Tackling Tradition 16: Silas/James the Just

I’ve been asked to defend my view on the authorship of James.   In my opinion, the author of James & the Prophet Silas are one & the same.   

Preliminary Remarks 

1. Acts 1 provides a slate of candidates for the identity of James.  

And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

2. By the time of the Jerusalem Council James, sometimes called James the Greater, brother of John (the author of the John’s Gospel), had been assassinated.   James, sometimes called James the Just or James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus is the James who takes center stage in Acts 15. 

3. In Acts 15, we learn that of the activities of Circumcision Party & their belief that a Gentile who wanted to join the Way necessarily ought to be circumcised & told to engage in law keeping has risen to the level that a representative number of the Way’s membership believed the Brethren in Jerusalem ought to be consulted.  Galatians informs us that this belief wasn’t simply about the necessity to engage in law keeping as a necessity for proper sanctification — rather, they were advocating the (errant) belief that Gentile converts must be circumcised if male &, regardless of a convert’s sex/gender they should also strive to keep the Jewish liturgical calendar, which included the Jewish feasts.  

Let’s take a look at what happened in Acts 15.   

After Peter, Paul, & Barnabas’ had testified James stood up and said; 

 

14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

16  “ ‘After this I will return,

and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;

I will rebuild its ruins,

and I will restore it,

17  that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,

and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’

19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

James is by no means differing with his peers within the Council. Rather, he offers constructive solution designed to keep the peace between Jewish followers of the Way & the Gentile followers,  as well as, according to 1 Corinthians, between those of stronger & weaker conscience within the churches, at least one of which (Corinth) was deeply divided over the issue of food sacrificed to idols.  

The next pericope (Acts 15:22 - 35) informs us that the Jerusalem Church 

chose Paul, Barnabas and Judas aka Barsabbas (Thaddeus aka Joseph of Arimathea) to present the Jerusalem Council’s verdict to the church at Antioch.   Presumably, they were sent to deliver the letter & explain both the letter itself & the thinking process of those who constituted the majority, eg. those whose judgment had prevailed with respect to the Council’s verdict. 

Barsabbas & Silas went to Antioch with Barnabas & Paul and explained the letter & then left, presumably to head back toward Jerusalem.  Paul & Barnabas remained in Antioch.  Then a few days later Paul said to Barnabas, 

“Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.”  

Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

After these events, Luke’s narrative begins to center on Paul & Silas, & Barnabas, John Mark, & Barsabbas fade into the background.  

Let’s review the story so far. 

1. The Judaizers’ activity in Jerusalem, Galatia, & elsewhere (as well as the activities of angry zealots in the synagogues who poisoned the minds of at least one group of Gentiles, those in Iconium) had stirred up the people & caused a controversy that, in the minds of a great many, touched upon the sum & substance of the Gospel — namely what role if any works play with respect to justification & sanctification, an issue with which many modern day Christians are striving yet again. 
2. Consequently, the followers of the Way responded by commissioning Paul & Barnabas & some of the others to go to Jerusalem to the Brothers to settle this issue if at all possible. 
3. Peter, Paul, & Barnabas offered their testimony about what God had accomplished thus far with respect to the spread of the Gospel.  
4. James stood up and offered his judgment on this issue & suggested the Council draft a letter & commission people to shepherd the letter to the church at Antioch. 
5. Paul, Barnabas, & Barsabbas are commissioned along with Silas, and they shepherded the letter to Antioch. 
6. Not long after, Paul decided to visit the churches to which he & Barnabas had ministered during their first missionary journey. 
7. Paul & Barnabas sharply differed over including John Mark.  As a result, Barnabas & John Mark went in a different direction from Paul & Silas. 
8. The Acts narrative then continues with the story of Paul & Silas and, latter, Apollos, Priscilla & Aquilla, and others.

Additional Remarks 

• We know that the writers of the New Testament deployed gematria from time to time, which demonstrates that they were accustomed to the use of figurative numbers & therefore figurative language. 

• We also know that Luke understood Hebrew naming convention, which explains why Saul’s name is changed to Paul, why Nathaniel (John) is called Simon the Zealot in Luke’s corpus, why Matthew’s name is refined & expressed as Matthias, & why James the son of Alphaeus becomes known as Silas after the Jerusalem Council whose verdict had enormous significance relative to the spread of the Gospel & the Apostolic understanding of justification & the role that works play, if any, in the lives of believers. 

• Each of these name changes happens at or near a life changing event in the lives of these individuals.   Matthew had just witnessed Yeshua’s ministry, resurrection, & ascension, & was made church treasurer. 
• Saul sees a great light & hears Yeshua speaking to him & repents of his persecutions on the spot.  Not long after, Luke begins referring to him as “Paul.” 
• Luke refers to Nathaniel as “Simon the Zealot,” in Acts & his Gospel.  These names mean “God has heard” (Simon), & Nathaniel means “Gift of God.”  Luke’s use of “Simon the Zealot,” seems to speak to both Nathaniel’s high regard for truth & his function as a gift from God & protector of Israel and the Law & Gospel. 

Summary

Question: Why do you & the members of Philadelphia Apostolic Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, NC believe that the author of James & Silas are one and the same individual? 

Answer: In short, we believe that our conclusion makes best sense  of the available information provided by the New Testament.   James was an eyewitness of Yeshua’s ministry, death, & resurrection.   He was one of the 120 in Acts 1.   He was highly regarded as a leader in the Jerusalem Church — so highly regarded that he is considered to be Bishop of Jerusalem by later generations of Christians, like Eusebius, who (like many others) believed him to be Yeshua’s biological (half)brother & writer of the Book of James.   

Luke, who sometimes uses different names for the people about whom he writes, refines  “Matthew” into “Matthias,” “Saul” into “Paul,” and refers to Judas Barsabas as “Justus,” not simply “Judas.”   These names all mean something. 

As Clopas/Cleopas, Silas was on a journey in which he witnessed the Beautific Vision Incarnate.  As James, he followed the way closely, so closely that he became a leader of leaders among the Brethren in general & the Church at Jerusalem in particular, & after delivering a verdict that demonstrated that he understood the bigger picture, he became Silas/Silvanus, a man who understood the forest & the trees in God’s temple that He created to testify to His existence, attributes, & authority. 

May God bless us all, each & every one, & “Go and sin no more.”