Who
A Christian writer of the second century, probably of Jewish birth and from Palestine, who travelled to Rome under Pope Anicetus (c. 155–166) and set down five books of Memoirs on the apostolic tradition. The books are lost, but Eusebius preserves his accounts of the martyrdom of James the brother of the Lord, of Symeon son of Clopas, and of the grandsons of Jude brought before Domitian. The chain uses him for the earliest evidence about the "brothers of the Lord" and their family.
In Jewish Roots of Mary
Who
Apparently the first person to write a history of the Church, of Jewish-Christian background, whose work survives in the quotations Eusebius made from it. He reports the succession of the bishops of Jerusalem as plain history, with no interest in defending Mary's virginity — which is what makes his testimony weighty.
Quoted works
- in Eusebius, Church History 4.22 — 'Simon, his cousin, the son of Clopas, was appointed bishop… because he was another cousin (anepsios) of the Lord' (pp 110–111)
- in Eusebius, Church History 3.11.1–2 — 'Clopas was a brother of Joseph' — so James and Simon, the 'brothers' of Jesus, were his cousins (p 111)