Gospel of James?

Question

Why wasn't the Gospel of James picked to be in the bible? It is considered the oldest. Also James the Just was Jesus's brother. So why wasn't his Gospel included?

Was it because it made Jesus out to be more human, or because it focused more on Mary? If it is because it focused more on Mary why wasn't included, James was his brother and probably knew how Jesus was born more than the other church leaders.

Answer 1

It was not considered to be written by James; but to be a forgery using his name.

quite simply: the book of James was deemed to be the writing of James, the Gospel of james was not.

You don't add forgeries.

Answer 2

The books of the new testement (contrary to common misconception) were not picked at random or based upon their message by a council a few hundred years ago. It's true that there was indeed a council (two in fact) to decide what books were inspired and what ones were not. The general deciding factor was whether or not the book was written by an actual leader in the church. In the case of the Gospel of James and other "lost gospels" they were found to be forgeries, books writen by people claiming to be Jesus' disciples or relatives, but not actually having been written by them or dictated to them by the elleged authors. It's for this reason that the Gospel of James as well as the other various gospels and the like were not included in the bible as it was then or as we have it now today.

As to the question of how did these councils know whether the books had been written by Jesus' followers or not (a question I'm sure would have come up soon enough) the council head records from the early church fathers, some of whom were taught directly by the apostles themselves indicating which books were inspired (or penned by the disciples of Jesus) and which were forgeries to be thrown out as worthless junk or handed over to Roman authorities when they attempted to "purge" the empire of the Christian teachings. The two councils were more or less a formality to officially declare that the books said to be inspired by the early church fathers, were indeed inspired and henceforth worthy of inclusion into the collective bible, as we know it today.

God Bless,
Chake-Ri Shcos

Answer 3

The Epistle of James is in the bible. Jesus had no biological brothers or sisters. They were all half brothers and sisters. They were Joseph's children from his first marriage. Joseph was 90 some years old when he married the Virgin Mary.


Joseph married a woman called Melcha or Escha by some, Salome by others; they lived forty-nine years together and had six children, two daughters and four sons, the youngest of whom was James (the Less, "the Lord's brother"). A year after his wife's death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates; a miracle manifested the choice God had made of Joseph, and two years later the Annunciation took place.

Answer 4

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_James . It turns out that 1) not the earliest and 2) author claimed to be Jewish but was unaware of Jewish customs.

Of course, these might not be the reasons Jerome did not include this in his Vulgate. Apparently it was already considered heretical before his time.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 5

According to the gnostic version, Jesus gave his church to Mary & James. It was a family business you see. Somehow Peter got his evil hands on it and corrupted it completely. The vast majority of gnostic writings were by females. I wonder why the Catholics rejected them.

Answer 6

" Picked to be in the Bible "?. you make it sound like a Lottery. If its not there, then there is Good Reason why it is,nt.