James the Less of two, he seems to be compared to one other James. In the lists of the twelve apostles in the synoptic Gospels, there are two apostles called James, who are differentiated there by their fathers: James, son of Zebedee, and James, son of Alphaeus. Long-standing tradition identifies James, the son of Alphaeus, as James the Less. James, son of Zebedee, is then called "James the Great" (although that designation does not appear in the New Testament). Some propose that Alphaeus was the same man as Cleophas or at least the husband of Mary Clopas. In this regard, Jerome identified James
Epistle of James John Calvin and others suggested that the author was the Apostle James, son of Alphaeus, who is referred to as James the Less. The Protestant reformer Martin Luther denied it was the work of an apostle and termed it an "epistle of straw" as compared to some other books in the New Testament, partly because of the conflict he thought it raised with Paul on the doctrine of justification (see below). The Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church teaches that the Book of James was "written not by either of the apostles, but by the “brother of the Lord” who