The Righteous Martyr

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

Jeffrey J. Butz' on Particularism and Universalism, ended with the following

words:

 

(p.176) The Jewish Christian fear that Paul's teaching of salvation through

faith would do away with reverence for the Law among the Gentiles did 'not'

actually come to pass. For almost all Christians to this day, the essence of

Christianity is found in its ethical guidelines for living, ethics that are

thoroughly rooted in Jewish law, particularly the Ten Commandments. In the end,

no matter how loudly Christianity (especially Protestantism) has proclaimed that

salvation comes by faith alone, average Christians still live their day-to-day

lives as if their salvation came by their works. The Law, which James struggled

so hard to uphold, is indeed still in effect for the vast majority of

Christians. (p.177) In the final analysis, it is inconsequential whether a

Christian's desire to live a godly, ethical life comes out of a sense of duty to

God ( " works righteousness " ), or out of a sense of thankfulness for God's

undeserved love (Grace). It is the end result--transformed lives--that matters.

And that is all that Jesus, James, and Paul wanted: to transform lives, to

enable people to be born anew into life in the Kingdom of God.

 

The Brother of Jesus (And the Lost Teachings of Christianity) Chapter 9, pg.

176-177.

 

Here now, is The Righteous Martyr.

 

Enjoy,

 

violet

 

 

 

 

The Righteous Martyr

 

(p.177) As we have seen, however, James ended up one of the most obscure and

enigmatic figures in history as the result of a number of intertwined historical

processes--the fall of Jerusalem and the decline of the Jerusalem church, the

success of the Pauline mission to the Gentiles, and the emergence of the dogma

of the perpetual virginity of Mary in the Catholic Church. But it was not always

so. For thirty years after Jesus' death, James was 'the' leading figure in the

early church. It can rightly be claimed that if anyone rightly deserves the

titles of first " bishop " of the church, or even first " pope, " it is James who

justly deserves them.

 

What happened to James the Just and the Jewish Christian community might seem

anything but just. It is bitterly ironic that what was certainly the original

orthodoxy became branded as heresy. This does not, however, necessarily mean, as

some of the more radical contemporary writers have asserted, that Christianity

betrayed its Jewish origins or that Paul essentially " invented " Christianity by

turning an earthly Jewish Messiah into the divine Son of God. For if one truly

believes that God is at work in the world and in history (if only in the

Hegelian sense) then the course of events that has transpired has surely been

the unfolding of God's will, and James's obfuscation may be seen to fulfill a

higher purpose.

 

In his own lifetime, the figure of James loomed large. Because of his status

as the eldest brother and successor to Jesus, the earliest Jewish Christian

community, centered in Jerusalem, deferred to his leadership, and as we have

seen, the Gentile Christian community outside of Palestine also deferred to his

leadership. James therefore won the battle with Paul at Antioch. Years later,

the Jewish and Gentile Christian communities both saw Paul publicly humiliated

and defeated upon his final visit to Jerusalem, and as a result, it is likely

that Paul died in a Roman prison a vanquished man. As we saw at Antioch, even

Paul's closest companion, Barnabas, turned away from him and sided with James

and the Jerusalem Christians. We saw, too, how the collection that Paul had gone

to such great lengths to bring to Jerusalem, which he thought would be the

consummation of his mission, was turned away. Rather than the glory he had

envisioned, Paul saw bitter defeat. In what are likely his last written words,

Paul addresses from prison one of his only remaining companions, Timothy:

 

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my

departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I

have kept the faith...

Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world,

has deserted me...and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus

to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me...

At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it

not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so

that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might

hear it. (2 Tim. 4:6-17)

 

It was because of Paul's untiring efforts that " all the Gentiles " would

indeed come to hear the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. While James prevailed over

Paul in life, it was Paul, with whom he wrestled, who prevailed in death;

for--just a few short years after Paul's death--James and Jewish Christianity

were disappearing from history, while Paul's Gentile churches would go on to

conquer Rome and shape two thousand years of subsequent Western civilization.

James the Just would most unjustly become the forgotten hero of Christianity,

and it could be argued, of Western civilization. In the end, James the Just was

indeed the righteous martyr, who " died " so that his brother might live.

 

The Brother of Jesus (And the Lost Teachings of Christianity)

Chapter 9, pg. 177-178

Jeffrey J. Butz

Inner Traditions - Rochester, Vermont

ISBN 1-59477-043-3

 

Notes:

 

[1] This and the following quotation are from Painter, 'Just James',

98-99.

 

[2] Ibid., 101-102.