Paul’s ministry between his conversion and the writing of his first Letter to the Thessalonians lasted about fifteen years (ca. 35-50 CE). Paul’s own version of what he did was briefly summarized in Galatians 1:15-24, but most of what we think we know comes from the Book Acts. That record was biased toward Paul. Was there any other development in the Jesus movement before Paul?
In the first chapter of his recent publication, Paul and Jesus: How The Apostle Transformed Christianity, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012) James D. Tabor clarified what he believes actually happened: James, the brother of Jesus, was the dominant leader in Jerusalem during the interval between Jesus and Paul.
“This lost Christianity,” as Tabor calls it, “held sway during Paul’s lifetime, and only with the death of James in 62 CE followed by the brutal destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, did it begin to lose its influence as the centre of the Jesus movement.”
Where do we look for this competing form of the Jesus movement? The obvious place is the New Testament itself. Buried late in the sequence of letters is The Letter of James. It is notably different from the thirteen attributed to Paul, only seven of which are now believed to have been written directly by or for him. Only in Galatians 1:18-19 and 2:9 did Paul make reference to James.
In Acts too there are only two references to James, both pointing to his leadership in the movement after the death of Jesus. At the so-called Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21) James was the spokesman for the assembled elders. Again on Paul’s final visit to Jerusalem (Acts 21:18) James alone was named among “the elders.” Tabor believes that this “suppression of James (in the Pauline documents) is systematic and deliberate.” On the other hand, Tabor also believes that both the positive references to James in Acts are ironic because he believes their views of Jesus as Messiah/Christ were so different.
The Letter of James was addressed to “to the twelve tribes of the Dispersion.” But this is not a letter; it is a group of sermons on three recurring topics presented in literary form: the testing of faith, wisdom and speech, and wealth. Perhaps most surprising is that only in 1:1 and 2:1 is Jesus named as “the Lord Jesus Christ.” God is referred to more frequently (nine times) but the whole work is more of an ethical essay than anything else.
At the same time, the Letter of James reflects a community under threat, though not imminent martyrdom. Some scholars have speculated that it actually contains messages delivered by James ca. 40-50 CE and edited as a letter after his death in 62 CE.
Tabor lists several 2nd and even 3rd century documents that contain very similar messages. All point to a close relationship between Jesus’ teaching and that of James. “The basic elements of the picture they preserve are amazingly consistent: Jesus passes to James his successor rule of the Church.”
Tabor also emphasizes that The Letter of James “speaks positively of the enduring validity of the Jewish Torah” and “an early Palestinian cultural context … directly parallel to the teachings of Jesus from the Q source” (i.e. the common source shared by Matthew and Luke).
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