James the Lesser

Some of the apostles are not well known, and are not mentioned much in Scripture. I would like to learn about others too, but for this thread, I would appreciate anyone who has studied this apostle to let us know what they have learned.

 

Here is a short paragraph from one publication, but what bothers me about this is that it claims he wrote the book of James. I have always thought that was James, the half brother of the Lord.

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JAMES, THE LESSER (OR YOUNGER)

James, the Lesser or Younger, son of Alpheus, or Cleophas and Mary, lived in Galilee. He was the brother of the Apostle Jude.

According to tradition he wrote the Epistle of James, preached in Palestine and Egypt and was crucified in Egypt. James was one of the little-known disciples. Some scholars believe he was the brother of Matthew, the tax collector. James was a man of strong character and one of the most fiery type. Tradition tells us that he also died as a martyr and his body was sawed in pieces. The saw became his apostolic symbol.

 

That is an excellent point. I hope we have a series of threads on the less well known apostles. The author of James is one of the mysteries, this apostle or James, the half brother of Jesus. I also think there is disagreement about the identity of Phillip the apostle and Phillip and deacon being the same or not.

Thanks for the responses, and anyone who has studied James the Lesser please post.