According to the oldest arrangement of the New Testament, the epistle of James stands first in order of all the apostolical epistles. The most competent critics generally agree in desig-
nating as its author James, the president of the church at Jerusalem, and known as the Lord’s brother.
“No doubt,” says Dean Stanley, “if we look at James’ in- fluence and authority from the more general point of view, whether of the whole Jewish Christian world or of the whole Gentile Christian world, it sinks into nothing before the majesty of Peter and Paul;” but within the circle of the purely Pales- tinian Christians, and in Jerusalem, James is the chief repre- sentative of the Christian society. The later traditions of the Jewish Christians invest him with a priestly sanctity. His austerities and devotions are described in extravagant terms. He is said to have kneeled until his knees were as hard as the knees of camels, and to have been constant in prayer in the temple. He went barefoot, and practised abstinence from wine, and wore the long hair, the linen ephod, and the unshorn beard of the Nazarites, and even abstained from washing. He was known as “The Just.” The people vied with each other to touch the hem of his garment; and he is reputed to have called down rain in the drought, after the manner of Elijah. His chair was preserved as a relic until the fourth century, and a pil- Jar in the valley of Jehoshaphat marked the spot where he fell.
The account of his martyrdom is given by Eusebius from the lost work of Hegesippus, by Josephus, and in the Clementine Recognitions. In Hegesippus and the Recognitions, the story is dramatic and deeply tinged with romance. The narrative of the former “is,” says Dr. Schaff, “an overdrawn picture of the middle of the second century, colored by J udaizing traits, which may have been derived from ‘the Ascents of James’ and other apocryphal sources.” It is, substantially, as follows: Having been asked, “ What is the gate of Jesus?” he replied that he was the Saviour; from which some be- lieved that Jesus is the Christ. The Jews and Scribes and Pharisees, becoming alarmed, came to James, and besought him to restrain the people from going after Jesus, to persuade against him all that came to the Passover, and, with this view, to stand on the pinnacle of the temple, where he might be seen and heard by all the people. They accordingly placed him there, and said, ““O Just One, to whom we all give heed, inas-