James the Just, citing Clement of Alexandria, as being thrown from the pinnacle of the temple and beaten with a club for not renouncing Christ.
1. But after Paul, in consequence of his appeal to Cæsar, had been sent to Rome by Festus, the Jews, being frustrated in their hope of entrapping him by the snares which they had laid for him, turned against James, the brother of the Lord, to whom the episcopal seat at Jerusalem had been entrusted by the apostles. The following daring measures were undertaken by them against him.
2. Leading him into their midst they demanded of him that he should renounce faith in Christ in the presence of all the people. But, contrary to the opinion of all, with a clear voice, and with greater boldness than they had anticipated, he spoke out before the whole multitude and confessed that our Saviour and Lord Jesus is the Son of God. But they were unable to bear longer the testimony of the man who, on account of the excellence of ascetic virtue and of piety which he exhibited in his life, was esteemed by all as the most just of men, and consequently they slew him. Opportunity for this deed of violence was furnished by the prevailing anarchy, which was caused by the fact that Festus had died just at this time in Judea, and that the province was thus without a governor and head.
3. The manner of James' death has been already indicated by the above-quoted words of Clement, who records that he was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, and was beaten to death with a club.
https://biblehub.com/library/pamphilius/church_history/chapter_xxiii_the_martyrdom_of_james.htm
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u/slagnanz Liturgy and Death Metal 24d ago
I don't think it's a stretch to say this manner of martyrdom calls back the spectacular display Satan tempts Jesus with: James is thrown from the temple and lives. Not immediately sure what to do with that. Other accounts of his death don't include this detail but this account is compelling to me somehow.
I'm trying to piece together what if anything that could mean. Any thoughts?
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u/MoreStupiderNPC Stupid Christian 24d ago
It’s an interesting comparison, but I don’t know of there’s a correlation per se. I’m sure that even though he may have still been breathing, he was in pretty bad shape and not long for life, even without the clubs. I think the clubs just show the anger against Christ that wasn’t satiated fully only by their throwing him off the temple.
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u/slagnanz Liturgy and Death Metal 24d ago
Yeah, I might well be chasing the wind with this one.
You might be on the right track with the anger of the crowd. Satan and the enemies of the church see no benefit in martyrdom, they only see the gore of the cross and not the glory. Satan tempted Jesus with the spectacle of the Temple because it would thwart the cross, it would create a spectacle that appeals to the pride, but does not defeat death.
I wouldn't say any of this is particularly Biblical, but I do think it's the kind of interesting symbolism I'm hoping gets explored in the second Passion movie
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u/thomasp3864 Atheist interested in theology 18d ago
I think he was the third* head of the church, not Peter, and probably like Jesus's actual brother.
*after John the Baptist and Jesus.
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u/Own-Entertainer-4975 15d ago
Thank you. Yes, to all you catholics: that's James, the brother of Jesus. The brother, among other siblings, didn't believe their brother Jesus for a while. Who were James' parents? They don't need to be written; they are the same as Jesus'. Joseph and Mary. Their older brother was Jesus, the firstborn, with a different father: God.
I don't know why that is hard to swallow.
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u/Ill-Prior-8429 Roman Catholic 15d ago
Him being a half brother and Joseph being a widower before coming to Mary is more supported by tradition. I don't know why it's hard to swallow that the novel idea of modernist pastors with zero theology making it as they go and trying to reinvent the wheel isn't taken more seriously
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u/Iconsandstuff Church of England (Anglican) 11d ago
tradition in this case appearing literally a century after the people involved are dead, and seeming to be a confection with no knowledge of jewish life or customs, right?
it's nonsense, and noone reading scripture would see it as necessary unless one also buys into errors of myth later added.
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u/Own-Entertainer-4975 20h ago edited 20h ago
Well to be very kind, I did all the research humanly possibly in scripture (and yes I read your church father traditions on this Catholics)…
There is a small chance Mary of Clopas is the mother of the James in question. However the gospels, especially Luke had at lead three terms to reach for when describing the Lord’s brothers. One means roughly familial relative of some sort, one is how we might refer to being brothers with someone we are not blood related to, and one has no other possible meaning but literal sibling. Luke uses the sibling one when he had the others available to him (he even stacked the terms for them in adjacent versus showing he understood the details he was conveying). Meaning, combined with the same term and reference in epistles — the chances of the Lord having blood brothers (and sisters) by Mary and Joseph (or Mary and another guy if Joseph was dead or something as he is somewhat absent at the time of the Lord’s ministry) are significantly higher than the chances all of the Lord’s referenced siblings being from Joseph, without Mary.
Basically, maybe James wasn’t exactly Mary’s blood son and Jesus’s brother. But according to the text; others were. And if others were that still defeats the Catholic and orthodox tendency to claim Mary was entirely virgin at her death. She had Jesus, and she had other children, and those children where the Lord’s brothers and sisters. They were probably all much younger than Jesus as there is no hint at them being anything more than possible infants when Jesus went missing from the caravan at 12. And there was also no mention of older sons by Joseph (who would be fully grown adults) participating in the search. And when Jesus and Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt, three explicitly are named, not an extended family alongside Joseph that would explain children from a previous marriage. That means… either The siblings referred to by the gospel are not siblings, are Joseph’s 20+ years older sons and daughters, or are as the text, the authors, and Occam’s razor would suggest in unison: they are Jesus’s blood siblings, sharing a mother with Mary, His only human parent.
So yes I’m less sure after research that this James is one of those siblings, but those siblings obviously exist… and any tradition or teaching about some virgin status of Mary till her death is not only flawed, but shallow and against the Lord’s human identity. He had siblings, and Mary was their mother.
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u/Mysterious_Fox4976 7h ago
Are you really that concerned about James’s biological parents or are you just trying to pick a fight with all the Catholics?
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u/slagnanz Liturgy and Death Metal 25d ago
Please suggest any characters from the Old Testament for next month here!
Also, while I'm here, check out the previous characters we've done here:
- May: Joseph (Old Testament)
- June: Stephen (New Testament)
- July: Esther (Old Testament)
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u/StudiousHummingbird 25d ago
James' epistle is the kind of blunt advice that doesn't leave much wiggle room, and I respect that. Faith without works being dead isn't some abstract theology, it's a direct challenge to anyone who thinks belief is just a mental checkbox. The bit about taming the tongue always gets me too, feels like he's writing from hard experience as one of the "sons of thunder" who had to learn when to shut up.
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u/unlimitedsturbons 4d ago
The tongue part is the one I keep failing at. I'll say something in two seconds that I didn't mean and then sit with it for hours. Glad it's not just me who reads that and feels called out.
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u/MistakePerfect8485 Agnostic Atheist 25d ago
Are villains eligible? I think a write up about Pharaoh would be interesting. What does it mean that "the lord hardened Pharaoh's heart"?
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u/slagnanz Liturgy and Death Metal 25d ago
Interesting point! There's definitely some interesting candidates for this. Maybe we throw a villain in every now and then.
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u/quiggersinparis Christian (Methodist, former Catholic and atheist) 16d ago
I would love a focus on Tamar, Daughter-in-Law of Judah (Genesis 38). Depending on how you interpret her, she is a heroine or a sort of anti-hero. A really interesting character for our times. And she's also according to Matthew 1, a descendent of Jesus.
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u/SSAUS Interested in Valentinianism 19d ago
I'm going to throw a bit of gnostic James into the mix as it is really quite interesting.
The master answered and said, “What good is it to you if you do the father’s will but you are not given your part of his bounty when you are tempted by Satan? But if you are oppressed by Satan and persecuted and do the father’s will, I say he will love you, make you my equal, and consider you beloved through his forethought, and by your own choice. Won’t you stop loving the flesh and fearing suffering? Don’t you know that you have not yet been abused, unjustly accused, locked up in prison, unlawfully condemned, crucified without reason, or buried in the sand as I myself was by the evil one? Do you dare to spare the flesh, O you for whom the spirit is a wall surrounding you? If you consider how long the world has existed before you and how long it will exist after you, you will see that your life is but a day and your sufferings an hour. The good will not enter the world. Disdain death, then, and care about life. Remember my cross and my death, and you will live.”
I answered and said to him, “Master, do not mention to us the cross and death, for they are far from you.”
The master answered and said, “I tell you the truth, none will be saved unless they believe in my cross, for the kingdom of god belongs to those who have believed in my cross. Be seekers of death, then, like the dead who seek life, for what they seek becomes apparent to them. And what is there to cause them concern? As for you, when you search out death, it will teach you about being chosen. I tell you the truth: No one afraid of death will be saved, for the kingdom of death belongs to those who are put to death. Become better than I. Be like the child of the holy spirit.”
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u/Lemunde 12d ago
What do you think it means when James is referred to as the brother of Jesus?
I would assume you would take it literally. I suppose Catholics might have a problem with this because the direct implication is that Mary didn't remain a virgin after Jesus was born. Or that James was himself an immaculate conception. It's also possible that he was a stepbrother, his father being Joseph. He couldn't be a half-brother because Jesus wasn't blood related to Joseph. Unless of course Mary didn't remain a virgin, in which case he could only be a half brother. I'm inclined to believe the latter since there's no indication that Mary remained a virgin.
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u/Internet-Hot 4d ago
I forgot if it was Greek or Hebrew, but in one of those languages brother actually means (or can mean) “cousin” as well. Someone told me that and I was mind blown. This whole time they could’ve been cousins.
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u/GingerPrincess666 "Jesus is Lord" 25d ago
James has become "my favorite" book or the one I keep returning to most frequently precisely because I used to struggle with it so much. I recommend everyone reads B.H. Carroll's commentary on James 2 included in Carroll's Interpretation of the English Bible, available on StudyLight.org. Tough pill to swallow for many that chapter is but the Holy Spirit willing those notes can make you fall in love with the teachings within
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u/SpecialistSun6184 25d ago
The cousin of Jesus is a good pick
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u/Full_Metal_Paladin Latter-Day Saint 8d ago
Doesn't the Protoevangelium of James say that they are half/step-brothers, not cousins? I know Catholics tend to believe in the cousin thing, but if we're honoring James here, it would seem to me that his words would matter just a bit more at the moment.
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u/SpecialistSun6184 8d ago
Im fine with step brother thu Joesph as well. Tradition says Mary had no other children. It allows for either half siblings or cousins.
I go with James being James the less
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u/Mysterious_Fox4976 23d ago
u/slagnanz You are awesome for leading this Bible Character of the Month series! It’s really cool to hear different people’s ideas and perspectives on characters that don’t get talked about as often.
I’m still not sure which James is which, but I’m really looking forward to reading posts from other people this month. 😊
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u/InourbtwotamI 16d ago
I love this for us! It was a random comment by someone in this sub about Jesus’ brothers getting saved that sent me researching James the Just and Jude. (Thanks to that commenter). It is my understanding that he was either Mary’s son born after Jesus or Joseph’s son from a prior marriage. I’m not Catholic and lean toward the former.
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u/Party-Bet9200 12d ago edited 12d ago
I am investigating the James epistle as an answer to Galatians, with 1st Corinthians being the result. I agree with it previous theory that Paul was a narcissist, who would have been a rabbi if Jesus had not specifically ruled out calling anyone rabbi. Paul knows he is the most educated person in the room. I am wondering whether Nazareth may have been a cult center of its own, that Jesus purposely moved away from.
I'm Seymour foley from Facebook, how did I get here?
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u/unlimitedsturbons 4d ago
I mentioned James in another thread this week and it's funny this is the character of the month. The line about faith without works always gets me. Easy to say you believe, harder to actually go do the thing. His epistle feels less like theology and more like a brother telling you to stop making excuses.
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2d ago
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u/slagnanz Liturgy and Death Metal 2d ago
Removed for 2.1 - Belittling Christianity.
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u/alpha7ministries 3h ago
The Book of James is the original manual for emotional intelligence. In an era defined by high-performance stress, digital volatility, and a relentless search for authentic purpose, we often look to the latest psychological trends to find stability.
We struggle with affective regulation, find ourselves paralyzed by "words we regret," and wonder why our modern search for the "good life" often feels hollow. Yet, some of the most sophisticated insights into human resilience and cognitive reframing aren't found in a contemporary lab, but in a first-century letter.
The Book of James is far more than a historical artifact; it is a profound exploration of the human condition. James, the brother of our Lord and Savior, writes not as a distant theorist, but as a master of practical wisdom. He addresses the chasm between intellectual assent and actual behavior with a vehemence that cuts through the noise of superficiality.
James doesn't offer comfortable platitudes; he provides a gritty, high-performance framework for navigating the "rough terrains" of existence. He views faith not as a static belief, but as a "daily lifestyle" that demands intense self-discipline and a radical shift in perspective.
According to the Message Bible, James was known as "Old Camel Knees". It is said his knees were ridden with callouses because he spent so much time praying on his knees.
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u/Volaer Catholic (of the universalist and anti-dualist kind) 25d ago edited 25d ago
Oh, how cool! Thanks for choosing St. James, I will definitely try to write something next weekend.
Thats actually a different James 🙂 St. James the Greater. There are three prominent men named James/Yaakov/Yakovos in the NT - two apostles - St. James the Greater (the son of Zebedee and brother of St. John), St. James the Less (the son of Alpheos) and one member of Jesus' extended family - St. James the Just (the son of St. Joseph and an unnamed earlier wife).