Bibliography
| Title: "Iakobos ho dikaios: Origins, Literary Expression and Development of Traditions about the brother of the Lord in early Christinaity" Type: Generic Year: 1985 Abstract: "This work traced the trajectories of developing traditions about James the Just in early Christianity. Following clues found in material about James from the first to the fourth centuries, the dissertation was divided into three parts. Part One investigated possible antecedents to traditions about James in Jewish history and literature. Part Two considered relevant material from the New Testament. Part Three compared varied traditions which emerged in the early church against their Jewish and early Christian sources. The righteous sufferer and wisdom were the two Jewish concepts which most influenced the formation of traditions about James. Stories about James followed the established use in Jewish literature of an ideal person to team morality. Teachings ascribed to James reflected the internationalization of Jewish wisdom common in late Judaism. Different accounts of the death of James bore stringing resemblance to earlier Jewish stories about the death of righteous people. New Testament material about James was characterized by ambivalence, Some references to him are favorable; other are not. The fate of the Jerusalem church and different attitudes taken toward Jewish Christians by later new Testament communities colored their view of James. Ambiguity in their treatment of him suggested that relations with Judaism and Jewish Christians worsened as the church grew. The Epistle of James signifies the beginnings of Jewish Christian isolation from the ""greater"" Gentile church. Subsequently James declined in influence among many groups. Only ""Jewish Christians"" (a term difficult to define with reference to the second century) appealed to James as hero and absolute authority. Writers in the ""orthodox"" church placed James within an apostolic context. To them he was a preserver of the true traditions. Gnostic believers exalted James as a heavenly Helper to truly enlightened ""brothers"". The dissertation concluded with four insights into the history of the early church from traditions about James the Just: Confirmation of the norm of diversity among groups in the early church, increasing ethnic intolerance and external pressure, priority of James over Paul as an authority figure in ecclesiastical traditions and difficulty in applying the term ""Jewish Christian"" to these traditions." Keywords: New Testament / Early Christianity |