VIDEO: Did Our Savior Have a Brother Named James?

Science Channel documentary, ‘Biblical Conspiracies: The James-Revelation’ released this incredible assumption. Supposedly, Jesus Christ had a brother, James, that was buried in a coffin discovered in 2002. Ever since theories and assumptions became loud. The ossuary has the inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”, but many historians believe it’s a fake one.

Here’s more information on James, provided by Wikipedia.

James, who died in martyrdom in 62 or 69 AD, was an important figure of the Apostolic Age. Other epithets used to refer to James include James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord. Roman Catholic tradition generally holds that this James is to be identified with James, son of Alphaeus, and James the Less.

Catholics and Orthodox, as well as some Anglicans and Lutherans, believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary; they teach that James, along with others named in the New Testament as “brothers” of Jesus, were not the biological children of Mary, but were possibly cousins of Jesus or step-brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke say that Jesus was miraculously conceived and born of his mother Mary while she was still a virgin and that Mary and Joseph “did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth” to Jesus; and Jesus is referred to as the “first-born son” of Mary. So James and the other “brothers” of Jesus are considered by many to be Jesus’s younger half-brothers, born of Mary and Joseph. In addition, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’s brothers or siblings are often described together, without reference to any other relatives, and Jesus’s brothers are described without allusion to others. For example, Matthew says, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude? Aren’t all his sisters with us?” and John says, “Even his own brothers did not believe in him.”

Helvidius (c. 380) seems to be the first theologian to look back and say that Mary had children other than Jesus. Jerome asserts in his tract The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, as an answer to Helvidius, that the term first-born was used to refer to any offspring that opened the womb, rather than definitely implying other children. Luke’s reporting of the visit of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to the Temple of Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old makes no reference to any of Jesus’ half-brothers. Robert Eisenman, however, is of the belief that Luke, as a close follower of Pauline Gentile Christianity, sought to minimise the importance of Jesus’ family by whatever means possible, editing James and Jesus’ brothers out of the Gospel record. Karl Keating argues that Mary and Joseph rushed without hesitation straight back to Jerusalem, when they realized Jesus was lost, which they would surely have thought twice about doing if there were other children to look after.

The Protevangelium of James says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph and that he already had children. In this case, James was one of Joseph’s children from his previous marriage and, therefore, Jesus’ stepbrother.

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