Thus it would appear that, taking the scriptural notices alone, the Hieronymian account must be abandoned; while of the remaining two the balance of the argument is against the Helvidian and in favour of the Epiphanian. To what extent the last-mentioned theory can plead the prestige of tradition, will be seen from the following catena of references to the fathers and other early Christian writings.
1. The GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS, one of the earliest and most respectable of the apocryphal narratives, related that the Lord after His resurrection ‘went to James and appeared to him; for James had sworn that he would not eat bread from that hour in which the Lord had drunk the cup [biberat calicem Dominus], till he saw Him risen from the dead.’ Jesus therefore ‘took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to James the Just and said to him, My brother, eat thy bread, for the Son of Man has risen from the dead’ (Hieron. de Vir. Illustr. 2). I have adopted the reading ‘Dominus,’ as the Greek translation has KurioV, and it also suits the context better; for the point of time which we should naturally expect is not the institution of the eucharist but the Lord’s death. Our Lord had more than once spoken of His sufferings under the image of draining the cup (Matt 20:22,23, 26:39,42; Mark 10:38,39, 14:36; Luke 22:42); and He is represented as using this metaphor here. If however we retain ‘Domini,’ it must be allowed that the writer represented James the Lord’s brother as present at the last supper, but it does not follow that he regarded him as one of the Twelve. He may have assigned to him a sort of exceptional position such as he holds in the Clementines, apart from and in some respects superior to the Twelve, and thus his presence at this critical time would be accounted for. At all events this passage confirms the tradition that the James mentioned by St. Paul (1 Cor 15:7) was the Lord’s brother; while at the same time it is characteristic of a Judaic writer whose aim it would be to glorify the head of his Church at all hazards, that an appearance, which seems in reality to have been vouchsafed to this James to win him over from his unbelief, should be represented as a reward for his devotion.
2. The GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PETER was highly esteemed by the Docetae of the second century. Towards the close of that century, Serapion, bishop of Antioch, found it in circulation at Rhossus a Cilician town, and at first tolerated it: but finding on examination that, though it had much in common with the Gospels recognized by the Catholic Church, there were sentiments in it favourable to the heretical views that were secretly gaining ground there, he forbad its use. In the fragment of Serapion preserved by Eusebius ( H.E. vi. 12), from which our information is derived, he speaks of this apocryphal work as if it had been long in circulation, so that its date must be about the middle of the second century at the latest, and probably somewhat earlier. To this gospel Origen refers, as stating that the Lord’s brethren were Joseph’s sons by a former wife and thus maintaining the virginity of the Lord’s mother.
3. PROTEVANGELIUM JACOBI, a purely fictitious but very early narrative, dating probably not later than the middle of the second century, represents Joseph as an old man when the Virgin was espoused to him, having sons of his own (§9, ed. Tisch. p. 18) but no daughters (§17, p. 31), and James the writer of the account apparently as grown up at the time of Herod’s death (§25, p. 48). Following in this track, subsequent apocryphal narratives give a similar account with various modifications, in some cases naming Joseph’s daughters or his wife. Such are the Pseudo-Matthaei Evang. (§32, ed. Tisch. p. 104), Evang. de Nativ. Mar. (§8, ib. p. 111), Historia Joseph (§2, ib. p. 1160), Evang. Thomae (§16, p. 147), Evang. Infant. Arab. (§35, p. 191), besides the apocryphal Gospels mentioned by Jerome ( Comm. in Matth. T. VII, p. 86) which were different from any now extant. Doubtless these accounts, so far as they step beyond the incidents narrated in the Canonical Gospels, are pure fabrications, but the fabrications would scarcely have taken this form, if the Hieronymian view of the Lord’s brethren had been received or even known when they were written. It is to these sources that Jerome refers when he taunts the holders of the Epiphanian view with following ‘deliramenta apocryphorum.’
4. The EARLIEST VERSIONS, with the exception of the Old Latin and Memphitic which translate the Greek literally and preserve the same ambiguities, give renderings of certain passages bearing on the subject, which are opposed to the Hieronymian view. The CURETONIAN SYRIAC translates Maria ‘Iakwbou (Luke 24:10) ‘Mary the daughter of James.’ The PESHITO in John 19:25 has, ‘His mother and His mother’s sister and Mary of Cleopha and Mary Magdalene’; and in Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13, it renders ‘Judas son of James.’ One of the old Egyptian versions again, the THEBAIC, in John 19:25 gives ‘Mary daughter of Clopas,’ and in Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13 ‘Judas son of James.’
5. The CLEMENTINE HOMILIES, written, it would appear, not late in the second century to support a peculiar phase of Ebionism, speak of James as being ‘ called the brother of the Lord’ (o lecqeiV adelfoV tou Kuriou, 11:35), an expression which has been variously interpreted as favouring all three hypotheses (see Blom, p. 88: Schliemann Clement. pp. 8, 213), and is indecisive in itself. It is more important to observe that in the Epistle of Clement prefixed to this work and belonging to the same cycle of writings James is styled not Apostle, but Bishop of Bishops, and seems to be distinguished from and in some respects exalted above the Twelve.
6. In the portion of the Clementine Recognitions, which seems to have been founded on the ASCENTS OF JAMES, another very early Ebionite writing, the distinction thus implied in the Homilies is explicitly stated. The Twelve Apostles after disputing severally with Caiaphas give an account of their conference to James the chief of Bishops; while James the son of Alphaeus is distinctly mentioned among the Twelve as one of the disputants (i.59).
7. HEGESIPPUS (about 160), a Hebrew Christian of Palestine, writes as follows: ‘After the martyrdom of James the Just on the same charge as the Lord, his paternal uncle’s child Symeon the son of Clopas is next made bishop, who was put forward by all as the second in succession, being cousin of the Lord’ (meta to marturhsai Iakwbon ton dikaion wV kai o KurioV epi tw autw logw, palin o ek tou qeiou autou Sumewn o tou Klwpa kaqistatai episkopoV, on proeqento panteV onta aneyion tou Kuriou deuteron, Euseb. H. E. iv. 22). If the passage be correctly rendered thus (and this rendering alone seems intelligible), Hegesippus distinguishes between the relationships of James the Lord’s brother and Symeon His cousin. So again, referring apparently to this passage, he in another fragment (Euseb. H. E. iii. 32) speaks of ‘the child of the Lord’s paternal uncle, the aforesaid Symeon son of Clopas’ (o ek qeiou tou Kuriou o proeirhmenoV Sumewn uioV Klwpa), to which Eusebius adds, ‘for Hegesippus relates that Clopas was the brother of Joseph.’ Thus in Hegesippus Symeon is never once called the Lord’s brother, while James is always so designated. And this argument powerful in itself is materially strengthened by the fact that, where Hegesippus has occasion to mention Jude, he too like James is styled ‘the Lord’s brother’; ‘There still survived members of the Lord’s family (oi apo genouV tou Kuriou) grandsons of Judas who was called His brother according to the flesh’ (tou kata sarka legomenou autou adelfou); Euseb. H. E. iii. 20. In this passage the word ‘called’ seems to me to point to the Epiphanian rather than the Helvidian view, the brotherhood of these brethren, like the fatherhood of Joseph, being reputed but not real. In yet another passage (Euseb. H. E. ii. 23) Hegesippus relates that ‘the Church was committed in conjunction with the Apostles to the charge of (diadecetai thn ekklhsian meta twn apostolwn) the Lord’s brother James, who has been entitled Just by all from the Lord’s time to our own day; for many bore the name of James.’ From this last passage however no inference can be safely drawn; for, supposing the term ‘Apostles’ to be here restricted to the Twelve, the expression meta twn apostolwn may distinguish St. James not from but among the Apostles; as in Acts 5:29, ‘Peter and the Apostles answered.’
Thus the testimony of Hegesippus seems distinctly opposed to the Hieronymian view, while of the other two it favours the Epiphanian rather than the Helvidian. If any doubt still remains, the fact that both Eusebius and Epiphanius, who derived their information mainly from Hegesippus, gave this account of the Lord’s brethren materially strengthens the position. The testimony of an early Palestinian writer who made it his business to collect such traditions is of the utmost importance.
8. TERTULLIAN’S authority was appealed to by Helvidius, and Jerome is content to reply that he was not a member of the Church (‘de Tertulliano nihil amplius dico quam ecclesiae hominem non fuisse,’ adv. Helvid. § 17). It is generally assumed in consequence that Tertullian held the Lord’s brethren to be sons of Joseph and Mary. This assumption, though probable, is not absolutely certain. The point at issue in this passage is not the particular opinion of Helvidius respecting the Lord’s brethren, but the virginity of the Lord’s mother. Accordingly in reply Jerome alleges on his own side the authority of others, whose testimony certainly did not go beyond this one point and had no reference to the relationship of the Lord’s brethren. Thus too the more distinct passages in the extant writings of Tertullian relate to the virginity only ( de Carn. Christ. c. 23 and passim, de Monog. c. 8). Elsewhere however, though he does not directly state it, his argument seems to imply that the Lord’s brethren were His brothers in the same sense in which Mary was His mother ( adv. Marc. iv. 19, de Carn. Christ. 7). It is therefore highly probable that he held the Helvidian view. Such an admission from one who was so strenuous an advocate of asceticism is worthy of notice.
9. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA (about AD 200) in a passage of the Hypotyposeis preserved in a Latin translation by Cassiodorus (the authorship has been questioned but without sufficient reason) puts forward the Epiphanian solution; ‘Jude, who wrote the Catholic Epistle, being one of the sons of Joseph and [the Lord’s] brother, a man of deep piety, though he was aware of his relationship to the Lord, nevertheless did not say he was His brother; but what said he? Jude the servant of Jesus Christ , because He was his Lord, but brother of James ; for this is true; he was his brother, being Joseph’s [son]’ (ed. Potter, p. 1007). This statement is explicit.
On the other hand, owing to an extract preserved in Eusebius, his authority is generally claimed for the Hieronymian view; ‘Clement,’ says Eusebius, ‘in the sixth book of the Hypotyposeis gives the following account: Peter and James and John , he tells us, after the resurrection of the Saviour were not ambitious of honour, though the preference shown them by the Lord might have entitled them to it, but chose James the Just Bishop of Jerusalem. The same writer too in the seventh book of the same treatise gives this account also of him (James the Lord’s brother); The Lord after the resurrection delivered the gnosis to James the Just and John and Peter. These delivered it to the rest of the Apostles; and the rest of the Apostles to the seventy, of whom Barnabas was one. Now there are two Jameses, one the Just who was thrown down from the pinnacle (of the temple) and beaten to death with a club by a fuller, and another who was beheaded ’ ( H. E. ii. 1). This passage however proves nothing. Clement says that there were two of the name of James, but he neither states nor implies that there were two only. His sole object was to distinguish the son of Zebedee from the Lord’s brother; and the son of Alphaeus, of whom he knew nothing and could tell nothing, did not occur to his mind when he penned this sentence. There is in this passage nothing which contradicts the Latin extract; though indeed in a writer so uncritical in his historical notices such a contradiction would not be surprising.
10. ORIGEN († AD 253) declares himself very distinctly in favour of the Epiphanian view, stating that the brethren were sons of Joseph by a deceased wife. Elsewhere indeed he says that St. Paul ‘calls this James the Lord’s brother, not so much on account of his kinsmanship or their companionship together, as on account of his character and language,’ but this is not inconsistent with the explicit statement already referred to. In one passage he writes at some length on the subject; ‘Some persons, on the ground of a tradition in the Gospel according to Peter, as it is entitled, or the Book of James (i.e. the Protevangelium), say that the brothers of Jesus were Joseph’s sons by a former wife to whom he was married before Mary. Those who hold this view wish to preserve the honour of Mary in virginity throughout…And I think it reasonable that as Jesus was the first-fruit of purity and chastity among men, so Mary was among women: for it is not seemly to ascribe the first-fruit of virginity to any other woman but her’ ( in Matt. xiii. 55, III. p. 462). This passage shows not only that Origen himself favoured the Epiphanian view which elsewhere he has directly maintained, but that he was wholly unaware of the Hieronymian, the only alternative which presented itself being the denial of the perpetual virginity.
11. The APOSTOLICAL CONSTITUTIONS, the main part of which may perhaps be regarded as a work of the third century, though they received considerable additions in later ages, distinguish James the Lord’s brother from James the son of Alphaeus, making him, like St. Paul, a supernumerary apostle, and thus counting fourteen in all (vi. 12-14; compare ii. 55, vii. 46, viii. 4).
12. VICTORINUS PETAVIONENSIS (about 300) was claimed by Helvidius as a witness in his own favour. Jerome denied this and put in a counterclaim. It may perhaps be inferred from this circumstance that Victorinus did little more than repeat the statements of the evangelists respecting the Lord’s brethren ( adv. Helvid. 17).
13. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA († about 340) distinguished James the Lord’s brother from the Twelve, representing him as a supernumerary apostle like St. Paul ( Comm. in Isai. in Montfaucon’s Coll. Nov. Patr. II. p. 422; Hist. Eccl. i. 12; comp. vii. 19). Accordingly in another passage he explains that this James was called the Lord’s brother, because Joseph was his reputed father ( Hist. Eccl. ii. 1).
14. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM († 386) comments on the successive appearances of our Lord related by St. Paul, first to Peter, then to the Twelve, then to the five hundred, then to James His own brother, then to Paul His enemy; and his language implies that each appearance was a step in advance of the testimony afforded by the former ( Catech. xiv. 21, p. 216, ed. Touttee). It may be gathered thence that he distinguished this James from the Twelve. As this however is only an inference from his language, and not a direct statement of his own, too much stress must not be laid on it. In another passage also ( Catech. iv. 28, p. 65, kai toiV apostoloiV kai Iakwbw tw tauthV thV ekklhsiaV episkopw) Cyril seems to make the same distinction, but here again the inference is doubtful.
15. HILARY OF POITIERS († 368) denounces those who ‘claim authority for their opinion (against the virginity of the Lord’s mother) from the fact of its being recorded that our Lord had several brothers’; and adds, ‘yet if these had been sons of Mary and not rather sons of Joseph, the offspring of a former marriage, she would never at the time of the passion have been transferred to the Apostle John to be his mother’ ( Comm. in Matt. i. 1, p. 671, ed. Bened.). Thus he not only adopts the Epiphanian solution, but shows himself entirely ignorant of the Hieronymian.
16. VICTORINUS THE PHILOSOPHER (about 360) takes ei mh in Galatians 1:19 as expressing not exception but opposition , and distinctly states that James was not an Apostle: ‘Cum autem fratrem dixit, apostolum negavit.’
17. The AMBROSIAN HILARY (about 75) comments on Galatians 1:19 as follows; ‘The Lord is called the brother of James and the rest in the same way in which He is also designated the son of Joseph. For some in a fit of madness impiously assert and contend that these were true brothers of the Lord, being sons of Mary, allowing at the same time that Joseph, though not His true father, was so called nevertheless. For if these were His true brothers, then Joseph will be His true father; for he who called Joseph His Father also called James and the rest His brothers.’ Thus his testimony entirely coincides with that of his greater namesake. He sees only the alternative of denying the perpetual virginity as Helvidius did, or accepting the solution of the Protevangelium; and he unhesitatingly adopts the latter.
18. BASIL THE GREAT († 379), while allowing that the perpetual virginity is not a necessary article of belief, yet adheres to it himself ‘since the lovers of Christ cannot endure to hear that the mother of God ever ceased to be a virgin’ ( Hom. in Sanct. Christ. Gen. II. p. 600, ed. Garn.). As immediately afterwards he refers, in support of his view, to some apocryphal work which related that Zacharias was slain by the Jews for testifying to the virginity of the mother of Jesus (a story which closely resembles the narrative of his death in the Protevang. §§ 23, 24), it may perhaps be inferred that he accepted that account of the Lord’s brethren which ran through these apocryphal gospels.
19. His brother GREGORY NYSSEN († after 394) certainly adopted the Epiphanian account. At the same time he takes up the very untenable position that the ‘Mary who is designated in the other Evangelists (besides St. John) the mother of James and Joses is the mother of God and none else,’ being so called because she undertook the education of these her stepsons; and he supposes also that this James is called ‘the little’ by St. Mark to distinguish him from James the son of Alphaeus who was ‘great,’ because he was in the number of the Twelve Apostles, which the Lord’s brother was not ( in Christ. Resurr. ii. Opp. III. pp. 412,413, ed. Paris, 1638).
20. The ANTIDICOMARIANITES, an obscure Arabian sect in the latter half of the fourth century, maintained that the Lord’s mother bore children to her husband Joseph. These opinions seem to have produced a reaction, or to have been themselves reactionary, for we read about the same time of a sect called Collyridians , likewise in Arabia, who going to the opposite extreme paid divine honours to the Virgin (Epiphan. Haeres. lxxviii, lxxix).
21. EPIPHANIUS a native of Palestine became bishop of Constantia in Cyprus in the year 367. Not very long before Jerome wrote in defence of the perpetual virginity of the Lord’s mother against the Helvidians at Rome, Epiphanius came forward as the champion of the same cause against the Antidicomarianites. He denounced them in an elaborate pastoral letter, in which he explains his views at length, and which he has thought fit to incorporate in his subsequently written treatise against Heresies (pp. 1034-1057, ed. Petav.). He moreover discusses the subject incidentally in other parts of his great work (pp. 115, 119, 432, 636), and it is clear that he had devoted much time and attention to it. His account coincides with that of the apocryphal gospels. Joseph, he states, was eighty years old or more when the Virgin was espoused to him; by his former wife he had six children, four sons and two daughters, the names of the daughters were Mary and Salome, for which names by the way he alleges the authority of Scripture (p. 1041); his sons, St. James especially, were called the Lord’s brethren because they were brought up with Jesus; the mother of the Lord remained for ever a virgin; as the lioness is said to exhaust her fertility in the production of a single offspring (see Herod. iii. 108), so she who bore the Lion of Judah could not in the nature of things become a mother a second time (pp. 1044, 1045). These particulars with many other besides he gives, quoting as his authority ‘the tradition of the Jews’ (p. 1039). It is to be observed moreover that, though he thus treats of the subject several times and at great length, he never once alludes to the Hieronymian account; and yet I can scarcely doubt that one who so highly extolled celibacy would have hailed with delight a solution which, as Jerome boasted, saved the virginity not of Mary only but of Joseph also, for whose honour Epiphanius shows himself very jealous (pp. 1040, 1046, 1047).
22. Somewhere about the year 380 HELVIDIUS, who resided in Rome, published a treatise in which he maintained that the Lord’s brethren were sons of Joseph and Mary. He seems to have succeeded in convincing a considerable number of persons, for contemporary writers speak of the Helvidians as a party. These views were moreover advocated by BONOSUS, bishop of Sardica in Illyria, about the same time, and apparently also by JOVINIANUS a monk probably of Milan. The former was condemned by a synod assembled at Capua (AD 392), and the latter by synods held at Rome and at Milan (about AD 390; see Hefele Conciliengesch. II. pp. 47, 48).