James the Brother of John

What did James the Brother of John teach and do?

Unlike his brother John the Jew, James the Brother of John did not write any of the books of the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).  However, the Apocryphon of James is attributed to him by some people.

In the Apocryphon (Secret Book) of James are recorded things that the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) supposedly taught during the time between his resurrection and his ascension.  He gave these teachings over a period of 550 days in this book.

According to this book, James the Brother of John and Peter the Jew were the ones to mainly receive these secret teachings, but only James the Brother of John understood them.  The reason given in this book for Peter the Jew not understanding them was because he had implicitly failed as a leader of the followers of the Man of Truth.

Subsequently, in this book James the Brother of John sends out the rest of The Twelve from Jerusalem to preach about the Man of Truth after the Man of Truth ascended.  He then continues to act as the head of all believers around the world.

In like manner, the False Church of Rome relates the following concerning James the Brother of John:

Around 36 AD, James the Brother of John went to Spain and started establishing churches in Galicia along the Atlantic coast of modern Spain adjacent to modern Portugal.  He stayed there until Mary the Jew appeared to him in 40 AD as an apparition atop a jasper pillar that had jutted suddenly out of the ground.

She then instructed James the Brother of John to build a church in her honor at Compostela from the Jasper pillar that she appeared upon.  So, he built the first place to worship the Queen of Heaven after the resurrection of the Man of Truth.

Afterwards James the Brother of John returned to Jerusalem, where he resumed the position of the head of all believers around the world.  He then began to boldly preach that the Man of Truth was the Messiah of Israel.

Soon afterwards, the Jewish religious leaders hired a sorcerer named Hermogenes to debate with James the Brother of John to show that the Man of Truth as not the Messiah of Israel.  Hermogenes sent his pupil Philip to debate him first, but Philip was persuaded to become a disciple of James the Brother of John.

So, Hermogenes went to confront James the Brother of John himself.  However, he ended up being persuaded by James the Brother of John to become a follower of the Man of Truth and burned his books of magic.

Then the Jewish religious leaders persuaded King Herod Agrippa I to arrest James the Brother of John under charges of blasphemy.  They then paid people to witness falsely against James the Brother of John and he was sentenced to death.

James the Brother of John continued calmly to witness that the Man of Truth was the Messiah of Israel to King Herod Agrippa I.  One of the false witnesses named Josiah believed the witness of James the Brother of John and became his disciple.

King Herod Agrippa I then personally beheaded James the Brother of John along with Josiah.  The head of James the Brother of John was then buried there under a marker made of red marble.

However, an Angel of Truth placed the body of James the Brother of John in a boat without a rudder that went on its own to the coast of Galicia in Spain.  A rock grew out of the sea and enclosed his body until it could be buried properly.

Later his body was buried at the church in Compostela, but part of it was given to a church in Italy.  This included his hand that gave healing power to any water poured over it.

Around 640 AD, the hand of James the Brother of John was recorded in the inventory of the Bishop of Torcello in Venice, Italy.  Sometime after that it was given as a gift to the Holy Roman Emperor.

However, even though his head was in Jerusalem and his body was scattered across Europe, James the Brother of John appeared at a decisive battle to rescue the Spanish army around 850 AD.  He then killed many of the Moors and led the Spanish army in driving the Moors out of Spain.

Then in 1133 AD, Empress Maltida, the daughter of the King of England and the widow of the Holy Roman Emperor, gave the hand of James the Brother of John as a gift to England.  It was stored at Reading, England in a monastery where it was used for healing and producing healing water.

When the monasteries of England were dissolved in 1539 AD, the hand of James the Brother of John was stored in an iron chest that was buried in the walls of the monastery.  It remained there until it was unearthed during construction in 1786 AD and given to the Reading Museum.

Around 1840, the hand of James the Brother of John was sold to a wealthy man.  When the wealthy man died in 1882 AD, he gave it to Saint Peter’s Church in Marlow, England where it resides to this day.

What do other religions say about James the Brother of John?

The Mormons teach that James the Brother of John along with John the Baptist, Peter the Jew, and John the Jew appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829 to confer Apostolic Succession upon them.  They also gave them the priesthoods of Melchizedek and Aaron. 

This gave these two men authority to teach that the Book of Mormon was part of the restoration of the faith, and they were the sole representatives of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) on Earth.

Islam teaches that James the Brother of John was a disciple of the Man of Truth when he was on the Earth.

So, according to the Book of Truth what did James the Brother of John teach and do?

[NOTE:  The Gospel of Luke is written as a history and has events in chronological order.  The Gospel of John generally has events in the order that they occurred as well.  The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark are not strictly chronological but are arranged to bring out certain aspects of the Man of Truth in their main sections.  They both have a prologue that explains events proceeding the main section, a main section that is composed of divisions that each contain related events and teachings to emphasize a certain aspect, and an epilogue that explains the events that follow the main section. 

This is important to understand when creating a comprehensive timeline of anything found in The Gospels.  There is no conflict between them, but they work together like a four part harmony to highlight different aspects of the life of the Man of Truth.]

29 AD (Israel): 

James the Brother of John was not one of the disciples following John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man), who began to follow the Man of Truth the day after John the Baptist identified him as the Messiah of Israel (John 1:29-37).  He was not one of the first two disciples to follow the Man of Truth and camp with him (John 1:38-40).

After John the Baptist was thrown into prison, the Man of Truth went to Galilee and began preaching repentance (Matthew 4:12-22).  At that time, he called James the Brother of John to leave off his fishing to follow him, so James the Brother of John did (Mark 1:14-20).

James the Brother of John was there when the Man of Truth healed the mother-in-law of Peter the Jew of her fever (Mark 1:29-31). 

James the Brother of John was washing his fishing nets when the Man of Truth had Peter the Jew put his boat out into the Sea of Galilee, so the Man of Truth could preach to the crowd on the shore (Luke 5:1-3).  He then took his boat out to help Peter the Jew with the great haul of fish that were caught at the command of the Man of Truth (Luke 5:4-7).  James the Brother of John also finally forsook all to follow the Man of Truth, when the Man of Truth told Peter the Jew to follow him to become a fisher of men (Luke 5:8-11).

So, James the Brother of John did not forsake everything to follow the Man of Truth until many days after the Man of Truth first called him to follow him.  He was drawn the manly work of fishing and it was the promise to fish for men that finally got him to fully commit to following the Man of Truth.

A while after that, the Man of Truth chose twelve of his disciples to cast out Spirits of Lies and heal disease (Matthew 10:1-4).  He called them to come up to him on the mountain where he was and called John the Jew a son of thunder (Mark 3:13-19).  He had spent all night on the mountain praying, before calling James the Brother of John and eleven other disciples to become the Twelve Original Apostles of Truth (aka The Twelve) (Luke 6:12-16).

When the Man of Truth went into the house of the ruler of the synagogue, the people were mourning (Matthew 9:23-25).  James the Brother of John was one of only three Apostles of Truth that went in with him (Mark 5:35-43).  He was there when the Man of Truth raised the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue from the dead (Luke 8:49-56).

30 AD (Israel):

Months later, the Man of Truth took James the Brother of John and two other Apostles of Truth with him up a mountain and turned completely white, shining like the sun (Matthew 17:1-9).  Then he saw Moses (Moishe) and Elijah (Eliyahu), two Prophet of Truths, appear and talk with the Man of Truth (Mark 9:1-10).  He heard the Father of Truth announced from a bright cloud that the Man of Truth was His Son (Luke 9:28-35).  He suddenly saw the Man of Truth become normal and alone, but the Man of Truth told him and the other two Apostles of Truth to not tell anyone what they saw on the mountain until after his resurrection (Luke 9:36).

James the Brother of John was one of the three insiders of the Man of Truth along with his brother John the Jew and Peter the Jew.  They were being prepared to the Three Pillars that would hold up his Church strong after he left the Earth.

When the Man of Truth began to make his journey towards Jerusalem the Samaritans of one village did not want him to stay with them (Luke 9:51-53). Then James the Brother of John and his brother asked if they should call down fire from Heaven to destroy them like Elisha (Elias) did (Luke 9:54).  So, the Man of Truth rebuke them for having a wrong spirit, because he had come to save people, not to destroy people, and then he went to the next village (Luke 9:55-56).

31 AD (Israel)

When the Man of Truth was going to Jericho on his way up to Jerusalem, he told the Twelve that after they arrived in Jerusalem he would be betrayed, beaten, crucified, and rise from the dead (Matthew 20:17-19).  They were already afraid and dismayed by his teachings before he told them this (Mark 10:32-34).

The mother of James the Brother of John asked the Man of Truth if her sons could sit at his right and left when he comes to rule (Matthew 20:20-21).  James the Brother of John and his brother also asked for the same thing (Mark 10:35-37).

The Man of Truth then asked them if they could suffer like he would suffer, and they said that they could (Matthew 20:22-23).  So he told them that they would, but it was up to the Father of Truth who sat at his left and right when he comes to rule (Mark 10:38-40).

The rest of the twelve were indignant with James the Brother of John and his brother for trying to secure the best positions for themselves (Matthew 20:24-28).  So, the Man of Truth told all of them that the way to become great in his kingdom was to follow his example of serving others (Mark 10:41-45).

31 AD (Jerusalem):

When the Man of Truth came back to Jerusalem, his disciples told him how beautiful the Temple was, but he said that it would be completely destroyed (Matthew 24:1-31). James the Brother of John and some other Apostles of Truth then asked him when this would be as well as the signs of the end of this present age (Mark 13:1-27).  He replied with a long list of signs leading up the destruction of the Temple and the Tribulation that will bring about the end of this present age (Luke 21:5-28).

James the Brother of John was ambitious and sought to secure a position above the other Apostles of Truth in the kingdom of the Man of Truth.  He had bragged about how he was willing to suffer like the Man of Truth.  He wanted to know when the kingdom of the Messiah would begin.  He was focused on the kingdom of Israel more than people.

When they came to the Garden of Gethsemane after eating the Passover meal, the Man of Truth took James the Brother of John with two other Apostles of Truth a little further than the rest, and then told them to watch and pray (Matthew 26:36-46).  Three times, he then went a further by himself and then prayed in agony for his upcoming suffering to be taken away if possible, but if not, then he would do the will of the Father of Truth (Mark 14:32-42).  Each time after he prayed, he came back and found James the Brother of John asleep with the others, until he woke them because his betrayer was about to arrive (Luke 22:39-46).

James the Brother of John was not there when the Man of Truth died on the cross, but his mother was (Matthew 27:50-56).

Yet, James the Brother of John failed the Man of Truth in every way on the worst day of his life to escape suffering.  His mother did more for the Man of Truth than he did.

31 AD (Jerusalem):

James the Brother of John did not believe the report of the women that the Man of Truth had risen from the dead three days later (Luke 24:4-11).  He did even believe the report of the two men who walked with the Man of Truth to Emmaus nor the report of Peter the Jew (Luke 24:33-35).

The Man of Truth scolded James the Brother of John and the rest of the Eleven (the eleven remaining Original Apostles of Truth) for not believing the reports of his resurrection (Mark 16:9-14).  James the Brother of John had to touch the Man of Truth and watch him eat some food before he believed that the Man of Truth had really risen from the dead (Luke 24:36-42).

31 AD (Galilee):

When the Twelve arrived Galilee after the resurrection of the Man of Truth, James the Brother of John was one of those who went fishing with Peter the Jew, but they caught nothing after fishing all night (John 21:1-3).  He was there when a man told them to cast their net on the other side and it was suddenly full of fish (John 21:4-7).  Then James the Brother of John brought the ship ashore and went with the others to eat with the Man of Truth (John 21:8-14).

James the Brother of John heard the Man of Truth tell people to take care of his followers after he left the Earth (John 21:15-17).  He heard the Man of Truth tell Peter the Jew that he would die as a martyr for him when he was old and heard Peter the Jew ask the Man of Truth about what would happen to John the Jew (John 21:18-21).  He heard the Man of Truth say that even if John the Jew should live until he returned, Peter the Jew still needed to follow him to the death (John 21:22).

31 AD (Israel) 

James the Brother of John was with the Man of Truth for the rest the forty days that he spent on Earth until it was time for the followers of the Man of Truth to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) (Acts 1:1-5).

31 AD (Mount of Olives) 

James the Brother of John and the rest of the Eleven asked the Man of Truth if he now going to restore the kingdom of Israel, but the Man of Truth reminded them that the Gospel had to be preached in all the world first (Acts 1:6-8).  He watched him ascend into Heaven before returning to Jerusalem with the rest of the Eleven (Acts 1:9-12).

The Man of Truth was not on the Earth for 550 days after his resurrection.  The only disciple he addressed directly was Peter the Jew to let him know that he needed to take care of the followers of the Man of Truth.  The Man of Truth did not impart any secret knowledge that only James the Brother of John understood.

So, James the Brother of John knew that he was not put over all followers of the Man of Truth because Peter the Jew had failed the Man of Truth.  He knew that he had also failed the Man of Truth.

31 AD (Jerusalem):

James the Brother of John and the other disciples all stayed together in Jerusalem to wait for the Spirit of Truth as the Man of Truth had instructed (Acts 1:13-14). 

James the Brother of John was part of the 120 followers of the Man of Truth present when it was announced that the vacancy in the Twelve that Judas the Traitor had left empty needed to be filled (Acts 1:15-20).  He witnessed Matthias being chosen by lot to replace Judas the Traitor as one of the Twelve (Acts 1:21-26).

James the Brother of John was baptized in the Spirit of Truth on Pentecost (Shavuot) and gave witness to the resurrection in a language that he could not speak on his own (Acts 2:1-11).  He stood by Peter the Jew when Peter the Jew preached to the crowd of amazed onlookers that the Man of Truth as the resurrected Messiah of Israel (Acts 2:12-36).

James the Brother of John helped baptize the three thousand people who then came into the House of Truth (Acts 2:37-41).  He continued teaching the new believers and performing miracles that brought more people into the House of Truth (Acts 2:42-47).

So, James the Brother of John was now impowered by the Spirit of Truth to fully carry out the Great Commission.

James the Brother of John was part the company that Peter the Jew and John the Jew return to after healing the lame man and being threatened by the religious leaders of the Temple (Acts 4:21-23).  He prayed with the other disciples for boldness and power to witness that the Man of Truth was the Messiah of Israel (Acts 4:24-30).

James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth were given great power to witness that the Man of Truth was the Messiah of Israel when the building shook under the power of the Spirit of Truth in response to their prayer (Acts 4:31-33).

32 AD (Jerusalem):

James the Brother of John was one of those that people brought their possessions to, in order to be distributed among the followers of the Man of Truth (Acts 4:34-35).

Barnabas the Jew sold his property and laid down all of the proceeds at the feet of James the Brother of John along with the other Apostles of Truth (Acts 4:36-37).  However, Ananias and his wife Sapphira also sold their property, but only laid down only part of the proceeds at their feet (Acts 5:1-2).

James the Brother of John saw Ananias fall over dead after Peter the Jew confronted him about his sin (Acts 5:3-6).  He watched the same thing happen to Sapphira (Acts 5:7-10).

James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth then continued to perform miracles in the Temple that caused many more people to come into the House of Truth (Acts 5:11-14).  In fact, the streets of Jerusalem became crowded with sick people from it and many cities around it, because they healed everyone that they got near (Acts 5:15-16).

So, James the Brother of John was demonstrating that the Man of Truth was the Messiah of Israel through the power and love of the Spirit of Truth.

James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth were then arrested by the High Priest for preaching about the Man of Truth (Acts 5:17-18).  However, an Angel of Truth freed them from prison and told them to return to preaching in the Temple (Acts 5:19-20).

As James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth were teaching about the Man of Truth in the Temple, the High Priest learned that they had escaped from prison – even though the doors were locked and the guards had remained in place (Acts 5:21-23).  Then the High Priest learned that James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth were teaching about the Man of Truth in the Temple (Acts 5:24-25).

James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth were then arrested by the High Priest who demanded why they were not obeying his command to not preach about the Man of Truth (Acts 5:26-28). So they told him that they were going to obey the command of the Father of Truth to preach about the Man of Truth instead of him (Acts 5:29-32).

So, the High Priests and the Sanhedrin sought to kill James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth, but Gamaliel advised the Sanhedrin against touching the Apostles of Truth unless the Sanhedrin should find itself fighting against the Father of Truth (Acts 5:33-39). So, they agreed to not kill them, but they did beat the Apostles of Truth and warned them to stop preaching about the Man of Truth (Acts 5:40).

However, James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth rejoiced that they had suffered for the Man of Truth (Acts 5:41).  Then they resumed teaching about the Man of Truth in the Temple and the houses of believers every day (Acts 5:42).

So, James the Brother of John began suffering for preaching and teaching about the Man of Truth.

James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth could not leave off their duties to ensure that food was being distributed evenly (Acts 6:1-2).  So, they told the believers to find seven honest men who were full of the Spirit of Truth to take care of this, so the Twelve could devote themselves to studying the Word of Truth and praying to the Father of Truth (Acts 6:3-4).

So, the believers found Stephen the Jew and six other men to take care of this business, who James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth laid hands on with prayer to place them in the ministry as deacons (Acts 6:5-6).  This caused the number of believers to grow greatly, so that even many of the Priests became believers (Acts 6:7).

Then Stephen the Jew began to perform great wonders and miracles among the people of Jerusalem (Acts 6:8).  This caused Jews from the Greek speaking synagogue to begin disputing with Stephen the Jew, but they could not overcome the wisdom given to him by the Spirit of Truth (Acts 6:9-10).

33 AD (Jerusalem):

So, the Jews from the Greek speaking synagogue had Stephen arrested to stand trial before the Sanhedrin for blaspheme (Acts 6:11-15).

Stephen told the Sanhedrin at his trial that just as their ancestors had killed the Prophets of Truth, they had also killed the Man of Truth because they would not keep the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) given to them by Moses (Moishe) (Acts 7:1-53).  This so enraged the Sanhedrin that they dragged Stephen the Jew outside of Jerusalem and stoned him to death while Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka the Apostle Paul) watched (Acts 7:54-60).

Paul the Jew then caused great persecution to rise up against the believers that caused all except for James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth to flee Jerusalem after Stephen the Jew was buried (Acts 8:1-2).

So, James the Brother of John remained in Jerusalem with the other Apostles of Truth after the rest of the believers left to escape persecution.

When James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth learned of the new believers that rose up in Samaria by the believers scattered from Jerusalem, they sent Peter the Jew and John the Jew to Samaria (Acts 8:14)

37 AD (Jerusalem):

After Paul the Jew came into the House of Truth and began to preach boldly that the Man of Truth was the Messiah of Israel, Barnabas the Jew brought him to meet with James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth (Acts 9:26-29).

42 AD (Jerusalem):

James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth learned of the new believers that rose up among the uncircumcised Gentiles by the preaching of Peter the Jew (Acts 11:1).  When Peter the Jew returned, then some of the Jewish believers contended with him for breaking Rabbinic tradition by eating with uncircumcised Gentiles (Acts 11:2-3).

So, Peter the Jew told them the entire story of what happened and how the Father of Truth demonstrated His approval by baptizing the Gentile believers in the Spirit of Truth (Acts 11:4-17).  Then James the Brother of John and the other Apostles of Truth acknowledged that the Father of Truth had indeed accepted the Gentiles without requiring them to be circumcised.

44 AD (Jerusalem):

When King Herod Antipas began persecuting the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him), he killed James the Brother of John (Acts 12:1-5).  He suffered martyrdom as the Man of Truth had said that he would (Matthew 20:22-23).

So, James the Brother of John became a martyr for preaching and teaching about the Man of Truth.  He had never left Jerusalem from the time the Man of Truth had sent him to wait there for the baptism of the Spirit of Truth. 

James the Brother of John had remained in Jerusalem as a pillar when his brother John and Peter the Jew had left.  He continued to fulfill this role that the Man of Truth had trained him for by making him one of the three insiders during the days of his ministry on Earth.

It was only after James the Brother of John was martyred, that James the Son of Mary replaced him as one of the three pillars of the worldwide church headquartered in Jerusalem.  James the son of Mary appeared to be the chief pillar after he replaced James the Brother of John, so this was probably the role that James the Brother of John had fulfilled.  This role would have required him to remain in Jerusalem at all times to settle disputes among believers.

James the Brother of John did not do the things claimed by the Apocryphon of James:

James the Brother of John did not receive any secret knowledge that was not given to the other Apostles of Truth.  He did not receive secret knowledge that had not been revealed in the Book of Truth.

There is no secret knowledge that was not given to the Children of Truth through the Apostles of Truth and the Prophets of Truth (Ephesians 2:19-22).  That which was hidden in past ages has now been revealed through the Apostles of Truth (Ephesians 3:5).

The Book of Truth contains all the knowledge that was given to the Apostles of Truth and Prophets of Truth (2 Peter 3:1-2).  We are to remember all the words given to the Apostles of Truth (Jude 1:17).

James the Brother of John did not send out the rest of the Twelve from Jerusalem after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven.  In fact, the other Apostles of Truth did not leave Jerusalem until after James the Brother of John died.

The rest of the Twelve were still in Jerusalem after Paul the Jew returned from his first mission trip – four years after James the Brother of John died (Acts 15:1-4)!  They did not begin leaving Jerusalem to go to places outside of Israel until after they wrote a letter to the congregations outside of Jerusalem assuring them that the Gentiles did not need to be circumcised to be saved as Paul the Jew had taught (Acts 15:23-29).

James the Brother of John did not do the things claimed by the False Church of Rome:

In like manner, Mary the Jew did not die until about this – four years after James the Brother of John died!  She could not have appeared to him as a ghost in Spain eight years earlier!

James the Brother of John never left Jerusalem after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven. In fact, the Book of Truth makes it plain that he was in Jerusalem in 37 AD, so he could not have been in Spain from 36 AD to 40 AD!

Like all of the Children of Truth, the body of James the Brother of John will be raised up at the resurrection with those of all believers (2 Corinthians 4:13-14).  It rests in hope until the resurrection of all believers (1 Thessalonians 4:13-16).

So, James the Brother of John did not fight the Moors at Spain more than eight hundred years after he died!

The Apostles of Truth never healed anyone by their own holiness or power when they were alive (Acts 3:12).  People were healed by the Father of Truth in the name of the Man of Truth as they are to this day (Acts 3:13-16).

So, the body of James the Brother of John had no power of its own while he was alive.  His dead hand cannot even do simple things like hold onto a cup – much less heal the sick!

James the Brother of John did not do the things claimed by the Mormons:

James the Brother of John could not have appeared with his brother John and Peter the Jew to convey Apostolic succession to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.  They are currently in heaven with the Man of Truth awaiting the resurrection of their bodies (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Also, the Aaronic priesthood was given forever to the descendants of Phinehas by the Father of Truth (Numbers 25:11-13).  The priesthood of Melchizedek was given forever to the Man of Truth by the Father of Truth (Hebrews 6:20).

Therefore, James the Brother of John, his brother John, and Peter the Jew had no authority to give those priesthoods to anyone – including Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery         !

So follow the example of James the Brother of John!

Come into the House of Truth by following the Man of Truth!

Make the Man of Truth your absolute ruler by surrendering everything to him (Romans 10:9)!  Like James the Brother of John, he will become your reason to live, and your death will become your gain (Philippians 1:20-21)!

Come into the House of Truth!