The Earliest Followers of Jesus: James, the Jerusalem Community, and the Faith of the Original Movement

Articles

Introduction

The question of what the earliest followers of Jesus believed continues to occupy a central place in modern historical scholarship. While Christianity eventually developed into a global religion shaped by theological formulations of the second through fifth centuries, the earliest recoverable evidence presents a movement rooted in first-century Judaism, centered in Jerusalem, and led after Jesus’ departure by James the Just.^1

Modern scholarship increasingly distinguishes between the later development of Christian doctrine and the beliefs of the original Jerusalem community.^2 The earliest sources including Paul’s letters, the Epistle of James, the Acts of the Apostles, Josephus, the Didache, and fragments preserved by Hegesippus and Eusebius suggest a movement characterized by monotheism, ethical rigor, communal solidarity, and expectation of God’s kingdom. ^3

This article examines these sources to reconstruct the worldview of the earliest followers of Jesus and to assess the role of James as the leading representative of the Jerusalem movement.

James and the Leadership of the Jerusalem Community

Among the most secure conclusions of modern scholarship is the historical prominence of James. Paul identifies James as one of the principal leaders of the movement and refers to him as “the Lord’s brother.”^4

The Book of Acts portrays James as the leading authority in Jerusalem. During the Jerusalem Council, it is James rather than Peter or Paul who issues the decisive judgment regarding Gentile converts. ^5

External confirmation comes from the Jewish historian Josephus, who reports the execution of “James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ” around 62 CE. ^6

Richard Bauckham notes that the convergence of Paul, Acts, Josephus, and later Christian sources makes James one of the best-attested individuals in the early Jesus movement. ^7 Likewise, Paula Fredriksen observes that James appears to have functioned as the principal authority in Jerusalem throughout the crucial decades following Jesus’ death. ^8

Biblical scholar James Tabor has argued that the Jerusalem movement represented the continuation of a family-centered messianic movement in which leadership passed naturally to James after Jesus’ departure.^9 While scholars continue to debate details of Tabor’s reconstruction, there is widespread agreement concerning James’ central role.

The Earliest Designation: “The Way”

Before followers of Jesus became widely known as Christians, they appear to have identified themselves as followers of “The Way.” Acts repeatedly employ this designation. ^10

The expression reflects biblical imagery of walking in God’s path and suggests a movement defined more by practice than doctrine. Hungarian-born British scholar of Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the historical Jesus, Geza Vermes notes that the earliest disciples remained fully embedded within the religious world of Second Temple Judaism and would not have understood themselves as members of a separate religion.^11

Only later do we find the term “Christian.” Acts states that “the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”^12 Many historians believe the designation originated among outsiders rather than within the movement itself.^13

The Epistle of James as a Historical Witness

The Epistle of James occupies a unique place among New Testament documents. Unlike many later Christian writings, James is overwhelmingly concerned with ethical conduct and practical religion.

Faith and Works

The most famous statement in the letter declares:

“Faith without works is dead.”^14

For James, authentic faith must manifest itself in action. Religious commitment is inseparable from moral responsibility. The New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman observes that James’ emphasis stands firmly within the prophetic traditions of Judaism, where obedience and justice take precedence over doctrinal confession.^15

This theme permeates the letter. Believers are instructed to care for the poor, control their speech, avoid favoritism, pursue humility, and demonstrate mercy. ^16

Monotheism

At the theological center of the epistle stands James 2:19:

“You believe that God is one; you do well.”

The statement directly echoes the Jewish Shema (Deut. 6:4). ^17

Unlike later doctrinal formulations, James offers no discussion of the Trinity, no developed incarnation theology, and no attempt to explain metaphysical relations between Father and Son.

Geza Vermes argues that this silence reflects the fundamentally Jewish environment from which the letter emerged. ^18

Pure Religion

James provides one of the earliest Christian definitions of authentic religion:

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself unstained from the world.”^19

The statement resonates strongly with the ethical concerns found throughout the Hebrew Bible. Amos, Isaiah, and Micah likewise evaluated religion according to justice, mercy, and concern for society’s most vulnerable members. ^20

Jesus in the Epistle of James

One of the most striking features of James is what it does not emphasize.

The letter contains:

  • no infancy narrative;
  • no miracle traditions;
  • no atonement theology;
  • no resurrection narrative;
  • no doctrine of original sin;
  • no Trinitarian formulation.

Instead, the focus remains on God, wisdom, righteous conduct, and divine judgment. ^21

Bauckham argues that James reflects a form of Christology rooted in Jewish monotheism rather than in the metaphysical categories that emerged later in Christian theology. ^22

The Didache and Early Community Practice

Another valuable source is the Didache, which most scholars date to the late first or early second century. ^23

The Didache emphasizes:

  • prayer;
  • fasting;
  • charity;
  • communal discipline;
  • repentance;
  • preparation for divine judgment.

The opening chapters present a contrast between “the Way of Life” and “the Way of Death.”^24

Like James, the Didache prioritizes ethical conduct over theological speculation. Aaron Milavec, American Catholic theologian, biblical scholar, and professor emeritus best known for his pioneering research on the Didache, has described the document as preserving the practical spirituality of an early Jewish-Christian environment.^25

Its worldview closely resembles what later scholars identify as Jewish Christianity and what the Qur’an describes as the faith of those who submit themselves to the One God.

Hegesippus and the Memory of James

One of the most important early witnesses to James is Hegesippus, whose work survives only through quotations preserved by Eusebius.

Hegesippus portrays James as a figure renowned for piety, prayer, and devotion to God. ^26 According to his account, James spent so much time in prayer that his knees became calloused “like a camel’s.”^27

Although hagiographical elements are present, the tradition reflects a widespread memory of James as an exemplar of righteousness.

Eusebius himself regards James as the first bishop of Jerusalem and the principal leader of the early community. ^28

Josephus and Independent Historical Evidence

Josephus provides the earliest non-Christian testimony concerning James.

In Antiquities of the Jews 20.200, he reports that the High Priest Ananus assembled a council and ordered the execution of “James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ.”^29

Most scholars regard this passage as authentic. ^30

The significance of Josephus lies in his independence. His testimony confirms:

  1. the existence of James;
  2. James’ connection to Jesus;
  3. James’ public prominence;
  4. his execution in Jerusalem around 62 CE.

Paula Fredriksen, the world’s leading historians of Jesus, Paul, Second Temple Judaism, and the origins of Christianity, notes that few figures from the earliest Jesus movement receive external confirmation of this quality.^31

Jewish Christianity and the Ebionites

Evidence suggests that forms of Jewish Christianity survived long after the destruction of Jerusalem.

Among the best-known groups were the Ebionites. Although our information comes largely from opponents such as Epiphanius and Irenaeus, several themes consistently emerge:

  • strict monotheism;
  • observance of the Torah;
  • reverence for Jesus as Messiah;
  • rejection of Jesus’ ontological divinity;
  • special respect for James.^32

The American biblical scholar, historian, archaeologist, and expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the origins of Christianity, Robert Eisenman has argued that such groups preserved significant elements of the original Jerusalem tradition.^33 Although many scholars regard Eisenman’s conclusions as too far-reaching, his focus on James helped renew scholarly interest in Jewish Christianity.

Modern Scholarship on the Jerusalem Movement

James Tabor’s The Jesus Dynasty argues that the earliest Jesus movement was fundamentally a Jewish messianic movement whose leadership passed to James and the family of Jesus. ^34

Geza Vermes similarly emphasizes Jesus’ place within Jewish religious history and interprets the earliest movement through that lens. ^35

Paula Fredriksen stresses the Jewish apocalyptic context in which both Jesus and his earliest followers operated. ^36

Bart Ehrman observes that the diversity of early Christianity makes it difficult to speak of a single original orthodoxy. The Jerusalem community represents one important strand among several emerging trajectories. ^37

Richard Bauckham, perhaps more cautiously than Eisenman or Tabor, nevertheless places James at the center of any serious reconstruction of earliest Christianity. ^38

Despite their differences, these scholars share broad agreement on several points:

  • the movement originated within Judaism;
  • James exercised extraordinary authority;
  • the Jerusalem church was deeply Jewish in character;
  • ethical conduct occupied a central place in communal life.

Continuity with the Abrahamic Tradition

Viewed historically, the Jerusalem movement appears less concerned with establishing a new religion than with renewing ancient covenantal faithfulness.

Its principal concerns included:

  • devotion to the One God;
  • obedience to divine commandments;
  • justice and mercy;
  • care for the poor;
  • prayer and repentance;
  • expectation of God’s coming kingdom.

These themes connect the earliest community directly to the larger Abrahamic and prophetic tradition.

Whether interpreted through Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or secular historical lenses, the evidence consistently points toward a movement defined primarily by submission to God and commitment to righteous living.

Conclusion

The Epistle of James remains one of the most important surviving windows into the faith and practice of the earliest followers of Jesus.

Read alongside Acts, Galatians, Josephus, the Didache, Hegesippus, and Eusebius, the letter reveals a Jerusalem-centered movement characterized by monotheism, ethical rigor, prayer, charity, and communal responsibility.

James emerges not merely as a peripheral figure but as one of the principal architects of the earliest Jesus movement. The evidence suggests that the original community understood faith less as assent to metaphysical doctrines than as obedience to God expressed through justice, mercy, humility, and service.

In this respect, the voice of James continues to offer one of the clearest historical echoes of the earliest recoverable form of the Jesus movement.

Notes

  1. Richard Bauckham, Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1990), 57–84.
  2. Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Christianities (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 3–30.
  3. Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 97–125.
  4. Galatians 1:19. While the word literally means “brother” in the sense of a sibling, early Christian tradition and some scholars note that in ancient Jewish culture, “brother” could also refer to close male relatives such as cousins, nephews, or even spiritual brothers in faith.
  5. Acts 15:13–21.
  6. Josephus, Antiquities200.
  7. Bauckham, Jude and the Relatives of Jesus, 57–84.
  8. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, 120–123.
  9. James D. Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), 233–267.
  10. Acts 9:2; 19:9; 24:14.
  11. Geza Vermes, The Authentic Gospel of Jesus (London: Penguin, 2003), 356–372.
  12. Acts 11:26.
  13. Ehrman, Lost Christianities, 39–42.
  14. James 2:26.
  15. Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), 427–432.
  16. James 1–5.
  17. Deuteronomy 6:4; James 2:19.
  18. Vermes, Christian Beginnings (London: Penguin, 2012), 94–105.
  19. James 1:27.
  20. Amos 5:21–24; Micah 6:8.
  21. James 1–5.
  22. Richard Bauckham, James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage (London: Routledge, 1999), 128–149.
  23. Kurt Niederwimmer, The Didache (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), 43–52.
  24. Didache 1–6.
  25. Aaron Milavec, The Didache (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2003), 11–37.
  26. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History23.
  28. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History1.
  29. Josephus, Antiquities200.
  30. Louis Feldman, Josephus and Modern Scholarship (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1984), 684–691.
  31. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, 120–123.
  32. Irenaeus, Against Heresies26; Epiphanius, Panarion 30.
  33. Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus (New York: Viking, 1997).
  34. Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty.
  35. Vermes, Christian Beginnings.
  36. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ.
  37. Ehrman, Lost Christianities.
  38. Bauckham, Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church.
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