JAMES, a name of two, if not three, persons xnentioned in the New Testa ment. (1) JAMES, the son of Zebedee, and brother of the Evangelist John. Their occupation was that of fishermen. We find James, John, and Peter associ ated on several interesting occasions in the Saviour's life. They alone were present at the Transfiguration (Matt. xvii: 1; Mark ix: 2; Luke ix: 29); at the restoration to life of Jairus' daugh ter (Mark v: 42; Luke viii: 51) ; and in the garden of Gethsemane during the Agony (Mark xiv: 33; Matt. xxvi: 37; Luke xxii: 39). With Andrew they listened in private to our Lord's discourse on the fall of Jerusalem (Mark xiii: 3).
James and his brother appear to have indulged in false notions of the kingdom of the Messiah. (Matt. xx: 20-23; Mark x: 35). From Luke ix: 54, we may infer that their temperament was warm and impetuous. On account, prob ably, of their boldness and energy in dis charging their apostleship, they received from their Lord the appellation of Boanerges, or "Sons of Thunder." James was the first martyr among the apostles. Clement of Alexandria, in a fragment preserved by Eusebius, reports that the officer who conducted James to the tribunal was so influenced by the bold declaration of his faith as to avow him self also a Christian; in consequence of which he was beheaded at the same time. He is the patron saint of Spain. (2) JAMES, the son of Alphus, one of the 12 apostles (Mark iii: 18; Matt. x: 3; Luke vi: 15; Acts i : 13). His mother's
name was Mary (Matt. xxvii: 56; Mark xv: 40) ; in the latter passage he is called James the Less, either as being younger than James the son of Zebedee, or on account of his low stature (Mark xv: 1; Luke xxiv: 10). (3) JAMES, "the brother of the Lord" (Gal. i: 19).
Epistle of St. first of the general epistles. It was penned by either James, the son of Alphus, or James, the brother of our Lord, if the two were different; by the apostle who bore both designations if they were the same. It was addressed to the 12 tribes scat tered abroad, i. e., to the Jewish con verts to Christianity beyond the limits of Palestine. Its teaching is in discon nected portions, and treats more of con duct than of belief, though the indispen sableness of faith to efficacious prayer is strongly insisted on (i: 6). Portions of it look antagonistic to the teaching of St. Paul (see Rom. iii: 28 with James ii: 21, 25). The epistle was written probably at Jerusalem. Its date is un certain. It has been fixed in A. D. 44 or 45, in A. D. 60, in A. D. 62, and not till the 2d century. It figures in the Syrian Version of the New Testament. It was ranked by Eusebius among his antilogou mena. In A. D. 397 the Council of Car thage placed it in the canon. Though Luther spoke disrespectfully of it, yet it is now generally accepted as a portion of Divine Scripture.