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'James, son of Alphaeus' was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth. He is mentioned only briefly in the Synoptic Gospels. "The son of Alphaeus" appears in the slightly varying lists of the Twelve Apostles provided by the Synoptic Gospels, as well as in the Acts of the Apostles.^[2] James is the son of Alphaeus and a possible brother of the Apostle Matthew though they are never described as such.
James is clearly distinguished from James, son of Zebedee, also called James the Greater, another one of the Twelve Apostles, but he is often identified with two other figures of the same name:
#James the Less, who appears only in reference to his mother Mary in , , This identification was convenient as it juxtaposed the two Apostles called James as ''Jacobus Maior'' and ''Jacobus Minor''. However, it also made it imperative to identify Clopas, the husband of Mary, with Alphaeus, the father of the Apostle James.^[3] (For the argument on this, see Alphaeus.) This identification was almost universally accepted and therefore, tradition knows him also as 'Saint James the Less'.
#James the brother of Jesus, who served for thirty years as head of the Church at Jerusalem and was killed in 62 AD.^[4] The identification with the brother of Jesus was supported by Jerome and therefore widely accepted in the Roman Catholic Church,^[5] while Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches tend to distinguish between "James son of Alphaeus" and "James the brother of the Lord".
Another tradition holds that James, though strongly clinging to Jewish law, was sentenced to death for having violated the Torah. This however, is highly unlikely as the Jewish authorities did not practice crucifixion, and unless a possible rebellion was at hand, the Roman authority would not involve themselves in Jewish religious affairs. He is reported to have been martyred by crucifixion at Ostrakine in Lower Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel. A carpenter's saw is the symbol associated with him in Christian art because it is also noted that his body was later sawed to pieces ^[6]

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References

1. http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj10.htm
2. For the son of Alphaeus in the Synoptics, see , , and . In the Book fo Acts, see .
3. Some avoided this problem by identifying Clopas as Mary's father and Alphaeus as Mary's husband.
4. Josephus, ''Antiquities'', 2.9.1
5. Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint James the Less
6. James the Less on the Latter Rain page, retrieved March 7, 2007.

External links

★ Patron Saints: James the Lesser