James: the Lynchpin of Our Faith — Introduction

Dear friends,
now we are children of God,
and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when Christ appears,
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
(1 John 3:2, NIV

Who knew that a medium-size box could create such a stir? Archaeologists, academics, journalists, and theologians were intrigued. A debate raged for weeks about the authenticity of this ancient stone box. A sceptical public grew curious and hungered for more information. What did all this mean? What were the implications?

In the fall of 2002, the typical news cycle of war, politics, celebrity missteps, and market fluctuations was briefly interrupted by word that an ancient ossuary had been discovered. The inscription on this stone box read, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

Photo Credit Time Magazine, November 4, 2002

Did Jesus have a brother? Were his brother’s bones once stored in this ancient ossuary? Who precisely was this James? Experts in ancient burial customs claimed that it was common practice to have the name of the father of the deceased inscribed on the burial box, but why include the brother’s name? Jesus—Jesus? Was this the Jesus of the New Testament, the one revered by millions as the Son of God?

The list of questions grew. Scholars speculated, while public curiosity reached a peak. Israeli authorities questioned how this 25 × 50 × 30cm stone box came into the hands of Oded Golan, a private collector of antiquities. Roman Catholic theologians chafed at the very notion that Jesus had a brother. Religious skeptics dredged up a variety of imaginative apocryphal scenarios.

Time magazine, in its November 4, 2002, edition reported that “Andre Lemaire, one of the world’s foremost scholars of ancient scripts, announced that ‘it seems very probable that this [box] is the ossuary of the James in the New Testament.’”

Time Magazine Headline, Nov. 4, 2002

Arrangements were made to have the James Ossuary examined by experts and placed on display at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto. But alas, when the shipping container arrived by air from Jerusalem, it was discovered that the ancient stone box had fractured in transit. News outlets excitedly reported on this new ill-fated development.

Undeterred by these setbacks, repairs were hastily made to the ossuary, and the highly publicized exhibit went ahead as planned. Thousands flocked to the display at the ROM. In fact, the display curator at the time confessed to this author that no other ROM exhibit generated sucha widespread frenzy of interest in all his years of service.

This stone box—this ancient artifact—may well be the closest physical contact we have to Jesus, the subject of the gospels.

But storm clouds were brewing. Roman Catholic scholars dismissed the discovery on doctrinal grounds. According to long established Vatican teaching, Mary was a perpetual virgin. How could Jesus then have a brother? This teaching has persisted despite several passages in the New Testament which unequivocally refer to James as the brother of Jesus.

Some scholars questioned the authenticity of this discovery. Was the “brother of Jesus” portion of the inscription a forgery—a present day addition to boost the value of this artifact? Then there was the question of provenance. Where exactly was this ossuary discovered? Since the exact original location of this find was unknown, the context that archeologists rely on to ascertain authenticity was sadly missing. How did the ossuary come into the hands of Oded Golan? Was he simply an unscrupulous shyster out to make a fast buck by peddling fake or altered artifacts?

Golan’s activities and his artifacts raised the suspicion of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. For years the Antiquities Authority had been attempting to put a halt to the illegal trade in artifacts discovered in the Holy Land. Here was a high-profile case that could send a clear message to all who sought to profit from this trade. On July 22, 2003, Oded Golan was arrested in Jerusalem for allegedly forging and illegally trading in antiquities. But is the James ossuary a forgery? In a press release following Golan’s arrest, the ROM stood by its initial assessment:

Until the ROM receives convincing evidence to the contrary, we stand by our opinion that the James Ossuary is not a forgery. We had a limited amount of time to study it because of the amount of conservation work that was required after the Ossuary arrived at the Museum after being damaged in transit. The studies that were carried out on the inscription and broken fragments of the Ossuary, however, satisfied the ROM’s investigative team that it was an authentic artifact with an authentic inscription that might make it the Ossuary of James, the brother of Jesus. There is always a question of authenticity when objects do not come from a controlled archaeological excavation, as is the case with the James Ossuary.

While the authenticity of the James Ossuary remains in question, it is the life of James, the brother of Jesus, which is truly intriguing. (1 see footnote) The James of the Bible is far more than bones in a box. He was after all a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood man.

Time photo of the James Ossuary

Present-day believers and church goers view James as an obscure figure, if they know anything about him at all. If Catholics are asked who the most important figure in the early church was, most would answer Peter. If Protestants are asked the same question, they would answer Paul. Yet if we could step in a time machine and ask Peter and Paul the same question, they would both answer James.

Over the centuries the historic importance of James has been overlooked. In the great gallery of early church fathers, typically Peter, Paul, and John draw the most attention. But James’ contribution was truly foundational—even crucial.

Many may be surprised to know that the New Testament has a good deal to say about James, the man known to early Christians as the brother of the Lord. The time has come to put some flesh on those bones missing from the ossuary—to create a portrait of the biblical James—a man who had a monumental influence on the direction of the early church and by extension an impact that echoes down through world history to the present day.

It can be argued that James, known to some as James the Just, is in fact the lynchpin of the Christian faith. Without him the early church would have remained an obscure Jewish sect—an offbeat curiosity in the grand march of civilization. But due to James, the gospel message burst out of the narrow confines of the Jewish faith. It exploded across the Roman Empire and came to dominate the life and thought of the Western world for the next two millennia. Now with the rapid rise of Christianity in the nations of Africa, South America, and Asia, the time has come to take a closer look at the man who set this whole process—this train of events into motion: the man the Bible writers call James, the brother of our Lord.

1 For a thorough exploration of the James Ossuary and its implications for present-day Christianity, see Hershel Shanks and Ben Witherington III’s book The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family (Harper Collins, 2003).

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