James the less

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Martyrdom of James the Less

James is supposed by some to have been the brother of our Lord, by a former wife of Joseph. This is very doubtful, and accords too much with the Catholic superstition, that Mary never had any other children except our Savior. He was elected to the oversight of the churches of Jerusalem; and was the author of the Epistle ascribed to James in the sacred canon.

The Apostle James the Less was martyred in Jerusalem, about the time of the Passover, in the spring of Nero's 10th year as emperor. The Evangelist, John Mark, was martyred in Alexandria, on March 30th, the day after Easter Sunday, in the spring of Nero's 11th year as emperor. This chronology contradicts Saint Jerome's statement that James died in Nero's 7th year and Mark in Nero's 8th year. It also contradicts a common opinion among Biblical chronologists, that Mark died in Nero's 14th year (See Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, n. 558). However, there is considerable evidence for this revised chronology of the martrydoms of James and Mark. 1. Details of James the Less’ martyrdom are found in the writings of Josephus, Eusebius, and Jerome. When Festus, the governor of Judea, died, Nero replaced him with Albinus. About the same time, Herod Agrippa II replaced the Jewish high priest Joseph with Ananus. After Festus died and before Albinus had arrived in Judea to replace him, the new high priest decided to pressure James the Less to deny that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. Ananus was taking advantage of a lapse in leadership at the end of Festus’ reign. Similar circumstances at the end of Pilate’s reign over Judea led to the stoning of Saint Stephen.

The Jewish high priest asked James to stand on the Temple wall and speak against Jesus to the crowds which had gathered in preparation for the Passover. James instead spoke in favor of Jesus as the Christ; many heard him and many were converted. So the Jewish religious leaders threw James down from the Temple wall. Yet he did not die from the fall, so they began to stone him. Still he did not die from the stoning, so a man took a fuller club (used to beat out clothing) and clubbed him to death. In this way died James the Less, one of the Twelve Apostles and the leader of the Church at Jerusalem for 30 years.

Albinus was on his way from Alexandria to Jerusalem when James the Less was killed. Upon his arrival, Albinus rebuked the Jewish high priest, Ananus, for killing James. When Herod Agrippa II heard of this killing, he promptly removed the high priest from office. At this time, the Roman government was not tolerant of the killing of Christians.

2. The burning of Rome occurred in the summer of Nero’s 10th year, beginning, according to Tacitus, on July 19. As the people began to suspect that Nero had ordered his soldiers to burn the city, Nero sought to deflect the blame. After several other strategies had failed, Nero hit upon the idea of accusing the Christians. He blamed the Christians for starting the fire and for other problems in society. In Rome at that time, Christians were an unpopular minority; their religious beliefs were considered strange; the Christian faith was not generally accepted by Roman society. So Nero began to torture and to put to death some of the Christians of Rome. When, after a time, he saw that this strategy worked to distract people from blaming him for the fire, he continued and increased his efforts to persecute and kill Christians in Rome.

Prior to this time, (the autumn of Nero's 10th year as emperor), Christians were not put to death without a trial. The Jews were not permitted to put Jesus to death themselves; they had to bring him before Pilate. St. Stephen was stoned to death by the Jews, but only because Pilate had left Judea for Rome and a new Procurator had not yet been appointed.

The circumstances of the martyrdom of James the Less clearly indicate that he was killed prior to the burning of Rome and prior to the persecution of Christians by Nero. When James was killed, the new Procurator, Albinus, objected strongly and Herod Agrippa II even removed the Jewish high priest from office, (though he had been high priest for only a few months). The killing of Christians was still unacceptable to the Roman government. Therefore, James was killed before the summer of Nero's 10th year.

Courtesy: Biblical Chronology