PILGRIMSPLAZA
Active Member
Who was the true Jacob (Jacobus, James) of Santiago deCompostela?
* This further exploration of who exactly the historical Jacobus (Jacob, James) of Santiago de Compostela (Sint-Jacob = Sant-Iago = San Tiago) was, fits the broader framework of the discussion of the classic The Way of Saint James written in 1920 [reprinted 2008] by the famous American art historian Ms Georgiana Goddard King, on which this is Henk Flinterman's 3rd contribution:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear reader,
In an earlier * article I wrote about Jacob (Jacobus, James) in his seven different personifications. Only two remain who are worthy of consideration. There is James the Great, son of Zebedee and brother of John. This is the man, a disciple of Jesus, who would much later become famous as the Patron Saint of Spain, the Moorslayer and also the organiser of the Reconquista, who saved Spain from the hands of Islam.
It always seems remarkable to me that a disciple of Jesus († 44 after Christ) in a very short period of years, could have had laid the foundations of Spain´s Christianity. Even more remarkable is the fact that that same, now mythological, figure, could become the great Spanish hero and saint, under whose inspiring guidance, the foundation of the later Christian, Catholic Spain was laid.
And then the other Jacob, the presumed writer of the Epistle of James in the New Testament. Although tradition hesitated for a long time over the inclusion of the book (the Epistle) into the canon, it was widely accepted that the ´brother of the Lord` is the writer. He was not one of the twelve apostles, but even so Paul wrote (Epistle to the Galatians 1:19): 'In Jerusalem I saw no other apostles except James, the brother of the Lord.' Apparently his place could be equalled with that of the apostles, pillar (stylos) of the community he was.
As a believer, after his initial disbelief (John 7:5) as a member of the first parish (Acts of the Apostles 1:13,14), witness to the rising of Christ (I Corinthians 15:17), he moves to the foreground of the parish where he is found in the main chapters 12, 15 and 23 of the Acts of the Apostles and also in the Epistle to the Galatians 1 and 2.
Eusebius, a writer of Church history from the 4th century, writes about this Jacob (James) as 'the Just', that he is a Holy man, who didn't drink wine nor strong drink, who never shaved; a devoted man who prayed so much for his people that his knees were calloused like those of a camel. He died as a martyr, thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple and stoned to death.
It is not possible anymore to prove how reliable this story is, but one may take it, that the 'Lord's brother' as a strong witness of Christ in Jerusalem, as a sort of Nazerean (an ascetic sectarian) stood his ground in the middle of the Jewish world.
The question remains whether this man is the writer of the Epistle of James. The content of this letter does not confirm this supposition but makes it quite well possible.
With kind regards,
Henk Flinterman
The Hague, Holland
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on Jacob, Jacobus, James, Yacoub and/or Ja'akov:
* Which Jacob (James)? by Henk Flinterman on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic6286.html?hilit=Jacobus#p36959
- Paul, the poet of God by Henk Flinterman on pilgrim-books/topic5746.html?hilit=Flinterman#p33591
- Ja’akov en Jacobus – Is the name a Sign here? by Ria van der Pot & Marianne Lodder in Re: The Santiago Enigma -Ja’akov & Jacobus– is the name a sign? on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html#p20932
- Hynt St. Ialm - the Welsh connection by PILGRIMSPLAZA on pilgrim-books/topic5708.html?hilit=jacobus#p33383 -
- the answer is in people's hearts and minds by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html?hilit=jacob#p28869 -
- ... to Sant-Iago in Jacobsland by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic5097.html?hilit=jacobus#p28816
- Evidence for St. James, or lack of evidence? by Priscillian on August 12th, 2008, 8:49 pm on miscellaneous-topics/topic4540.html
- on facial similarities: Re: The Santiago Enigma by Gareth Thomas on April 5th, 2008, 10:32 pm on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html#p21128
- Some comments on The Santiago Enigma by the late Alan Joyce on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic6286.html?hilit=enigma#p37089
- Re: The Santiago Enigma by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html?hilit=boanerges#p20698 : S. James whom the Lord ordained bishop with his own hand, after the Lord's [338] ascension was cast down from the pinnacle of the Temple and suffered [S. James in Jerusalem] no hurt, but a fuller slew him with a pole on which he used to carry his things and he was buried on Mount Olivet.
- To me it works like a mirror. by PILGRIMSPLAZA on April 8th, 2008, 7:22 pm on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html#p21219
More on The Way of Saint James by Georgiana Goddard King:
- http://openlibrary.org/details/wayofsai ... 01kinguoft - flip book -
- http://openlibrary.org/details/wayofsai ... 02kinguoft - volume 2 -
- http://openlibrary.org/details/wayofsai ... 03kinguoft - volume 3 -
- http://pilgrimsplaza-king-index.blogspot.com - full index of all 3 volumes -
- The Way of Saint James by Georgiana Goddard King introduction by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3588.html#p19131
More on Boanerges:
- Cult of Heavenly Twins in BOANERGES by Rendel Harris on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html?hilit=Boanerges#p21373 and miscellaneous-topics/topic3632.html?hilit=Boanerges#p21372
- Re: The Santiago Enigma on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html?hilit=Boanerges#p20698 : King: Volume 3: BOOK FOUR: HOMEWARD: chapters I – III 371-710 chapter VII THE ASIAN GOD 278 The Mortal Twin 334-346
* This further exploration of who exactly the historical Jacobus (Jacob, James) of Santiago de Compostela (Sint-Jacob = Sant-Iago = San Tiago) was, fits the broader framework of the discussion of the classic The Way of Saint James written in 1920 [reprinted 2008] by the famous American art historian Ms Georgiana Goddard King, on which this is Henk Flinterman's 3rd contribution:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear reader,
In an earlier * article I wrote about Jacob (Jacobus, James) in his seven different personifications. Only two remain who are worthy of consideration. There is James the Great, son of Zebedee and brother of John. This is the man, a disciple of Jesus, who would much later become famous as the Patron Saint of Spain, the Moorslayer and also the organiser of the Reconquista, who saved Spain from the hands of Islam.
It always seems remarkable to me that a disciple of Jesus († 44 after Christ) in a very short period of years, could have had laid the foundations of Spain´s Christianity. Even more remarkable is the fact that that same, now mythological, figure, could become the great Spanish hero and saint, under whose inspiring guidance, the foundation of the later Christian, Catholic Spain was laid.
And then the other Jacob, the presumed writer of the Epistle of James in the New Testament. Although tradition hesitated for a long time over the inclusion of the book (the Epistle) into the canon, it was widely accepted that the ´brother of the Lord` is the writer. He was not one of the twelve apostles, but even so Paul wrote (Epistle to the Galatians 1:19): 'In Jerusalem I saw no other apostles except James, the brother of the Lord.' Apparently his place could be equalled with that of the apostles, pillar (stylos) of the community he was.
As a believer, after his initial disbelief (John 7:5) as a member of the first parish (Acts of the Apostles 1:13,14), witness to the rising of Christ (I Corinthians 15:17), he moves to the foreground of the parish where he is found in the main chapters 12, 15 and 23 of the Acts of the Apostles and also in the Epistle to the Galatians 1 and 2.
Eusebius, a writer of Church history from the 4th century, writes about this Jacob (James) as 'the Just', that he is a Holy man, who didn't drink wine nor strong drink, who never shaved; a devoted man who prayed so much for his people that his knees were calloused like those of a camel. He died as a martyr, thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple and stoned to death.
It is not possible anymore to prove how reliable this story is, but one may take it, that the 'Lord's brother' as a strong witness of Christ in Jerusalem, as a sort of Nazerean (an ascetic sectarian) stood his ground in the middle of the Jewish world.
The question remains whether this man is the writer of the Epistle of James. The content of this letter does not confirm this supposition but makes it quite well possible.
With kind regards,
Henk Flinterman
The Hague, Holland
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on Jacob, Jacobus, James, Yacoub and/or Ja'akov:
* Which Jacob (James)? by Henk Flinterman on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic6286.html?hilit=Jacobus#p36959
- Paul, the poet of God by Henk Flinterman on pilgrim-books/topic5746.html?hilit=Flinterman#p33591
- Ja’akov en Jacobus – Is the name a Sign here? by Ria van der Pot & Marianne Lodder in Re: The Santiago Enigma -Ja’akov & Jacobus– is the name a sign? on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html#p20932
- Hynt St. Ialm - the Welsh connection by PILGRIMSPLAZA on pilgrim-books/topic5708.html?hilit=jacobus#p33383 -
- the answer is in people's hearts and minds by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html?hilit=jacob#p28869 -
- ... to Sant-Iago in Jacobsland by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic5097.html?hilit=jacobus#p28816
- Evidence for St. James, or lack of evidence? by Priscillian on August 12th, 2008, 8:49 pm on miscellaneous-topics/topic4540.html
- on facial similarities: Re: The Santiago Enigma by Gareth Thomas on April 5th, 2008, 10:32 pm on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html#p21128
- Some comments on The Santiago Enigma by the late Alan Joyce on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic6286.html?hilit=enigma#p37089
- Re: The Santiago Enigma by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html?hilit=boanerges#p20698 : S. James whom the Lord ordained bishop with his own hand, after the Lord's [338] ascension was cast down from the pinnacle of the Temple and suffered [S. James in Jerusalem] no hurt, but a fuller slew him with a pole on which he used to carry his things and he was buried on Mount Olivet.
- To me it works like a mirror. by PILGRIMSPLAZA on April 8th, 2008, 7:22 pm on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html#p21219
More on The Way of Saint James by Georgiana Goddard King:
- http://openlibrary.org/details/wayofsai ... 01kinguoft - flip book -
- http://openlibrary.org/details/wayofsai ... 02kinguoft - volume 2 -
- http://openlibrary.org/details/wayofsai ... 03kinguoft - volume 3 -
- http://pilgrimsplaza-king-index.blogspot.com - full index of all 3 volumes -
- The Way of Saint James by Georgiana Goddard King introduction by PILGRIMSPLAZA on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3588.html#p19131
More on Boanerges:
- Cult of Heavenly Twins in BOANERGES by Rendel Harris on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794-25.html?hilit=Boanerges#p21373 and miscellaneous-topics/topic3632.html?hilit=Boanerges#p21372
- Re: The Santiago Enigma on miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html?hilit=Boanerges#p20698 : King: Volume 3: BOOK FOUR: HOMEWARD: chapters I – III 371-710 chapter VII THE ASIAN GOD 278 The Mortal Twin 334-346
