James the Brother of Jesus Versus Saint Paul

James, the Brother of Jesus Versus Saint Paul Summer Fellows Project 2018 By: Elizabeth Fleischer Working under Alan Fox, Philosophy

Summer Fellows Project 2018 I worked under Alan Fox, a professor of Philosophy who is also my primary thesis reader. For my project this summer, I worked on my undergraduate thesis on the historical rivalry between James, the brother of Jesus and Saint Paul. I will graduate in December of 2018. Thus the lions’ share of my work this summer was finishing up my research and organizing and outlining my argument. Below I will provide a brief outline of each chapter of my thesis and include a abbreviated bibliography.

Chapter 1: Who was James, the brother of Jesus? James’s relationship with Jesus Full-blood Brother Assumption: Jesus was the spiritual son of God and was the earthly son of Joseph Half-blood Brother: Son of Joseph and Mary Assumption: Jesus was not the son of Joseph but Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit Step-Brother: Son of Joseph from a previous marriage Cousin: Idea created by Saint Jerome to emphasize Jesus’s divinity and Mary’s perpetual virginity

Chapter 1 Continued James’s Position in the Primitive Church Apostle Primary Apostle Pillar of the Jerusalem Church Primary Pillar of the Jerusalem Church James’s superiority over Peter Proof of James’s power over Peter in Galatians Proof of James’s power over Peter in Acts Explanation as to why Peter was later depicted as more powerful in later church documents

Chapter 1 Continued James’s power as a pillar (if not the primary pillar) of the Jerusalem Church Explanation of Jerusalem’s importance in First Century Judaism Therefor the importance of Jerusalem in Apostolic Age Thus James’s position afforded him great power and influence over other churches Conclusion: James’ power as a pillar of the Church of Jerusalem made him a major obstacle for Paul F f

Chapter 2: James’ Beliefs versus Paul James’ Beliefs Paul’s Beliefs Understood justification to be earned through works (obeying Mosaic commandments) and faith in Jesus Christ Understood justification to be earned through faith in Jesus Christ Believed in a hierarchy in Christian communities The Diaspora Jews were lesser than the Palestinian Jews and the Gentiles were the lowest rung His title ”James the Just” implies that he was a righteous Jew and thus followed Divine Law Following Mosaic Commandments was acceptable but was not required for justification Paul believed in emergency conversions and thus believed faith in Jesus was needed more than anything Believed Gentiles and Jews should be equal in Christian Communities because Jesus created a new order One in which the Divine Law and social orders in Judea were not important Remained a devout Jew for the rest of his life

Chapter 3: The Jerusalem Council Explain dating and trustworthiness of sources means that the account to be trusted is Paul’s Letters as opposed to the Acts of the Apostles Paul comes to Jerusalem to meet with the Pillars (James, Peter and John) Pillars agree that Gentiles should be allowed to enter Christian communities They do not agree to complete equality in the community Gentiles are to be treated in the Christ community as God Fearers (Gentiles who worshipped in Diaspora synagogues) were treated They were allowed to pray and interact with the Jews but were not their equals Explanation as to why the letter Acts supposes James wrote was not written by James the Just

Chapter 4: Incident at Antioch When agents of James come to Antioch and see Peter sharing a table (a meal) with a mixed fellowship (Gentiles and Jews) they reproach him Peter and many other Jews (including Paul’s companion Barnabas) leave the table Paul rails against this in Galatians as an act of hypocrisy in which Peter applied pressure to Gentile Christians to convert to Judaism to earn equal status Arguable that Peter and other Jews saw this as an issue of “Gentilization” of Jews rather than Paul’s view of “Judaizing” the Gentiles Explanation of the laws of Kosher and purity Reason why Peter was breaking Mosaic law (thus James the Just’s Anger)

Chapter 5: Paul’s Collection for Jerusalem Clear in Galatians that Paul agreed at the council that he would “remember the poor in Jerusalem” “the poor in Jerusalem” is a reference to the Pillars of the Jerusalem Church Paul references this collection of funds from the many churches he founded Paul comes to Jerusalem to give this offering to James (and other Pillars) Unclear if James accepted this offering Shortly after arrival Paul is arrested and sent to Rome to be tried and later executed James does not step in for Paul’s defense in Jerusalem Possibly telling of the tension between the two Apostles

Chapter 6: Why James is no longer “Important” James the Just’s version of “Christianity” was a sect of : ate Second Temple Judaism Thus after his death in 62 CE and the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, the center of his Christianity was destroyed “Jewish-Christians” were scattered throughout the world and never had another central community like Jerusalem The Christ-movement became more and more popular in Gentile nations The Jewish Christians were eventually viewed as heretics by the developing Gentile Churches James is pushed in the background for the sake of the Apostles to the Gentiles: Paul