Saints Philip and James, Apostles

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greeting.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into manifold temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. But if any of you is wanting in wisdom, let him ask it of God, who gives to all men generously, and without reproaching; and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without hesitating, for he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea, driven and carried about by the wind. Therefore, let not such a one think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways.

But let the brother of lowly condition glory in his exaltation, and the rich man in his humiliation, because he will pass away like the flower of the grass. For the sun rises with a burning heat and parches the grass, and its flower falls and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So too will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been tried, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, that he is tempted by God; for God is no tempter to evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted by his own passion, being drawn away and enticed. Then when passion has conceived, it brings forth sin; but when sin has been committed, it brings forth death.

Do not err, therefore, my beloved brethren. Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration. For of his own will has he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be, as it were, the firstfruits of his creatures.

You know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not work the justice of God. Therefore, cast off all uncleanness and abundance of malice, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for he looks at himself and goes away, and at once forgets what kind of man he is. But he who has looked carefully into the perfect law of liberty and has continued in it, not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, will be blessed in his deed. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Religion pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself unspotted from this world.

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. For if there come into your assembly a man wearing a gold ring in fine apparel, and there come in also a poor man in mean attire, and you pay attention to him who wears the fine apparel and say, "Sit thou here in a good place"; but you say to the poor man, "Stand thou there," or, "Sit by my footstool"; have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my beloved brethren! Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, and do they not drag you before the tribunals? Is it not they who blaspheme the good name by which you are called?

If, however, you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scriptures, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, but offends in one point, has become guilty of all. For he who said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," said also, "Thou shalt not kill." Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but dost kill, thou hast become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as men who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to him who has not shown mercy; but mercy triumphs over judgment.

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or a sister is naked and in want of daily food, and one of you say to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," yet you do not give them what is necessary for the body, what does it profit? So also faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. But someone will say, "Thou hast faith, and I have works." Show me thy faith without works, and I from my works will show thee my faith. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well. The devils also believe, and tremble. But dost thou want to know, O senseless man, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? Thou seest that faith worked with his works, and by the works the faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as justice," and he was called the friend of God. You see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. In like manner, was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so in like manner faith without works is dead.

My brethren, do not become many teachers, for you know that you will receive a stricter judgment. For in many things we all offend. If anyone does not offend in word, he is a perfect man, able also to lead about with a bridle his whole body. For if we put bits into horses' mouths that they may obey us, we control their whole body also. Behold, even the ships, great as they are and driven by fierce winds, are steered by a small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a little member, but it boasts of great things. Behold, how small a fire, how great a forest it kindles! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity. The tongue is placed among our members, defiling the whole body, and setting on fire the course of our life, being itself set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, and of creeping things and of those living in the sea, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind; but the tongue no man can tame - a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless God the Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a fountain send forth from the same opening sweet and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? Neither can salt water yield sweet water.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show, by a good life, his works in meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal and rivalry in your hearts, do not glory and be liars against the truth. This is not the wisdom that descends from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where there is envy and rivalry, there is instability and every wicked deed. But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, moderate, docile, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, without dissimulation. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Whence do wars and contentions spring among you? Is it not from your passions, which war in your members? You covet and do not have; you kill and envy, and cannot obtain. You quarrel and wrangle, and you do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions. Adulterers, do you not know that the friendship of this world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of this world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The spirit which dwells in you covets unto envy"? But he gives a greater grace. For this reason it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Be subject therefore to God, but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be sorrowful, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into sorrow. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother, or judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou to judge thy neighbor?

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there, and traffic and make a profit," you who do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes. Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wills, and if we live, we will do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, he who knows how to do good and does not do it, commits sin.

Come now, you rich, weep and howl in your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusted; and their rust will be a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh as fire. You have stored up wrath for yourselves against the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who reaped your fields, which have been withheld by you, cry out; and their cry has reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have feasted upon earth, and in wantonness you have nourished your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the just, and he did not resist you.

Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and late rain. Do you also be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door. Take, my brethren, as an example of patience in evil-doing and of long-suffering, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call them blessed who have suffered. You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
\But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by the earth, or by any other oath. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no, that you may not fall under judgment.

Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any one cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any one among you sick? Let him bring in the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess, therefore, your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be saved. The fervent prayer of a just man is very powerful. Elias was a man like ourselves, subject to the same infirmities; and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.

My brethren, if any one of you strays from the truth and someone brings him back, he should know that he who causes a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Of James, the so-called brother of the Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem, the throne of which, as has been shown, was given him by the Savior and the apostles. This James, whom the ancients called the Just on account of his virtue, was, as many think, the son of Joseph, by another wife, or, as some suppose, of the brother of Joseph, or of some other of his relatives. But, however that may be, he was certainly one of the brethren of our Savior. And the Apostle Paul, when writing to the Galatians, says, 'But other of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother.'

To him, the first throne of the episcopal office at Jerusalem was committed by the apostles. He was indeed a holy man, and from the womb of his mother a Nazarite, abstaining from wine and strong drink, and from flesh, and from razor, and from all anointing, and from all washing. He alone was permitted to enter into the Holy of Holies; for he wore not woollen but linen garments, and he entered into the temple alone, and was often found kneeling and praying for the forgiveness of the people, so that his knees became hard like a camel's, on account of his constantly kneeling in prayer to God, and asking forgiveness for the people. For this reason, he was called the Just, and Oblias, which means in Greek 'Bulwark of the people' and 'Righteousness,' as the prophets declare concerning him.

Some of the seven sects among the people, mentioned by me above in the commentaries, inquired of him, 'What is the gate of Jesus?' And he replied that he was the Savior. From which it appears that there were some who believed that Jesus was the Christ. But the greater part did not believe, neither in him nor in the Resurrection. But as many as believed, believed through James.

When therefore many even of the rulers believed, and there was a disturbance among the Jews, and scribes and Pharisees, saying, 'A great number of the common people are expecting Jesus as the Christ,' they came together to James and said, 'We beseech thee, restrain the people, for they are gone astray after Jesus, as though he were the Christ. We beseech thee, persuade all that come to the Passover concerning Jesus; for all listen to thee. For we and all the people bear thee witness that thou art righteous, and acceptest not the person of any man. Persuade therefore the people not to err concerning Jesus, for the whole people and all of us have great confidence in thee. Stand therefore on the pinnacle of the temple, that thou mayest be clearly seen, and that thy words may be heard by all the people. For all the tribes, with the Gentiles also, are come together for the Passover.'

So the aforesaid scribes and Pharisees made James stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and cried out to him, and said, 'Thou Just one, to whom we ought all to give heed, since the people are going astray after Jesus, the crucified one, tell us, what is the gate of Jesus?' And he answered with a loud voice, 'Why do you ask me concerning Jesus, the Son of Man? He himself sits in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and is about to come on the clouds of heaven.'

And as many were fully convinced and glorified the testimony of James, and said, 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' these same Pharisees and scribes said to one another, 'We have done wrong in furnishing such a testimony to Christ. But let us go up and throw him down, that they may be afraid to believe in him.' And they cried out, saying, 'Oh, oh, the Just one also is in error!' And they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah, 'Let us take away the just man, because he is troublesome to us; therefore shall they eat the fruit of their doings.'

So they went up and threw down the Just one, and said to one another, 'Let us stone James the Just.' And they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned and knelt down and said, 'I beseech thee, Lord God and Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' And as they thus stoned him, one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, the son of the Rechabites, who are mentioned by Jeremiah the prophet, cried out, saying, 'Stop! What are you doing? The Just one is praying for you!' And one of them, a fuller, took the club with which he pressed out clothes, and struck the Just one on the head. And so he suffered martyrdom, and they buried him on the spot, by the temple, and his monument still remains by the temple. He became a true witness, both to Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. And immediately Vespasian besieged them.

These things are related at length by Hegesippus, who is in agreement with Clement and Josephus concerning James. And truly, so remarkable a man was James, and so celebrated among all for his righteousness, that even the more sensible of the Jews were of opinion that this was the cause of the siege of Jerusalem, which happened immediately after his martyrdom. For Josephus has not hesitated to record in his Antiquities the following passage: 'These things happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was the brother of Jesus, that was called Christ. For the Jews slew him, although he was a most righteous man.'