James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls

1864 Pages·1998·11.36 MB·English

by  Robert H. Eisenman

Table of Contents
PENGUIN BOOKS
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Epigraph
Introduction

PART I - PALESTINIAN BACKGROUNDS
Chapter 1 - James
Chapter 2 - The Second Temple and the Rise of the
Maccabees
Chapter 3 - Romans, Herodians, and Jewish Sects
Chapter 4 - First-Century Sources Mentioning James
Chapter 5 - Early Church Sources and the Dead Sea Scrolls

PART II - THE HISTORICAL JAMES
Chapter 6 - The First Appearance of James in Acts
Chapter 7 - The Picture of James in Paul’s Letters
Chapter 8 - James’ Succession and the Election to Fill Judas
Iscariot’s Office
Chapter 9 - The Election of James in Early Church Tradition
PART III - JAMES’ ROLE IN THE JERUSALEM
OF HIS DAY
Chapter 10 - James’ Rechabitism and Naziritism
Chapter 11 - James’ Vegetarianism, Abstention from Blood,
and Consuming No Wine
Chapter 12 - James’ Bathing and Clothing Habits
Chapter 13 - James as Opposition High Priest and Oblias

PART IV - THE DEATH OF JAMES
Chapter 14 - The Stoning of James and the Stoning of Stephen
Chapter 15 - The Death of James in its Historical Setting
Chapter 16 - The Attack by Paul on James and the Attack on
Stephen
Chapter 17 - The Truth About the Death of James
Chapter 18 - Peter’s Visit to Cornelius and Simon’s Visit to
Agrippa

PART V - THE BROTHERS OF JESUS AS
APOSTLES
Chapter 19 - The Apostleship of James, Cephas, and John
Chapter 20 - James the First to See Jesus
Chapter 21 - Last Supper Scenarios, the Emmaus Road, and
the Cup of the Lord
Chapter 22 - Jesus’ Brothers as Apostles
Chapter 23 - Simeon bar Cleophas and Simon the Zealot
PART VI - JAMESIAN COMMUNITIES IN THE
EAST
Chapter 24 - Judas the Brother of James and the Conversion
of King Agbar
Chapter 25 - The Conversion of Queen Helen and the
Ethiopian Queen’s Eunuch
Chapter 26 - Judas Thomas and Theuda the Brother of the
Just One

Epilogue
Chronological Charts
Note on Translations
Notes
Index
FOR THE BEST IN PAPERBACKS, LOOK FOR THE
Acclaim for James the Brother of Jesus
“Stirs up a furor.”
— Los Angeles Times

“Robert Eisenman’s James the Brother of Jesus is less a book
than an irresistible force. Once opened . . . [it] bulldozes your
prejudices, flattens your objections, elbows aside your counter-
arguments, convinces you.”
— Toronto Globe Mail

“Powerful.... A thrilling essay in historical detection ... this
passionate quest refigures Christian origins.”
— The Guardian

“Mind-blowing.... A masterpiece.... The breadth and detail of
Eisenman’s investigations are breathtaking, as are its
implications. Eisenman shows us how to crack the codes of
theological disinformation, to listen to the long-faded echos, to
find handholds up what seemed an unsurmountable climb to a
peak from which to view a hitherto unseen landscape.... A
massive and profound achievement.”
— R. Price, Editor, Journal of Higher Criticism

“A tremendous work of historical scholarship ... Expert ...
Unparalleled ... Great ... This book will live and live and live.”
— A. Auswaks, Jerusalem Post
“Careful . . . Passionate... So logical and so compelling, one
wonders how this demythologized, internally consistent
understanding of Christianity could have been kept out of sight
for so long.”
— The Scotsman

“Enthralling ... Immense ... Stunning ... Compelling ... A massive
display of provocative scholarship.”
— The Oregonian

“Professor Robert Eisenman speaks with the fervor of a true
believer who has been shown a revelation of stunning splendor
... [his] words, theories, and personal style have all made a
deep impression on me.... A tour de force... magnificent.”
— Neil Asher Silberman, author of The Hidden Scrolls
PENGUIN BOOKS
JAMES THE BROTHER OF JESUS
Robert Eisenman, coauthor of The Facsimile Edition of the
Dead Sea Scrolls and The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, is
Professor of Middle East Religions and Archaeology and
Director of the Institute for the Study of Judeo-Christian Origins
at California State University, Long Beach; and Visiting Senior
Member of Linacre College, Oxford University. The consultant
to the Huntington Library in its decision to free the Scrolls, he
was the leading figure in the worldwide campaign to gain
access to the Scrolls. A National Endowment for the
Humanities Fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological
Research in Jerusalem, he was a Senior Fellow at the Oxford
Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies.