James, Brother of Jesus by Pierre-Antoine Bernheim; John Bowden

Review by: Michael Goulder

Novum Testamentum, Vol. 41, Fasc. 1 (Jan., 1999), p. 101
Published by: BRILL
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BOOK REVIEWS

101

PIERRE-ANTOINE BERNHEIM,James, Brother

of esus. Translated from the French,
Jacques,FreredeJesus (Editions Noesis, Paris 1996), by John Bowden. (SCM
Press, London 1997), viii + 324 pp. ?14.95.

According to M. Bernheim,James was not the cousin nor the half-brotherof

Jesus, but his full brother. The accounts of Jesus' brothers and their hostility to
him in Mark and John are polemical, and it is possible that James was a disciple
in Jesus' lifetime. He certainly became a leading disciple soon after his brother's
death, being one of the only two named witnesses to the risen Lord in 1 Cor. 15.
He and Peter were the only two leaders/apostles whom Paul met on his first visit
to Jerusalem; he is named by Paul before Peter in Gal. 2, seems to preside over
the "Council" in Acts 15, and is in sole charge in Acts 21. It is likely that he
held more authority than Peter from the beginning, on a dynastic principle. He
sponsored the liberal terms agreed with Paul in Gal. 2, which are reflected in the
Decree of Acts 15, but he was at heart a conservative, insisting on Judaizing conditions when it came to it at Antioch. There were differences here with Peter,
whom he overruled; he was in many ways the first Pope.
James presided over the Jerusalem church and its mission until his death in
62. He was a devout man, accepted by the Pharisees and martyred by the highpriest for religiousreasons. He was held in honour by a flourishingJewish-Christian
church for two centuries, and is named in the Gospel of the Hebrews, that of
Thomas, and in the Pseudo-Clementines. The Epistle that bears his name was
written by one of his disciples, and stresses a full obedience to the Mosaic Law,
with critical references to Pauline writings, and a strong sympathy for the poor
and dislike of the rich, suited to a group calling itself "the poor ones" (Evionim).
He was an embarrassmentto the mainstreamChurch, which wished to claim Peter
as the first Pope, and to maintain a devotion to Mary ever-virgin. His marginal
position in the history of the Church has been the consequence of that.
This is a remarkablebook. It is writtenby a man withoutan academicqualification,
described as a writer and publisher, but it displays an enviable command of the
learned literature in English and French (not, I think, German), and the arguing
is in general rigorous and the conclusions sensible. For one not in full time academic work the mastery of the material is impressive, and the book deserves to
be treated seriously by professionals. Once or twice his judgement trembles.
Suggestions of an earlier version underlying the text of John 7 are not well-based,
and it is a weak speculation that James was a disciple in Jesus' lifetime. Paul also
says clearly that the mission to the circumcision was entrusted [by Jesus] to Peter,
not James.
The book is also slightly marred by two other features. One of these is the
rather frequent impression created that the author has his knife into the Roman
Catholic Church (perhaps the Romanhas been inserted in the English translation).
There is certainly a case to be made that ecclesiastical interests have had priority over a disinterested pursuit of truth in much biblical study, and particularly
over Jesus' family; but the wise assassin cloaks his intentions with more subtlety.
The other is a constant referenceto "prestigious,""eminent"or "first-rate"exegetes,
or those from the Universities of Cambridge or Strasbourg. (I should add, with
all modesty, that your reviewer is included among the first-rate,lest envy be suspected.) The book is too weighty to command a wide readershipamong lay people,
and it is in any case invidious to suggest that some scholars are unprestigiousor
third-rate:what matters is not ratings but arguments, and these Berheim is able
to present with clarity and discrimination.
MICHAELGOULDER

? KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden, 1999

Novum TestamentumXLI, 1