Did today’s St. James write the Bible’s Letter of St. James?
The article examines whether the New Testament Letter of St. James was written by St. James the Greater celebrated on July 25. Scholars largely agree the author is not the same figure as St. James the Greater, who was martyred early. It clarifies the confusion among the many historical St. Jameses and explains the early martyrdom of St. James the Greater. The piece cites the Ignatius Study Bible for a concise introduction to the Letter of St. James. It notes that the Holy Spirit intended the letter to be part of the New Testament, yet its authorship remains uncertain.
about 2 months ago
The Letter of James in the New Testament is widely regarded by scholars as not having been written by the apostle James the Greater, whose feast is celebrated today, but rather by a different early‑Christian figure associated with Jerusalem.
St James the Greater, brother of John, was executed by order of Herod Agrippa I around AD 44, only a decade after Jesus’ crucifixion. His early martyrdom makes it unlikely that he could have authored a New‑Testament epistle later composed in the 60s AD. 1
Tradition holds that James the Greater evangelized the Iberian Peninsula and that his relics rest in Santiago de Compostela, inspiring the Camino pilgrimage. 1
A second apostle, James the Lesser (son of Alphaeus), is mentioned in the Gospels, but there is no strong scholarly support for attributing the Letter of James to him. 1
Most scholars identify the likely author as James of Jerusalem, also called “the Lord’s brother” or James the Just, who was a leading figure in the Jerusalem church and is traditionally considered its first bishop. He was martyred around AD 62. 1
Some propose that the letter was written by a follower of James the Just after his death, while others allow the possibility that James himself penned it before his martyrdom in the early 60s. 1
The prevailing view among biblical scholars, reflected in study Bibles such as the Ignatius Study Bible, is that the Letter of James was not authored by James the Greater, nor by James the Lesser, but is most plausibly linked to James of Jerusalem or his circle. The Holy Spirit’s role in canonizing the letter is affirmed by tradition, though the precise human author remains debated. 1
Determine the true author of the Epistle of James
The true author of the Epistle of James is identified in Catholic tradition as James, the brother of the Lord, also known as James the Just, the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
The New Testament contains multiple men named James, and in early Christian discussion this created confusion:
Catholic sources focus on the tension between whether “James” here means an Apostle (Zebedee/Alphaeus) or James the Lord’s brother.
The Catholic Encyclopedia states plainly that:
“The author is commonly identified with the Lord’s brother, the Bishop of Jerusalem… Internal evidence… points unmistakably to James, the Lord’s brother, the Bishop of Jerusalem, as the author; he exactly, and he alone, fulfils the conditions required…”
It also notes that the Lord’s brother identification is “by far the most probable.”
So, even when early witnesses expressed some uncertainty, the tradition that the epistle is from James the Lord’s brother is firmly attested in the Fathers.
Catholic writers acknowledge that authorship was sometimes contested, particularly in later periods:
However, Catholic tradition and ecclesial judgment affirm the epistle’s canonical status, and the Catholic Encyclopedia treats James’s authorship as grounded in internal fit plus solid patristic continuity, with late external evidence understood as a historical factor (especially the epistle’s Jewish-Christian audience).
Putting the Catholic evidence together:
The Epistle of James is attributed to James, the brother of the Lord—“James the Just,” Bishop of Jerusalem.