The Catholic Almanac says that James Lesser was born to Alphaeus and he was given the name the Less on account of the fact that he was not very tall and also because he was not as old as James Greater. On third of May each year, the James the less feat day is celebrated. This is done despite the fact that there is not a whole lot that is known about James the Less. What is known that Jesus chose him to be one of his 12 pillars of the New Israel?
James Lesser was not the same person as James of Acts and in addition he was not born to Clopas and neither was the Jesus’ brother. What is known about him is that he was certainly in 9th place in each of the 4 apostles lists and that he rose to become the leader of the third apostles group in which the person that betrayed Jesus was also a part of.
James the Less got his name from St Mark who wanted to distinguish him from another apostle whose name was also James. He is also known as the Younger. There is however no denying that he was among the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and is also known as James the Less.
The reason for the name James the Less happens to be due to the simple reason that Zebedee also had another son that was well known as James and who too was His apostle. In modern times, scholars are not so unanimous that this is indeed the correct way to identify the Son of Alphaeus. There are in fact many scholars that are of the firm opinion that this naming is incorrect but others consider it to be correct.
James the Less has been given other names as well as including that of James the Just and he is also thought to have been Mathews brother. Tradition has it that James the Less was given a death sentence (despite believing in Jewish Law) because it is believed that he violated the Torah.
However, even this fact is being disputed because at that time the Jewish authorities did not actually condone or even practice executions. Furthermore, even the Roman authorities would not have got themselves involved in matters of Jewish religion. Christian arts often depict him as one that holds the fullers club. This is on account of the fact that James Lesser became a martyr when he was clubbed to death with a fullers club where he was known to preach the Gospel.
It is also true that the name of James the Less is not really mentioned in the New Testament though there are references to him in the form of James the Just who happened to be an significant leader of the New Testament church.
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