Paul and Jesus

1. According to Luke, Jesus began his public career when he was around thirty years old (Luke 3:23). Before that we have the single story of Jesus as the “precocious child” (Luke 2:41-52). Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, makes a similar claim about his own childhood brilliance: “Moreover, when I was a child, and about fourteen years of age, I was commended by all for the love I had to learning; on which account the high priests and principal men of the city came then frequently to me together, in order to know my opinion about the accurate understanding of points of the law” (Life 9).

2. John Dominic Crossan calls the first twenty years the “dark age” of early Christianity. See The Birth of Christianity (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p. ix. See also James G. Crossley, Why Christianity Happened: A Sociohistorical Account of Christian Origins (26–50 C.E.) (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006).

3. Galatians 1:19; 2:9; Acts 21:18–26.

4. See Mark 1:19 and 3:17. These two brothers, known for their fiery, impetuous personalities, were nicknamed by Jesus “the sons of Thunder.” See Mark 10:35; Luke 9:53-54. Along with Peter, the brothers James and John are often singled out as a privileged threesome of inner intimates among the Twelve (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33). According to the book of Acts this James was beheaded around A.D. 40 by Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (Acts 12:1–2).

5. Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Viking Penguin, 1997); John Painter, Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History and Tradition (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997); Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans, eds., James the Just and Christian Origins, Supplements to Novum Testamentum (Leiden: Brill, 1999); Richard Bauckham, James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage (London: Routledge, 1999); Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner, eds., The Brother of Jesus: James the Just and His Mission (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001); Hershel Shanks and Ben Witherington III, The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family (New York: HarperOne, 2003); and Jeffrey J. Bütz, The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2005).

6. See my account in The Jesus Dynasty, pp. 14–20.

7. No one has questioned the authenticity of the ossuary itself and critics disagree as to which parts might be genuine and which might have been forged. Hershel Shanks offers an insider’s up-to-date summary of the current state of affairs regarding the ossuary inscription and considers the case for its authenticity to be a strong one. See Hershel Shanks, Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls: And Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider (New York: Continuum, 2010). The original case defending the authenticity is detailed in Shanks and Witherington, The Brother of Jesus. For the perspective of scholars critical of authenticity, see Ryan Byrne and Bernadette McNaryZak, eds., Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus: The James Ossuary Controversy and the Quest for Religious Relics (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009). The latest summary of evidence is at http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/authjam358012.shtml.

8. See Jerome, Against Helvidius, who defends the Catholic doctrine of the perpetus virginitate (perpetual virginity) of Mary. Joseph, her faithful husband, also lived a celibate life.

9. Epiphanius, Panarion 29.3.8 to 29.4.4.

10. See the discussion and references in The Jesus Dynasty, pp. 73–81.