Steven Carr

Why did James only convert after Jesus died, according to the Bible?

The family of Jesus had umpteen visits by angels , dreams of God, wise men, etc when Jesus was born.

They also had 30 years of seeing Jesus literally Christ-like behaviour, and must surely have wondered why Jesus was the only Jew who never needed to make a sin offering. There must have been talk in Nazareth about that, surely.

Yet Mark says the family did not believe in Jesus. James did not become a follower until later.

Why on earth not? How could they live with Jesus for 30 years, and not notice anything special about him?

Are these stories just meant to be stupid, or what?

robto

You have to realize that characters in the gospels are often stand-ins for the corresponding Xian community. For instance, the "doubting Thomas" episode is due to "John" and his community being in conflict with other Xians who considered themselves followers of Thomas (and wrote books like the Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Thomas, etc.) The Thomas Xians didn't believe in a physical, fleshly resurrection, so "John" wrote it into the story to prove them wrong.

Same thing with Mk's disparaging remarks about Jesus's family. James was the leader of the Jerusalem church after Jesus's death. He must have therefore been involved with the movement before his death as well. Mark's community had some sort of conflict with James, broke away, and proclaimed themselves the true followers of Jesus.

One possible reason for the conflict is whether Xians should follow the Jewish Law. Paul opposes about those "from James" who wouldn't eat with Gentile Xians (Gal 2:12)

motorhead

First, Jesus' family probably saw nothing special about him, even after he began his ministry. In fact, as you mentioned, in the Gospel of Mark there's a verse that his family tried to stop him from preaching. They thought he had gone out of his head. And I'm sure Jesus practiced his religion like most of his fellow Jews, so nothing would've stood out there.

So, why did James become a leader of the Jerusalem church? Maybe he joined the movement after Jesus died because he was converted by the preaching of those who had followed Jesus when he was alive. And after he converted, maybe the church made him a leader because he was the brother of Jesus. Or maybe he was power hungry and saw an opportunity to become the leader of an organization based on his brother.

Steven Carr

I'm sure that is true in reality, but not in the world of the Bible, where Mary is told in Luke 1 - He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

I think Mary would have seen something special about him, if she really had been told that.

And did Jesus really make sin offerings like most of his fellow Jews? What a hypocrite he must have been if he did do that!

Zeichman

I think an appearance of the risen Christ is plausable explanation, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15.

Also, don't forget that Jesus' brothers do not believe him in John 7:1-9.

offa

James was Jesus' younger brother. Mary, the Virgin, had seven children. Jesus gave up the ghost at the crucifixion. James was the Arithemia dude. After Jesus was crucified he discontinued his evangelism. He preached a few years later with Paul in his audience. Ol' Paul capitalized and rewrote faith!

Just read the bible ... it tells you.
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offa