James the Just

Who was James the Just?

James, first Bishop of Bishops, who died in 62 or 69 AD, was an important figure of the Apostolic Age.

In a third century letter pseudographically ascribed to the second century Clement of Rome, James was called the "bishop of bishops, who rules Jerusalem, the Holy Assembly of Hebrews, and all assemblies everywhere". But like the rest of the early Christians, information about his life is scarce and ambiguous. In the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, Jesus names James his successor: "The disciples said to Jesus, 'We know that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?' Jesus said to them, "Where you are, you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into existence.'" Apart from a handful of references in the synoptic Gospels, the main sources for his life are the Acts of the Apostles, the Pauline epistles, Eusebius and St. Jerome who also quote the early Christian chronicler Hegesippus and Epiphanus. The Epistle of James in the New Testament is traditionally attributed to him, and he is a principal author of the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15.