Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History and Tradition

by John Painter, D. Moody Smith

Overview

Just James provides a fascinating treatment of Jesus' brother based on all the ancient sources: New Testament, early church fathers, Nag Hammadi codices, and other early Christian writings. Painter evaluates the importance of this towering figure of the early church whose contributions have been obscured from the consciousness of modern Christianity. The author explores James' relationship to Jesus, Mary's perpetual virginity, James' receipt of special revelations from the risen Lord, and his status as one of the first martyrs of the church.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800631697
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	09/08/1999
Series:	Studies on Personalities of the New Testament
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	693,473
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

John Painter is Professor of Theology and St. Mark's National Theological Centre, Charles Sturt University, Canberra, Australia. He is the author of Mark's Gospel: Worlds in Conflict (1997), The Quest for the Messiah (2d ed., 1993), Theology as Hermeneutics: Rudolf Bultmann's Interpretation of the History of Jesus (1987), Reading John's Gospel Today (1980), and John: Witness and Theologian (1975).

D. Moody Smith is George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament at The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Just James: The Death of a Legend

Part I: The Gospels, Acts, and the Letters of Paul

The Gospels: James and the Family of Jesus

Acts: James as Convert or Foundation Leader?

The Letters of Paul: Paul and James

James, Peter, Matthew, and Paul: Diversity and Conflict in the Two Missions

Part II: Images of James in the Early Church

Tradition in Eusebius: James the Just, Brother of the Lord, First Biship and Martyr

The Nag Hammadi Library: James as a Successor to Jesus and Repository of Secret Tradition

The Apocrypha and Later Christian Evidence: Bishop of Bishops and Bulwark of Truth

Jewish Christianity, the Righteous Sufferer, and the Epistle of James

Excursus: Robert Eisenman's James the Brother of Jesus

Bibliography

Index of Biblical and Ancient Sources

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Subjects

What People are Saying About This

America

A fascinating portrait not only of James the Just but also of the history of earliest Christianity this volume opens up the very complex history of earliest Christianity and helps us to appreciate the theological and pastoral issues that were at stake.

America

A fascinating portrait not only of James the Just but also of the history of earliest Christianity this volume opens up the very complex history of earliest Christianity and helps us to appreciate the theological and pastoral issues that were at stake.

Baton Rouge Advocate

For any person seeking a grounding in the historical development of Christianity, this is an excellent book.

Sewanee Theological Review

This is a well-written, clear, thorough, useful, and needed work.

The Bible Today

James's somewhat obscured historical role is examined with verve and creativity, as Painter speculates on the tensions that ran through earliest Christianity. This is an erudite and closely reasoned work that will be appreciated as well as vigorously debated by New Testament scholars.

Theological Studies

This book is not to be missed by any serious student of Christian origins.