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James, Brother of Jesus, and the Origin of the Jerusalem Church

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James, Brother of Jesus, and the Origin of the Jerusalem Church JAMES, BROTHER OF JESUS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH SUBMITTED BY ALAN SAXBY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE DEPARTMENT OF BIBLICAL STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD April 2013 In Memoriam Fay 1937 - 2003 Wife, Mother, and Grandmother Prologue Abstract The thesis explores the possibility that James, the brother of Jesus, was leader of a movement in Jerusalem distinct from, yet contemporaneous (or earlier), with that of Jesus in Galilee. Study of the socio-political environment of Jerusalem prior to 70CE supports the possibility/probability of such a movement generating, and refines our sensitivity in listening to a text (the NT), that has minimal interest in James, for relevant evidence. That the movement initiated by John the Baptist impacted directly on Judea and Jerusalem with evidence of its ongoing influence there, as well as its development in Galilee through the work of Jesus, indicates distinct related movements. Our primary evidence for James is the contemporary writing of Paul, supported by later traditions incorporated in Acts, which predicate him as the undisputed leader of a movement in Jerusalem whose ethos, ideology, organisation and praxis were fully at home within the broader contemporary movement(s) for the Restoration of Israel. He was probably leader from its very beginning. Given that Paul’s initial knowledge of Jesus-tradition is derived from this Jerusalem ‘church’, the lack of reference in his letters to Galilee-tradition, contrasting with his detailed recitation of Jerusalem-tradition, suggests a comparable lack/valuing of Galilean tradition in that Jerusalem-based community. This feature is present in other Jerusalem-originating tradents. It points to the community associated with James being independently existent before the crucifixion, rather than subsequently birthed de novo. With roots in the Baptist movement, they received the death and rising of Jesus as the fulfilment of their Judaic restoration faith. The evidence, though fragmentary, is of good historical quality and must initially be listened to free of the normative Lucan account of Acts 1-5. In conclusion, the principal threads of evidence are brought together to outline a tentative history of the Jacobean movement in Jerusalem. 1 Prologue Acknowledgements I count myself fortunate in living within travelling distance of Sheffield University, which is the only secular University in the country to support a Department solely devoted to Biblical Studies - a Department held in high esteem by practitioners in the field throughout the world. Having a personal life-time faith-commitment, I wanted the academic rigour and intellectual challenge of such an environment, and have not been disappointed. I wish to express warm appreciation to my supervisors for their support and guidance during the past six years of study and exploration: • to Rev Canon Professor Loveday Alexander for putting on the necessary pressure to trigger my brain into stepping up a gear for the task I had set my hand to; for her guidance in connecting me into the contemporary world of New Testament scholarship; and, prior to her retirement, recommending me ..... • ..... to Dr (now Professor) James Crossley who took on the role, journeying with me on a voyage of exploration and discovery - challenging, suggesting, warning, guiding, listening and sharing insights. If Professor Alexander was my ‘Peter’ - providing the foundational ‘Rock’ for my study, then Professor Crossley has been my ‘Paul’, encouraging me to journey out into fresh territory. They have facilitated and helped to energise my search but, as one of the canonical dramatis personae fatefully said, ‘What I have written, I have written’. I also thank my family, both young and those of more mature years, for their love, support and understanding; Janet, the ‘companion of my autumnal years’, for her encouragement and recognition that she shares me with a rather shadowy figure from the distant past; my son-in-law Martin, for bringing me into the modern electronic age along with his never-failing help across cyber-space in all things IT (‘every family needs a Martin’); Monica, for proof-reading the text; Linda, for keeping my domestic space habitable; Gill and Jan, for their supportive friendship over many years, and my many friends at church for their continuing love and interest. 2 Prologue Preface The Birth of a Thesis It began in a period of tedium and boredom. I was an examiner for GCSE Religious Studies marking scripts on The Life and Teaching of Jesus which included questions focussed on the story of the Rich Young Ruler. One ‘stocking filler’ asked candidates to name a modern day person who was a good example of Christian living. Aside from one candidate who said ‘my grandmother is a good example’, my frustrations mounted as 4-500 scripts repeatedly informed me that ‘Mother Teresa is a good example of Christian living’. Much as I admire Mother Teresa - didn’t they know anyone else? It was in this state of acute mental torpor and lassitude that I found myself hearing the injunction of Jesus to ‘Go, sell, and give to the poor’ in a completely fresh way - was Jesus in fact telling the young man to give his wealth to ‘the Poor’ - the group in Jerusalem we meet later as led by his brother James? Was James already leader of a group in Jerusalem? Imagery from the Prodigal Son parable poured in - the Elder Brother was a ‘dead ringer’ for James - who then was the Younger Son? Was Jesus saying, ‘No use giving me the money - you know my record with that - better give it to my brother James, he’ll be much safer with it’. Other images and fragments of texts crowded in and within twenty minutes or so I had the outline for a novel on a piece of scrap paper. It was fantasy. I knew it, but I was hooked onto James. Long hours caring for my wife through a chronic illness gave me space to return, after many years, to serious and extensive reading in NT scholarship, and I found myself particularly alert to what was being said about James, the Lord’s brother. The more I read, the more the notion of James being leader of a movement in Jerusalem contemporary with that of Jesus in Galilee began to make sense, even more sense than what most books I read offered me. And equally frustrating was that no scholar seemed to be addressing him/herself to my question. My fantasy had generated an hypothesis, which was maturing into a credible thesis - and with the time becoming available, I was ready to become a partner in the conversation ..... 3 Prologue Glossary of Some Terms Used 1. Relating to the world of the Incipient Christian Church Two millennia of (mainly) European usage has bestowed a heavy legacy of meanings and associations on the word ‘church’. Except where the context of use is clear, I seek to restrict terms such as ‘church’ and ‘Christian’ to usage in the closing years of the first century CE and later, when the movement associated with Jesus Christ shows signs of a growing self-awareness in distinction from the Judaism in which it was birthed. ‘Christianity’ is even less usable within this period. Although the words ‘Christian’ (Acts 11.26) and ‘church’ were in use from the middle years of the century we need to take great care in how we use them. Terminology such as ‘early Christianity’, ‘primitive church’, ‘church of Jerusalem’, et al, all embed assumptions about Christian origins within their very language. Although absolute consistency is difficult, to reduce this risk and to aid clarification I use the following terms: Proto-Christian Particularly in the early years following the life/death/rising of Jesus, before any significant ingress of Gentiles to their movement - the period which is the focus of this study - it is highly likely that ‘Christian’ groups continued to think of themselves as fully ‘Jewish’ and part of the broader movement for the restoration of Israel that was vigorously looked for by many sons of Israel during this period. For them the events surrounding and flowing from Jesus marked a significant fulfilment within Judaism. I introduce the term ‘proto-Christian’ therefore to refer to those movements of restoration and reform within Second Temple Judaism, principally pre-70CE in Palestine (or spreading from there), that flowed and linked together eventually into that movement which increasingly identified itself, and was identified by others, as ‘Christian’ over against the formative Judaism that was developing in the same post 70CE period. Although the term is clearly teleologically driven, it seeks to avoid an anachronistic use of ‘Christian’ within pre-70CE Judaism before the ‘parting of the ways’. 4 Prologue Church / e0kklhsi/a ‘Church’ carries a heavy load of two millenia of usage. It carries connotations of institution and organisation, building and ‘gathered congregation’. Paul, in his opening epistolary salutations, often describes the coming together of those who respond to his message as ‘the church’, a term he also applies to the comparable groupings in Jerusalem. It is also the word used in Revelation. Needing distance between NT usage and our contemporary imagery of ‘church’, in most instances I retain the word in its Greek format of e0kklhsi/a. Jakobusgemeinde The description of the community in Jerusalem that we encounter in the NT and later Christian tradition as being led for many years by James as the ‘Church of Jerusalem’ is anachronistic and pre-judges questions about its historical origination and self-identity. I introduce the term Jakobusgemeinde (‘The Community of James’) for this critical group as being both historically accurate and theologically neutral. ‘Jesus Movement’ A number of NT scholars use the phrase ‘Jesus-Movement’ to meet the need I address in using the term ‘proto-Christian’ as a descriptor of those very earliest ‘Christian’ groupings.
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