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There was yet a third James who wrote the Epistle of James and died in 62 A.D., known as James "the Just" who was apparently a step-brother of Christ by a previous marriage of Joseph or was actually St. James the Less, son of Alpheus and a Mary not the mother of Christ but related to her, according to St. Jerome

When did James get to be known as "the Just?" I'd never heard that before. Who is the James who was the first bishop of Jerusalem? John's brother?

Thanks for posting!

I got my information from the Encyclopedia Brittanica but I provided its Scriptural references as well. The post is at #21 hereon and unintentionally duplicated at #22. It is too long to post again here. I had always thought that St. James the Greater was the bishop of Jerusalem and the author of the Epistle of James. That may not be correct, according to the Brittanica, which attributes both of those to St. James the Just who died in 62 A.D. probably a martyr by stoning. St. James the Greater had been martyred long before 62 A.D, having been slain by being put to the sword on orders of Herod Agrippa I in 44 A.D. St. James the Greater is NOT St. James the Just.

St. James the Greater and St. John the Evangelist were the sons of Zebedee not of St. Joseph and not of St. Mary the mother of Jesus. They are also known as the "Boanerges" or "Sons of Thunder."

The Palestinian Christians call St. Joseph of Nazareth "St. Joseph the Just" or "The Just One". They say St. James the Just was given the title his father bore because he was so much like St. Joseph. The Sisters of Nazareth built their convent in Nazareth over the site of the "Tomb of the Just One" -- St. Joseph of Nazareth.