article_snippet: So who are these "brothers" that the Gospel of Mark mentions?
article_snippet: The Rev. James Martin, author of the book "Jesus: A Pilgrimage," calls the relationship between James and Jesus "very complicated."
article_snippet: James's called clearly the brother of the Lord, and the Greek uses the common word for brother," Martin says.
article_snippet: Jerome used Jerome linguistic facility to argue that "adelphios," the Greek word used for Jesus brothers and sisters, could refer to cousins, as well as to siblings.
article_snippet: Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, offers the Protestant view that Jesus and James were full brothers, with Jesus being the elder.
article_snippet: Jesus is presented as the older brother who leaves the family and walks about in Galilee and Judea, has a ministry and leaves James and the other brothers and sisters in charge of the family, according to the scholar.
article_snippet: That left James to fill the void.
article_snippet: Whatever James was -- brother, step-brother or cousin -- we know that James became important in the early Christian Church because of James relation to Jesus.
article_snippet: Paul, the apostle who transformed the new religion from a local phenomenon into a movement throughout the Roman Empire, says as much in James letter to the Galatians: .
article_snippet: but I did not see any other apostle except James brother.
article_snippet: James and Peter and Paul were the prime movers of this new faith, with James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem until James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem was martyred in 64 CE, forgiving James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem killers with James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem last breath, just as James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem brother Jesus had done.
article_snippet: Given James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem importance to the early Christian Church
article_snippet: , why wouldn't James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem be connected to James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem brother, or even stepbrother, on the burial box containing James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem bones?
article_snippet: Michael McKinley is co-author, with David Gibson, of "Finding James the leader of the Jesus followers in Jerusalem: Faith.
highlights_snippet: The Rev. James Martin, a Catholic priest, calls the relationship between James and Jesus "very complicated.
highlights_snippet: Ben Witherington III offers the Protestant view that Jesus and James were full brothers, with Jesus being the elder.