THE
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST AND 1.1 The Word “Christians” Were Unknown To Jesus 1.2 Diversity In the Early Followers of Jesus 1.3 The Nazarenes Versus the Pauline Christianity 1.4 St. James, the Head of the Nazarenes 1.6 The Origin of the Word Nazarene 1.8 The Early Church, The Church of the Circumcision 1.9 Salvation Is Through Faith & By Obeying God’s Law 1.10 Obey the Scribes or Teachers of the Law 1.11 Jesus Instruct His Followers to Offer “the Gift that Moses Commanded” 1.13 Jesus: Those Who Do Not Follow The Law Are Hypocrites 1.14 St. James: Faith Without Good Works Is Useless And Cannot Save Anyone 1.16 Paul, The Real Founder of Christianity 1.18 Paul and His Pauline Churches Changed Jesus Into God 1.19 Paul’s Life: Examining His Contradictory Testimonies
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1.4 St. James (Yacub Ibn Yusuf Najjar), The Head of the Nazarenes
According to Christian tradition, St. James was “the half brother” of Jesus, being the offspring of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus. The gospel according to Mark has: “The next Sabbath he[1] began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They asked, where did he get all his wisdom and the power to perform such miracles? He’s just the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” (6:2-3, NLT) Eusebius Pamphilius of Caesarea (260-340 C.E),[2] the famous Church historian and bishop of Palestine states that: “Then there was James, who was known as the brother of the Lord; for he too was called Joseph’s son, and Joseph Christ’s father, though in fact the virgin was his betrothed, and before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit, as the inspired Gospel narrative tell us.”[3] Concerning the character of St. James, the Righteous, Christian tradition states that he was holy from birth: “He drank no wine or intoxicating liquor, ate no animal food and no razor came near his head. He was so often on his knees beseeching forgiveness for the people that his knees grew hard like a camel’s.”[4] Other than his austere character, St. James was also a very strict adherent of the Law (al-Shari‘ah) of the Torah. James Mackinson, the author of “From Christ to Constantine” states that: “And it is evident from Josephus’[5] brief notice, as well as from the longer account of Hegesippus, that his [James] austere character and his observance of the law won the good-will of the Jews”[6] [1] Refer to Jesus Christ [2] Eusebius Pamphilius of Caesarea became one of the earliest and most influential bishops of the Christian Church. According to survival records of the Church Council of Nicaea, he occupied the first seat on the right of the Emperor and delivered the inaugural address on the Emperor’s behalf. (The Bible Fraud: An Untold Story of Jesus Christ, 168, 212). Readers should take note that the present writer only quotes Eusebius statements, which are synonymous with the Bible and other documents of the Church presented by Christian scholars. The reason is because not all the statement made by this famous and celebrated Christian historian and bishop, is considered reliable by Christian Scholars themselves. Eusebius himself is on record as saying: “it is an act of virtue to deceive and lie, when by such means the interest of the Church might be promoted”.(Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesarea, Volume One, 381-382, in The Bible Fraud: An Untold Story of Jesus Christ, 168). The Christian writer, Dr Donaldson, said this of bishop Eusebius, ‘My first, my best, and almost my only authority, is Eusebius. He continued: “Like all the rest of the Christian of his time”, Eusebius was utterly unethical in his estimates of evidence, and where he, as it were, translated the language of others into his own, not using their words but his own assumption of their meaning, he is almost invariably wrong. Every statement which he makes himself is unreliable.” (The Bible Fraud: An Untold Story of Jesus Christ, 168) [3] Peters, F.E, Judaism, Christianity And Islam: Volume One (Princeton University Press, New Jersey), 1990, 317 [4] Eusebius, The History of The Church from Christ to Constantine (Translated by G.A Williamson, Penguin Classics), 1989, 59 [5] (37-98 C.E), the First Century Jewish historian (Tony Bushby, 72) [6] What is Christianity, 69 (emphasis added)
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