Page:Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ (1836).djvu/421

 qualified to rank among his chosen apostles. But a very prominent objection to the notion that they were the children of his mother, with whom they are mentioned in such close connection,—is, that when Jesus was on the cross, he commended her to the care of John, his beloved disciple, as though she were destitute of any immediate natural protector; and certainly, if she had at that time several sons living, who were full-grown, she could not have needed to be intrusted thus to the kindness of one who claimed no relationship whatever to her; but would, of course, have been secure of a home, and a comfortable support, so long as her sons could have worked for her. These also may have been those brethren who did not believe in him, and who considered him beside himself, though there seems no good reason to except any of those who are mentioned by Matthew and Mark, as his brethren,—James, Juda, Joses and Simon.

Beyond these allusions to him, in connection with others, the gospels take no notice whatever of this apostle; and it is only in the Acts of the Apostles, and some of the epistles of Paul, that he is mentioned with any great distinctness. In all those passages in the apostolic writings where he is referred to, he is presented as a person of high standing and great importance, and his opinions are given in such a manner as to convey the impression that they had great weight in the regulation of the apostolic doings. This is particularly evident in the only passage of the Acts of the Apostles where his words are given, which is in the account of the consultation at Jerusalem about the great question of communion between the circumcised and uncircumcised. On this occasion, James is mentioned in such a way as to make it evident that he was considered the most prominent among those who were zealous for the preservation of the Mosaic forms, and to have been by all such, regarded in the light of a leader, since his decision seems to have been esteemed by them as a sort of law; and the perfect acquiescence of even the most troublesome in the course which he recommended, is a proof of his predominant influence. The tone and style of the address itself, also imply that the speaker thought he had good reason to believe that others were looking to him in particular, for the decision which should regulate their opinions on this doubtful question. After Simon Peter, as the great chief of the apostles, had first expressed his opinion on the question under discussion, and had referred to his own inspired divine revelations of the will of God