The text of Galatians 1:18–19 has a speaker identifying himself as Paul and saying he met Cephas and “James the Lord’s brother.” First Corinthians 15:3–8 presents a death-and-appearances tradition. The texts do not independently establish the speaker’s identity or a first-century date; on this site’s chronology, the corpus is first recoverable with Marcion around 144 CE.
The mythicist reading
On this site’s chronology, the letters attributed to Paul are second-century texts preserved through Marcion’s movement. Their internal claims do not independently establish a first-century Paul or an earthly Jesus. “Brother of the Lord” can also describe a fellow believer or cultic relationship rather than a biological sibling.
The strongest reply
If the letters are first-century and authentic, the ordinary reading is that James was Jesus’ family member and the writer says he met him. Many scholars regard this as significant evidence for a human Jesus. The force of that argument depends on establishing the texts’ date and authorship independently.
Where the evidence leaves us
The James passage matters only if its date, authorship, and meaning are established. This site treats Marcion’s second-century corpus as the earliest recoverable attestation, not proof of a first-century author.