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"Is not this the carpenter's son?," the Jews asked, "is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are thy not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?" (Matt. 13: 55, 56).

Thats 4 and if you count the sisters....but still you will not accept this because it would kill the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. I understand your problem Dave, you're in a no win situation here.

OK, let's take James and study what the Bible tells us about him, besides that he is "brother" of Jesus.

Galatians 1:19: 19But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

So James the brother of the Lord is an Apostle.

Matt 10:2Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
4Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

There were two Apostles named James: son of Zebedee, and the son of Alpheus

Acts 12:1Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

In Acts 12 a James is killed. In Act 15 the famous Jerusalem council is held during which James speaks. We must assume this was not the dead James.

So which James was this brother of John?

Mark 3:17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

So the James with the brother John, the James that was dead, was the son of Zebedee. So the Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord must be the son of Alphaeus.

So if Joseph is not his father, either Mary (the mother of Jesus) slept with this Alpheus guy, or else "brother" doesn't mean co-uteral sibling.

Can you stand more?

Matt 27:54Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
55And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
56Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children

If, as you insist, "James and Joses" are two of the natural brothers of Jesus, (that is children of Mary the mother of Jesus), why would a "Mary mother of James and Joses" be listed like this at the cross?

If Jesus' own mother was there at the cross why would she not be identified as such? Isn't that odd?

So, to sum it up. We have two James apostles. One has Zebedee as a father and is not the James who hosts the Jerusalem council. The other James has Alpheus as a father and Joses as a brother and another woman named Mary as a mother.

Is that too complicated for you? Do you still want to just use your razor and rest on "English words have simple meanings." Do you want to claim the author of Scripture places the Virgin Mary, mother of the Lord at the cross and calls her "Mary the mother of James and Joses"?

SD

Dave this is such a mess.

And you over look and use the very plain message that James IS called the Lords brother

Galatians 1:19: 19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

But that don't really mean it was his brother in the flesh (wink wink)

If Jesus' own mother was there at the cross why would she not be identified as such? Isn't that odd?

Nope not in the least, she was just a sinner like the rest of them there.

BigMack

So James the brother of the Lord is an Apostle.

Did Paul come along before or after the crucifiction? Was Paul an Apostle?

We know very well the brothers of Jesus didn't believe in him while he was alive!

1Corinthians 15:

[1] Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand,
[2] by which you are saved, if you hold it fast -- unless you believed in vain.
[3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
[4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
[5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Did the twelve include Peter?
[6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
[7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Name the Apostles. Are they the same ones referenced in verse 5?
[8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
How many Apostles do you count now?