Heidegger's Bible Handbook: NT Apocrypha: The Liturgy of St. James

10. To certain Apostles and Evangelists were formerly ascribed liturgies, for example, to James.

To some Apostles and Evangelists, for example, James, Peter, Matthew, and Mark, are attributed Liturgies, concerning which severally a few things. The Liturgy of Saint James in Bibliotheca Patrum, Tome 6, Edition 3, is inscribed: The Divine Mass of Saint James the Apostle, brother of the Lord, and first Bishop of Jerusalem, which was published separately at Antwerp in 1560 AD. That this Liturgy was acknowledged as genuine by Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople,[1] who valiantly fought against Nestorius[2] at the Council of Ephesus;[3] and that from it the Trullan Council under Justinian refuted heretics, making use of only wine in the Holy Supper, Sixtus Senensis relates, Bibliotheca Sacra, book II, page 67. And here and there Bellarmine disputes its authority. Also, recently Leo Allatius[4] defended it as the most famous of all in his Symmictis, page 176. But, that it is spurious, Cooke[5] shows to be the case, both because in it mention is made of Confessors, whose names obtained later in the Church: and because is found the term ὁμοούσιον/homoousios, of the same substance: and because it calls the Blessed Virgin Mary Θεοτόκον/Theotokos, Mother of God, which term was not received in use before the time of Nestorius: and because the author is possessed of that error, that the souls of the Blessed are not going to see God before the day of judgment. Add that the Author ordains promiscuously an Altar and a table in the Supper, and calls the Church of Jerusalem the mother of all Churches. That these and similar things crept in in a later age, Baronius, on 63 AD, note 17, and Bellarmine, allege without any argument. Balsamon, Patriarch of Antioch,[6] having been asked by Mark of Alexandria[7] concerning this and similar Liturgies, responds: οὐ μὴ εἶναι δεκτὰς, it is by no means to be received, which Epistle is extant in Freher’s[8]Jure Græco-Romano, Tome I, book 5, page 362, where he also responds to the canon of the Trullan Council citing this Liturgy.

[1] Proclus was Archbishop of Constantinople from 434 to 446. [2] Nestorius (c. 386-451) taught that in Christ, there are not only two natures, but two persons, Jesus of Nazareth and the eternal Son of God. Some believe that this was not actually Nestorius’ view, but rather his opponents’ caricature of his beliefs. [3] The Third Ecumenical Council was held at Ephesis in 431. [4] Leo Allatius (1586-1669) was born to Greek parents, but he embraced Roman Catholicism. With his unique background, he greatly desired, and labored for, the reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches. Allatius was a prolific author, and his works display wide reading. He was appointed as the keeper of the Vatican library by Pope Alexander VII (1661). [5] Robert Cooke (1550-1516) was an Anglican churchman and scholar. He wrote Censuram quorundam Scriptorum, quæ sub nominibus Sanctorum, et veterum Auctorum, à Pontificiis passim in eorum Scriptis, sed potissimum in Quæstionibus hodie controversis citari solent. [6] Theodore Balsamon was a twelfth century Patriarch of Antioch. He wrote Scholia on Photius’ Nomocanon, a standard work of Ecclesiastical and Civil canons, decrees, and laws. [7] Mark III was Patriarch of Alexandria from 1180 to 1209. [8] Marquard Freher (1565-1614) was a German jurist, historian, and statesman.