James, the brother of the Lord, was a leading figure in the early Jerusalem church, exercising decisive authority at the apostolic council and recognized as one of the church's pillars.
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James, the brother of the Lord, did not appear as a follower during Jesus' earthly ministry but, after the risen Christ appeared to him, he rose to become one of the most respected leaders of the Jerusalem church. When Paul recounted his own post-conversion contacts with the apostolic circle, he noted that he saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother, marking James out as occupying a singular place among the apostles. At the apostolic council in Jerusalem, after a vigorous debate had run its course, James spoke last and rendered the decisive judgment, drawing on the words of the prophets and shaping the church's response to the question of Gentile inclusion and the proper relationship between Gentile and Jewish believers. His verdict demonstrated an authority that placed him at the center of the church's collective deliberation. On a later occasion, when Paul and Barnabas came to Jerusalem to report on their work, James—together with Cephas and John, reputed to be pillars of the church—gave them the right hand of fellowship, acknowledging the grace given to Paul and agreeing that the two parties would divide their mission fields between the Gentiles and the circumcised. Revered in later tradition as "James the Just," James is recorded by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus as having been put to death in Jerusalem in AD 62 at the prompting of the high priest. The letter that bears his name emphasizes the inseparable bond between faith and works, reflecting the pastoral concern for practical holiness and godly living that marked his leadership of the mother church in Jerusalem.