Justus of Jerusalem

Justus I Bishop of Jerusalem, was a 1st-century Jewish Christian leader and according to most Christian traditions the third Bishop of Jerusalem, whose episcopacy was about 107–113 AD.

Life

Eusebius of Caesarea gives the list of these bishops.[1] According to a universal tradition the first bishop of Jerusalem was Saint James the Just, the "brother of the Lord," who according to Eusebius said that he was appointed bishop by the Apostles Peter, St. James (whom Eusebius identifies with James, son of Zebedee), and John.[2] According to Eusebius, Saint Simeon of Jerusalem was selected as James successor after the conquest of Jerusalem which took place immediately after the martyrdom of James (i.e. no earlier than 70 AD) which some claim puts the account in conflict with that of Josephus who puts James death in 63 CE:[3][4]

But this is due to a misinterpretation of Josephus. Nowhere in Josephus' account does it ever say that James was martyred at that time. It simply says that he was arrested to be stoned before the arrival of Albinus. His case was then appealed and Albinus wrote a letter to stop the unlawful act. The footnote in Antiquities even states that James didn’t die until much later than this event in 62 A.D.[5][6] The account of the historian Hegesippus reports his death was shortly before the siege of Vespasian. In 66 A.D., the Jews revolted against the Roman Empire. A Roman General in Syria assembled an army of 40,000 to try and subdue them, but was defeated and driven back. The Jews chased after their retreat slaughtering many of them. This took place at the end of the year. Word reached Rome by the beginning of 67 A.D. and Emperor Nero sent Vespasian with an army who arrived in Judea in the spring of 67 A.D. When he got there, the Jews were in rebellion, fighting against each other. Vespasian decided to let them weaken themselves. He didn’t begin his actual siege on Jerusalem until the end of the spring in 68 A.D. So this would mean that James’ martyrdom took place during the time of the civil war among the Jews and was sometime from March to May of 68 A.D.

Justus' Feast Day was 24 Nov.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Historia Ecclesiastica, IV, v."
  2. ↑ "Historia Ecclesiastica, II, i."
  3. ↑ Eddy, Paul R. and Boyd, Gregory A. (2007) The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition. Baker Academic, p. 189
  4. ↑ See also Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities XX, ix, 1.
  5. ↑ Eddy, Paul R. and Boyd, Gregory A. (2007) The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition. Baker Academic, p. 189
  6. ↑ See also Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities XX, ix, 1.
  7. ↑ Who was a Christian? in the Holy Land.
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