A brother of Jesus who did NOT believe during the ministry (Mark 3:21; John 7:5) but saw the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:7) and became the leading figure of the JERUSALEM congregation — presiding at the council of Acts 15 that freed Gentiles from circumcision, and named by Paul as one of the 'pillars' (Galatians 2:9). He is almost certainly the author of the letter of James, and Josephus records his execution by stoning c. AD 62 on the order of the high priest Ananus, an act that scandalised even law-abiding Jews. Later tradition called him 'James the Just' and said his knees were calloused like a camel's from prayer. ⚠ 'The Lord's brother' (Galatians 1:19) is one of the plainest New Testament statements that Jesus had siblings — a fact the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity later worked to reinterpret as cousins or step-brothers. This entry uses the full phrase as its name precisely because 'James' alone belongs to at least two of the Twelve as well.