© 1995 Ken Glasziou
© 1995 The Brotherhood of Man Library
| Non-Breathers: Very Odd Neighbors | Volume 2 - No. 4 — Index | Decisions, Decisions—the Doing of God's Will |
The Urantia Book tells us that James, the brother of Jesus, became the titular head of the Church in Jerusalem. But although the book describes the deaths of all twelve apostles, as well as Stephen and Paul, it sheds no light on the ultimate fate of James.
Prior to the discovery of the Gnostic manuscripts at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, many historians had claimed that there was no direct historical evidence that a man named Jesus of Nazareth had actually ever lived. There have even been attempts to identify Jesus as a mythical figure modelled along the lines of the Teacher of Righteousness of the Essene literature. However an indirect reference does occur in the writings of the Jewish historian, Josephus, who describes the death by stoning of a man named James, nominating him as the brother of Jesus.
Among the documents found at Nag Hammadi is one entitled the Secret Book of James, that is attributed to James, the brother of Jesus. It was probably written by a Christian living in the second century who underwent martyrdom and refers to the martyrdom of both James and Peter. Another document, The Second Apocalypse of James, climaxes with the brutal scene of Jame’s torture and death by stoning: “. . . the priests. . . found him standing beside the columns of the temple, beside the mighty corner stone. And they decided to throw him down from the height, and they cast him down. And. . . they seized him and struck him as they dragged him on the ground. They stretched him out and placed a stone on his abdomen. They all placed their feet on him, saying, ‘You have erred!’ Again they raised him up, since he was alive, and made him dig a hole. They made him stand in it. After having covered him up to his abdomen, they stoned him.”
Author, Elaine Pagels, comments on another reference by Josephus who mentioned Jesus of Nazareth in a list of troubles that disturbed Jewish relations with Rome when Pilate was governor: “Pilate, having heard him accused by men of the highest standing among us. . . condemned him to be crucified.” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.63) Pagels also refers to writings of the Roman historian Tacitus. Relating to the history of the infamous emperor Nero, Tacitus wrote that, when accused of starting major fires in Rome, Nero, “substituted as culprits and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of persons hated for their vices, whom the crowd called Christians. Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not only in Judea, the home of the disease, but in the capital itself, where everything horrible or shameful in the world gathers and becomes fashionable.” (Tacitus, Annals 15.44.2-8.)
So maybe there really once was a person named Jesus of Nazareth who had a brother named James!
| Non-Breathers: Very Odd Neighbors | Volume 2 - No. 4 — Index | Decisions, Decisions—the Doing of God's Will |