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St. James the Apostle, Son of Alphæus
I Century
Little is known about St. James, whose name is ninth in the three lists in
the New Testament. The Roman church also calls him
James the Just or James the
Less; no one knows if he was shorter or younger than James, son of
Zebedee. James bar Alphæus
is sometimes identified as the son of Mary,
wife of
Cleopas, one of the women who stood at the cross, because
"Alphæus" and
"Cleopas"
are assumed to be two forms of the same Aramaic name and James is
once called the son of Mary. The Roman church has traditionally considered
James to be James, the brother of the Lord, although that identification
is now disputed because the writers of the New Testament distinguish
between the band of the apostles and the brethren of the Lord.
Karen Rae Keck
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