It is known that Jesus had a brother named James. did they have the same father?

Answer 1

Yes and no. Joseph was James' father, and Jesus's stepdad.

Answer 2

No James was fathered by Joseph so he was a half-brother to Jesus.

There were four brothers: James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, plus at least two sisters (possibly more) whose names weren't quoted.

These brothers and sisters appear to have been born after Jesus because there was no mention of them going up to Bethlehem with Joseph and Mary for the census and no mention of them accompanying the family when they fled to Egypt to escape from King Herod, and there is no mention of Joseph being in a previous marriage, so we must assume that Mary was the birth mother of all of them.

Some say the Hebrew word for brother can also be translated as cousin, which is correct, however this part of the Bible was originally written in Greek not in Hebrew and Greek has a specific word for brother and a different word for cousin, and the Gospel writer who was fluent in Greek deliberately used the specific word for brother. If he had meant to say cousin he surely would have said cousin.

Roman Catholic Church tradition says Mary was only the step-mother of these other children , but no evidence has ever been produced in support of that apart from a book of unknown origen called the "Protoevangelium of James" that was written well after the canonical gospels. This book makes James a stepbrother to Jesus from a different mother. The problem here is the author of that late gospel is unknown, the book was never part of the Bible and even the Gnostics who believed in some very unorthodox stuff rejected it as being a forgery.

Scholars have established that, based on the style of the language, and the fact that the author is apparently not aware of contemporary Jewish customs which the real James would have been, the work was written by someone other than the person it claims to be written by.

The first historical mention of this "Protoevangelium of James" is by Origen in the early third century, who says the text was of dubious, recent appearance - in other words it was not a genuine eye-witness Gospel and cannot be relied on.

Nevertheless, the RC church is so desperate to make Mary a perpetual virgin that they will use any source, no matter how tenuous, as their 'evidence'.

Answer 3

No, James was a half brother. Joseph was not the paternal father of Jesus. Mary gave birth to Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
Immaculate conception. Other half brothers and sisters of Joseph and Mary were, Joseph, Simon, Jude, Amos, Miriam, Martha, Ruth.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 4

No, Same Mother different Father Joseph was the father of James,Judas, etal. The Father of Jesus is Jehovah . By the way James and Judas who each wrote epistles are most likely with their half brother in heaven right now. Cap'n Arlo

Answer 5

We know that Jesus was the Only Begotten Son of the Heavenly Father, and his mother was a virgin at the time of his birth, and "he knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn son". The scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph went on to have several sons and daughters.

Luke 1: 35
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God
(Matthew 13:55-56
Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

Answer 6

No. One was God, the father of James was Joseph. The mother of Jesus and James was Mary. They shared the same womb. Different fathers.

Answer 7

James had a natural father, Joseph. Jesus' Father, A
Spiritual Father and a natural mother, Mary who was conceived by the Holy Ghost. In other words God used His Holy Spirit to plant the egg cell into Mary's womb and fertilized it. Aren't we blessed to have Jesus as our savior?

Answer 8

James Brother of Jesus
Jesus' brother James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem. The first mention of this James is when Jesus was rejected in Nazareth. In Matthew, the townspeople asked, "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?" Mark cites the same lines except for "Joseph" is replaced by "Joses" which is another way to say "Joseph." Luke elaborates the story but leaves out the list of siblings. It is interesting to note that in the Gospel of John, James is not mentioned at all. (Matthew 13:55-56, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:16-30).

In Acts 15, James is clearly a leader and decision maker in the church of Jerusalem. First, Peter speaks in favor of sharing of the Gospel to uncircumcised Gentiles. Then Paul and Barnabas recount the signs and wonders of conversions among the Gentiles. But finally, it is James who makes the pronouncement of inclusion without circumcision. Later, when Paul visits Jerusalem in Acts 21:17, his first stop is to see James and the elders. In Galatians 1:18-19, Paul recounts his visit to Jerusalem where he stayed with Peter fifteen days and saw James, the brother of Jesus. Paul notes that it is James, Peter and John who were "pillars" of the church. James is listed first (Galatians 2:9).

Despite these various references to James who was a leader in Jerusalem, there are only two specific references telling us that James is the brother of Jesus. One is in the parallel texts about the family of Jesus in the Gospels; the other is when Paul recounts his trip to Jerusalem in Galatians and says he spoke to "James, the brother of Jesus." Some say Paul was talking about James being a spiritual brother of Jesus but this would have to be in contrast to all the others who loved Jesus, even Paul himself, so it is probable that Paul was referring to a sibling relationship.

These references to Jesus having a human family gave the early church real problems. As "Jesus as God" came to overshadow Jesus as the "Human One" or "Son of Man" the church became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea that Jesus has a brother, and that Mary had additional children. A late account of Jesus' birth, The Protoevangelium of James, makes James a stepbrother to Jesus.

Answer 9

No, they could not have had the same father, because Mary was a virgin when he was conceived. James had to be the son of Joseph, who served as Jesus' father.

Answer 10

According to the Bible, Mary got pregnant with Jesus by the Spirit --- I guess Jesus' brothers were fathered by Joseph.

Answer 11

Technically, James would be Jesus' half-brother. Same mother, different fathers.