JAMES, SON OF ALPHAEUS

On October 9 (22), the Church celebrates the memory of the holy Apostle James, son of Alphaeus. St James was one of the twelve disciples whom the Lord chose during his earthly ministry to preach the coming of the Gospel of the Kingdom and prepare the people to accept His Messiahship.

We know very little about Apostle James. He is mentioned only when listing the twelve disciples in the Gospel and also among the Apostles who were in Jerusalem in “prayer and supplication” on the eve of the Descent of the Holy Spirit only once in the Book of Acts (Acts 1:14) . Each time, his name is placed in ninth place in the list of the twelve.

Tradition tells us that James was the son of Alphaeus, a pious Jew who also believed in Jesus. James’s brother was Matthew, who not only left us the Gospel, but also led James himself to follow Christ. After the Resurrection and Pentecost, James preached Christ in Palestine and neighboring countries, and was killed by opponents of the gospel on the way to Egypt.

In celebrating the memory of the holy Apostle James, it is important to know that in the texts of the New Testament we encounter several disciples of the Lord who were called by the biblical name “James”. In addition to James, son of Alphaeus, these are the Apostle James the son of Zebedee, who was the brother of John; the Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord, called the Just; and also the author of the Epistle of James. Whether it was James the Just or James, son of Alphaeus, we do not know for sure. There is also a well-founded opinion of biblical scholars that the Epistle was written by a certain “fourth disciple” named James.

Note that the ancient Latin tradition over the centuries identified James , son of Alphaeus with James the Just, to such an extent that this opinion was imposed on all Roman Catholics at the Council of Trent (1545-1563).

The Orthodox tradition has consistently held that Apostle James is one of the twelve and has not identified him with any of the other disciples of the Lord or the sacred authors. Later, in modern times, biblical scholarship has taken the side of precisely this view. Thanks be to God that even in such questions of interpretation that do not pertain to our salvation, the Holy Spirit has made Eastern Orthodoxy wise on the paths of history.