What was the fatal error of James the Just?

[John T]

James the Just was martyred for not giving an expected answer to the Pharisees regarding Jesus.
However, I don't understand what the Pharisees meant when they used the phrase, "door of Jesus".

Eusebuis, quoting from Hegesippus tells the story of the murder of James the Just, the brother of Jesus. In short, James was pressured by the Pharisees to stand on the summit of the temple and proclaim to the crowd that Jesus was not the Messiah. The Pharisees demanded of James: "O just one, whom we are all bound to obey, forasmuch as the people is in error, and follows Jesus the crucified, do thou tell us what is the door of Jesus, the crucified." And he answered with a loud voice: "Why ask ye me concerning Jesus the Son of man? He Himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven."

The Pharisees replied that James made a fatal error in his answer and had him thrown off the summit, headlong.

What is this "door of Jesus" that the Pharisees were referring to?
Was the fatal error in James answer that the Pharisees expected the Son of Man to walk through the Golden Gate to the Holy Temple instead of descending from the clouds as stated by James the Just?
If so, what scripture were the Pharisees referring to?

Or does the "door to Jesus" mean something else?

Thanks in advance,
John T

[Peter Kirby]

That's a great question, John. The "door of Jesus" is a pretty obscure-sounding phrase. I hope we can get some good discussion of this.

[DCHindley]

Hmmm,

Like I've expressed in other threads, I think that the story of James the Just being thrown from the parapet of the temple is based on the story of the chief priest next in rank to Ananus, who made a speech to the Idumeans from the temple wall when they came to help the rebels in the early stages of the Jewish War. After having the gates to the city shut so they could not come in, he basically said "thanks but no thanks" which they took as a rebuff. A few days later, the rebel faction managed to open one of the city gates and the Idumeans poured in and pillaged the houses of the ruling class. They hunted down all the chief priests they could locate, including Ananus and the Jesus just mentioned, "slew them" and then threw their lifeless bodies into the valley of Hinnom below.

The story is not actually the same, but

Josephus, War 4:238-320	Hegesippus
James speaks about Jesus Christ from wall of temple	Jesus the anointed priest gives speech from wall of temple
The listeners did not like what James said	The listeners (the Idumeans) did not like what he said.
The listeners threw James from the wall, and/or slew him with a club.	The listeners slew Jesus, and then threw his body into the valley of Hinnom.

[John2]

Hello John T (and Peter and everyone else, since this is my first post).

I'm not sure what exactly the Door of Jesus is, but I suppose it could have something to do with these verses:

"The Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door" (James 5:8-9).

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come ..." (Rev. 3:20).

"Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it [the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven] is near, right at the door" (Mk. 13:29/Mt. 24:33).

"Very truly I tell you, I am the door for the sheep" (John 10:7, directed at the Pharisees).

[Peter Kirby]

Welcome to the forum, John2. I hope you (and all the other new faces) stick around.

[toejam]

I don't think it's that complex. There was an early Christian tradition of a metaphorical "door" which belief in Jesus somehow opens for people. Going through the door is a metaphor for accepting the Christian dogma, becoming "saved" or what-have-you. Hegesippus simply has the Pharisees mockingly ask James about "the door", and James responds similar to how the synoptic Jesus responds when he is under interrogation - "You will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds..." etc. I don't think it's anything deeper than that.

[Stephan Huller]

ἡ θύρα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ

The echo is found in the gospel of John ἐγὼ εἰμι ἡ θύρα τῶν πρόβατων. I, and no other, am the door of the sheep.

The Aramaic equivalent is בבא. I wonder whether Jesus was really saying that he was the father or whether Pharisees were asking about the Father.

There are countless rabbinic figures with this name. Also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Rabba. When Gaster attempted to translate Abu'l Fath I remember that he made the transposition (i.e. mistakenly identified him as 'the great Gate' so the mistake is a common one).

Hegesippus is filled with Aramaisms. Look again and see that the Father is lurking in the background:

The Pharisees demanded of James: "O just one, whom we are all bound to obey, forasmuch as the people is in error, and follows Jesus the crucified, do thou tell us who is the father of Jesus, the crucified." And he answered with a loud voice: "Why ask ye me concerning Jesus the Son of man? He Himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven."

[Bernard Muller]

In the story, I think the author intended to be understood as Jews (Pharisees and others such as scribes & some sectarians) asking a question about what was heard from James "the door of Jesus". I think this "door of Jesus" might very well be authentic, as words said often by James, while the rest of the story is not, certainly not the answers of James to the question. "Door of Jesus" probably refers to the way for entering the Kingdom (believed to come soon), according to Jesus' past preaching (be poor & good).
James and former Jesus' followers never were truly Christians and saw Jesus as, at best, a dead prophet who predicted a new divine world order to come (as prophesied by John the Baptist earlier).
Cordially, Bernard

[Peter Kirby]

I think this "door of Jesus" might very well be authentic, as words said often by James, while the rest of the story is not, certainly not the answers of James to the question.

Interesting. It's certainly possible.

Robert Price compares the role of James, as the successor to Jesus, to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad ... notably in the tradition that there are rival claims to authority (Paul vs James, Abu Bakr vs Ali ibn Abi Talib) at the start of both Christianity and Islam. Even more notably, in that it is possible that James, the relative, did not rise to prominence until others (Peter or perhaps even Paul) had first done so.

[Bernard Muller]

there are rival claims to authority (Paul vs James,... at the start of both Christianity ... Even more notably, in that it is possible that James, the relative, did not rise to prominence until others (Peter or perhaps even Paul) had first done so.

I agree.
Cordially, Bernard