Julian Period, 4775. Vulgar Æra, 62.
neral, to caution them against the prevalent Evils of the Jerusalem.
nion, which, however, does not appear to be well founded. The Epistle of St. James was, indeed, written to the Chris- tians of the twelve tribes of Israel, in their several dispersions; but it was not inscribed to the Christians in Judea, nor to Gentile Christians in any country whatever. The two Epistles of Peter were written to Christians in general, but particularly those who had been converted from Judaism. The first Epistle of John, and the Epistle of Jude, were probably written to Jewish Christians; and the second and third Epistles of John were unquestionably written to particular persons.
A third opinion is that of Dr. Hammond, adopted by Dr. Macknight, and others, which appears the most probable. He supposes that the first Epistle of Peter and the first Epistle of John, having from the beginning been received as authentic, obtained the name of catholic, or universally acknowledged, and therefore canonical epistles, in order to distinguish them from the Epistle of James, the second of Peter, the second and third of John, and the Epistle of Jude, concerning which doubts were at first entertained. But their authenticity being at length acknowledged by the generality of the Churches, they also obtained the name of catholic, or universally received epistles, and were esteemed of equal authority with the rest. They were also termed canonical by Cassiodorus in the mid- dle of the sixth century, and by the writer of the prologue to these epistles, erroneously ascribed to Jerome. Du Pin says, that some Latin writers have called these epistles canonical, either confounding the name with catholic, or to denote that they are a part of the canon of the books of the New Testament.
The denomination of Catholic Epistles is of very considerable antiquity, for Eusebius uses it as a common appellation in the fourth century, and it is probably earlier for St. John's first epistle is repeatedly called a catholic epistle by Origen, and by Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. Of these epistles, two only, viz. the first Epistle of St. Peter and the first Epistle of St. John, were universally received in the time of Eusebius; though the rest were then well known. And Athanasius, Epiphanius, and later Greek writers, received seven epistles, which they called catholic. The same appellation was also given to them by Jerome.
Although the authenticity of the Epistle of James, the second of Peter, the Epistle of Jude, and the second and third Epistles of John, were questioned by some ancient fathers, as well as by some modern writers, yet we have every reason to believe that they are the genuine and authentic productions of the inspired writers whose names they bear. The primitive Christians were extremely and necessarily cautious in admitting any books into their canon, whose genuineness and authenticity they had any reason to suspect. They rejected all the writings forged by heretics in the names of the apostles, and therefore, most assuredly, would not have received any, without subjecting them to a severe scrutiny. Now, though these five epistles were not immediately acknowledged as the writings of the apostles, this only shows that the persons, who doubted, had not obtained complete and incontestible evidence of their authenticity. But, as they were afterwards universally received, we have every reason to conclude, that, upon a strict examination, they were
Julian Period, 4775. Vulgar Era,
Day-to rectify the Errors into which many had fallen Jerusalem. found to be the genuine productions of the apostles. Indeed, the ancient Christians had such good opportunities for examining this subject, they were so careful to guard against imposition, and so well founded was their judgment concerning the books of the New Testament, that, as Dr. Lardner has remarked, no writing which they pronounced genuine has yet been proved spurious; nor have we at this day the least reason to believe any book to be genuine which they rejected.
The order, in which these epistles are placed varies in ancient authors; but it is not very material in what manner they are arranged. Could we fix with certainty the date of each epistle, the most natural order would be according to the time when they were written. Some have placed the three Epistles of St. John first, probably because he was the beloved disciple of our Lord. Others have given the priority to the two Epistles of St. Peter, because they considered him as the prince of the apos- tles. Some have placed the Epistle of James last, possibly be- cause it was later received into the canon by the Christian Church in general. By others, this epistle has been placed first, either because it was conjectured to have been the first written of the seven Epistles, or because St. James was sup- posed to have been the first Bishop of Jerusalem, the most an- cient and venerable, and the first of all the Christian Churches; or because the epistle was written to the Christians of the twelve tribes of Israel, who were the first believers.
There have been a variety of different opinions, both as to the author of this epistle, and the time in which it was written. The arguments of Macknight and Lardner, who attribute it to James the Less, are generally considered satisfactory.
In the catalogue of the apostles, Matt. x. 2. Mark iii. 16. Luke vi. 14. Acts i. 13. we find two persons of the name of James; the first was the son of Zebedee, Matt. x. 2. the second, in all the catalogues, is called the son of Alpheus; one of these apostles is called, Gal. i. 19. the Lord's brother. Wherefore as there were only twelve apostles, and as James, the son of Zebe- dee, so far as we know, was in no respect related to our Lord, the apostle called James, the Lord's brother, must have been James, the son of Alpheus, called also James the Less, or younger, whose relation to Christ will appear by comparing Mark xv. 40. with John ix. 25. In the former passage, Mark, speaking of the women who were present at the crucifixion, says, "there were also women looking on afar off, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less, and of Joses and Salome." In the latter passage, John, speak- ing of the same women, says, "There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene:" wherefore our Lord's mo- ther's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, mentioned by John, is, in all probability, the person whom Mark calls Mary, the mother of James the Less, and of Joses: consequently, her sons James and Joses, were our Lord's cousins-german by his mo- ther. And as the Hebrews called all near relations brethren, it is more than probable that James, the son of Alpheus, who was our Lord's cousin-german, is James the Lord's brother, mentioned Gal. i. 19.—Three circumstances confirm this opi- nion. 1. James and Joses, the sons of Mary, our Lord's mo- ther's sister, are expressly called the brethren of Jesus, Matt. xiii. 15. Mark vi. 2.-James, the son of our Lord's mother's sister, being distinguished from another James, by the appella- tion of the Less, Mark xv. 40. There is good reasou to sup- LI
by misinterpreting St. Paul's Doctrine of Justification, Jerusalem. and to enforce various Duties.
pose that he is the James whom Mark, in his catalogue, distin- guishes from James, the son of Zebedee, by the appellation of the son of Alpheus. It is true, Mary, the mother of James and Josos, is called the wife of Cleophas, John xix. 25. But Cleo- phas and Alpheus are the same name, differently pronounced; the one according to the Hebrew, and the other according to the Greek orthography.-3. Of the persons called the brethren of Jesus, Matt. xiii. 59. there are three mentioned in the cata- logue of apostles, James, and Simon, and Judas. They, I sup- pose, are the brethren of the Lord who are said, as apostles, to have had a right to lead about a sister or a wife, &c. 1 Cor. ix. 5. Jerome likewise, thought James, the Lord's bro- ther, was so called, because he was the son of Mary, our Lord's mother's sister. Lardner, Canon. vol. iii. p. 63. says, "Jerome seems to have been the first who said our Lord's brethren were the sons of his mother's sister;" and that this opinion was at length embraced by Augustine, and has pre- vailed very much of late, being the opinion of the Romanists in general; and of Lightfoot, Witsius, Lampe, and many of the Protestants. On the other hand, Origen, Epiphanius, and other ancient writers, both Greeks and Latins, were of opi- nion that James, the Lord's brother, was not the son of the Virgin's sister, but of Joseph, our Lord's reputed father, by a former wife, who died before he espoused the Virgin. Of the same opinion were Vossius, Basnage, and Cave, among the Protestants; and Valesius among the Romanists. Epiphanius and Theophylact supposed that Joseph's first wife was the widow of Alpheus, who being Joseph's brother, Joseph mar- ried her, to raise up seed to him, and therefore James, the issue of that marriage, was fitly called the son of Alpheus, and brother of our Lord.
James the Less, the son of Alpheus, therefore, we conclude to have been not only the Lord's near relation, but an apostle whom, as is generally supposed, he honoured in a particular manner, by appearing to him alone, after his resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 7. These circumstances, together with his own per- sonal merit, rendered him of such note among the apostles, that they appointed him to reside at Jerusalem, and to superintend the Church there. This appointment, Lardner says, was made soon after the martyrdom of Stephen: and in support of this opi- nion he observes, "that Peter always speaks first, as president among the apostles, until after the choice of the seven deacons." Every thing said of St. James after that implies his presiding in the Church of Jerusalem, Canon, vol. iii. p. 28. For example, when the apostles and elders at Jerusalem came together to consider whether it was needful to circumcise the Gentiles after there had been much disputing, Peter spake, Acts xv. 7. then Barnabas and Paul, ver. 12. And when they had ended, James summed up the whole, and proposed the terms on which the Gentiles were to be received into the Church, ver. 19-21. to which the whole assembly agreed, and wrote letters to the Gen- tiles, conformably to the opinion of James, ver. 22. 29. From this it is inferred, that James presided in the council of Jerusa- lem, because he was president of the Church in that city.
Chrysostom, in his Homily on Acts xv. says, "James was Bishop of Jerusalem, and therefore spake last." "In the time of this council Paul communicated the Gospel which he preached among the Gentiles, to three of the apostles, whom he calls pillars, and tells us, that when they perceived the inspiration and mi
Vulgar Era, James addresses the twelve Tribes, particularly the Jewish
raculous powers which he possessed, they gave him the right hand of fellowship, mentioning James first, Gal. ii. 9. And knowing the grace that was bestowed on me, James, Cephas, and John, who were pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. This implies that James, whom in the first chapter he had called the Lord's brother, was not only an apostle, but the presiding apostle in the Church at Jerusalem. In the same chapter Paul's giving an account of what happened after the council says, ver. 11, "When Peter was come to Antioch, before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles ; but when they were come he withdrew, and separated himself from them who were of the circumcision." This shews that James resided at Jerusalem, and presided in the Church there, and was greatly respected by the Jewish believers. The same circumstance appears from Acts xxi. 17. where, giving an ac- count of St. Paul's journey to Jerusalem, with the collections from the saints in Judea,St. Luke says, ver. 18, "St. Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present." Farther, the respect in which James was held by the apostles, appears from two facts recorded by St. Luke; the first is, when St. Paul came to Jerusalem, three years after his conversion, Barnabas took him, and brought him to Peter and James, as the chief apostles. Compare Acts xix. 27. with Gal. i. 9. The second fact is, after Peter was miraculously delivered out of prison, about the time of the passover, in the year 44, he came to the house of Mary, where many were gathered together praying, Acts xii. 12. and when he had declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, he said, "Go shew these things to James, and to the brethren," ver. 17. These particulars are mentioned by Lardner, and before him by Whitby and Cave, to shew that James, the Lord's brother, was really an apostle, in the strict acceptation of the word; consequently, that Eusebius was mis- taken when he placed him among the seventy disciples. E. H. lib. vii. c. 12.
That the Epistle of James was early esteemed an inspired writing, is evident from the following fact:-That while the second Epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, the Epis- tle of Jude, and the Revelation, are omitted in the first Syriac translation of the New Testament (the Peshito), which was made in the beginning of the second century, for the use of the converted Jews: the Epistle of James has found a place in it, equally with the books which were never called in question. This is an argument of great weight, for certainly the Jewish believers, to whom that Epistle was addressed and delivered, were much better judges of its authenticity, than the converted Gentiles, to whom it was not sent; and who perhaps had no opportunity of being acquainted with it, till long after it was written. Wherefore, its being received by the Jewish be- lievers, is an undeniable proof that they knew it to be written by James the apostle; whereas the ignorance of the Gentile believers, concerning this Epistle, is not even a presumption against its authenticity.
That the converted Gentiles had little knowledge of the Epistle of James in the first ages, may have been owing to various causes, such as that it was addressed to the Jews, and that the matters contained in it were personal to the Jews. For, on these accounts the Jewish believers may have thought it not necessary to communicate it to the Gentiles: and when
Julian Pe- Christians, in their state of Dispersion, wishing them all Jerusalem. riod, 4775. Vulgar Era, it was made known to them, they may have scrupled to receive it as an inspired writing, for the following reasons:-1. The writer does not, in the inscription, take the title of au apostle, but calls himself simply James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ.-2. Many of the ancients, by calling the writer of this Epistle James the Just, have rendered his apostleship doubtful.-3. As they have done likewise, by speaking of him commonly as Bishop of Jerusalem, and not as an apostle of Christ. It is not surprizing, therefore, that this Epistle was not received generally by the converted Gentiles; consequently that it was not often quoted by them in their writings. But afterwards, when it was considered that this Epistle was from the beginning received by the Jewish believers, and that it was translated into the Syriac language for their use; and that St. Paul, though an apostle, sometimes contented himself with the appellation of a servant of Christ (Philip i. 1. Philem. ver. 1.) and sometimes took no appellation but his own name (1 Thess. i. 1. 2 Thess. ii. I.); and that the apostle John did not in any of his Epistles, call himself an apostle, the title which the author of the Epistle of James had to be an apostle, was no longer doubted; but he was generally acknowledged to be James, the son of Alpheus, and the Lord's brother, and his Epistle, after an accurate examination, was received as an inspired writing. So Estius tells us, who affirms, that after the fourth century no Church nor ecclesiastical writer is found, who ever doubted of the authority of this Epistle; but, on the contrary, all the catalogues of the books of Scripture published, whether by general or provincial councils, or by Roman bishops, or other orthodox writers, since the fourth century, constantly number it among the canonical Scriptures.
With respect to what is remarked by Eusebius, that there are not many ancient writers who have quoted the Epistle of James, learned men have observed, that Clement of Rome has quoted it four several times: and so does Ignatius, in his genuine Epistle to the Ephesians (sect. x. xii. xvii. xxx.), and Origen, in his thirteenth homily on Genesis, sect. v. That it was not better known is easily accounted for, as observed above, from the circumstance of its being particularly addressed to the whole Jewish nation, for the purpose of correcting the errors and vices which prevailed among them at the time it was written. On this account the Gentiles would feel themselves comparatively but little interested, and would therefore be less anxious to obtain copies of it. The seeming opposition of the doctrine of this Epistle to the doctrine of St. Paul, concerning justification by faith, without the works of the law, may have occasioned it also to have been less regarded by the most ancient writers.
Michaelis is of a different opinion respecting the author of this Epistle. "All things considered," says he, "I see no reason for the assertion, that James the son of Zebedee, was not the author of this Epistle. One circumstance affords, at least, a presumptive argument in favour of the opinion, that it was really written by the elder James, and at a time when the Gospel had not been propagated among the Gentiles, namely, that it contains no exhortations to harmony between the Jewish and Gentile converts; which, after the time that the Gentiles were admitted into the Church, became absolutely necessary. Had it been written after the apostolic council of Jerusalem, mentioned Acts v. and by the younger James, we might have expected that at least some allusion would be made in it to the decree
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