James was born a nobleman in Persia, a Christian, and a close friend of the king. When the king decided to turn anti-Christian, James chose to go along with his friend and benefactor, the king, rather than continue his Christian allegiances.

This choice by James upset both his mother and his wife. They bided their time until the death of this king, and then scathingly wrote to the mourning James, telling James that the king was now in hell suffering “eternal torments,” that James would end up there too, and ending with “As for our parts we will have no more commerce with you.” I guess this was a Christian intervention?!

Their letter was, in fact, enough to prompt James to hit an emotional and spiritual rock bottom, and he returned to Christianity. And he vowed never again to recant his faith, proving his sincerity through severe repentance.

But then there was this new Persian king, who was highly displeased that James had shifted his allegiance away from royal policy and back to Christianity. He abjured James, he sought to win James back with promises and favors, he threatened James…yet James refused under any circumstance to renounce Christianity.

The king became so incensed that he became determined to come up with the cruelest death he could think of for James–especially given that James was such a high-born and therefore well-known rebuke to the king’s ability to control the thoughts and lives of his subjects.

After careful consideration, the king decided that James should be publicly chopped into pieces, allowing him chance after chance to change his mind or to endure progressive, unspeakable and public horror. The sentence was duly carried out by the king’s executioners. First a thumb on one of James’s hands was cut off. Then the index finger of that hand. Then the middle finger, the ring finger, and the pinkie. Then the thumb of the other hand, the index finger, and so forth. Then each toe, singly. Then one foot and then the other. Then one palm and then the other. Each arm at each joint; each leg at each joint. Butler concludes:

Lying a naked trunk, and having already lost half his body, he (James) still continued to pray, and praise God with cheerfulness, till a guard, by severing his head from his body, completed his martyrdom.

Eyewitnesses to this horrific death wrote accounts that have been preserved since James’s 5th-century execution, and he has come to be called “James Intercisus”–literally, James the Cut-Into-Pieces. Persian Christians, by stealth, scooped up 28 separate body parts of his, and buried them in secret locations. James Intercisus has been celebrated throughout the Latin and the Orthodox communions as well as among the Copts.

It is unknown whether James’s wife or his mother were present to support him at his execution.

Presumably, God was glorified.