medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Today (3. May) is the feast day of:
>
> Philip and James (1st cent.) Two apostles who didn't rate days of their
> own. There are only vague traditions of Philip after Pentecost; perhaps he
> preached in Phrygia and died at Hierapolis (perhaps crucified). James "the
> Less," the son of Alphaeus, is even more obscure. Sometimes he's
> identified with the author of the New Testament epistle of James. He is
> usually shown in art with a fuller's club (with which he is believed to
> have been beaten to death in 62 CE).
There seems to be some confusion here. The Jacob/James reported to have been
beaten to death with a fuller's club (according to Hegesippus via Eusebius) was
"the brother of the Lord," not one of the twelve, not James of Alphaeus nor
James of Zebedee. But then, interpenetration of traditions is typical of these
hagiographical materials, nicht Wahr?
Of course, there are other views. As an afterthought, I've consulted google.com
and come up with entries such as the following, which seems to be taken directly
from Foxe's Book of Martyrs and is all over the net sites. It is not a view
likely to be embraced by any modern scholars who know the evidence, since it
confuses Jacob/James "the brother of the Lord" with Jacob/James of Alphaeus
while at the same time apparently attempting not to do so!:
V. James the Less
Is supposed by some to have been the brother of our Lord, by a former wife
of Joseph. This is very doubtful.... 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. At the age of ninety-four he was beat and stoned by the Jews;
and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club.
Oi.
Bob Kraft
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
[log in to unmask]
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
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