Giuseppe wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:22 am
But James, the brother of the Lord and son of Joseph, died in Jerusalem, having lived 24 years, more or less, after the Savior's Ascension. He was 96 years old when he was struck on the head by a fuller with his club, flung from the pinnacle of the Temple and cast down...
Haeres, 78, 14
So according to Epiphanius, this James was born
in 34 B.C.E.
This date for the his birth makes quasi
impossible a
carnal parentage with Jesus.
One can see how the legend of James developed over time. In Hegesippus (according to Eusebius,
History of the Church 2.23.17) it was one of the Rechabites who cried out, "Stop! What are you doing? The just one is praying for you!" But here in Epiphanius it is none other than Symeon himself:
Epiphanius, Panarion 78.14.5-6: 5 This James, the Lord’s brother and Joseph’s son, died in Jerusalem, after living for about twenty-four years after the assumption of the Savior. For at the age of ninety-six he was struck on the head with a fuller’s rod, was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple 6 and fell without injury, but knelt in prayer for those who had thrown him down and said, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 49 Meanwhile Simeon, his cousin but the son of Cleopas, stood at a distance and said, “Stop! Why are you stoning the Just? And look, he’s praying for you the best he can!” And this was the martyrdom of James.
Both the specification of chronology (whether possible, probable, or impossible) and the giving of originally nameless roles to already named characters (along with the naming of originally anonymous characters) are par for the course for early Christianity; the earlier stories tend to be more vague and general, the later stories more detailed and specific.
I have a thread dedicated to possible
alternate times and places for the crucifixion, and maybe James' old age in this snippet from Epiphanius was originally intended to line up with one of those. Or maybe it is just a stupid mistake. It can be hard to tell what the fathers are getting from tradition and what they are making up on the fly sometimes, especially when they do not attribute the information to anybody.