, whose judgment was adopted in the
Apostolic Decree of , "...we should write to them [Gentiles] to abstain only from
things polluted by idols and from
fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from
blood..." (
NRSV) The
early Christian community of Jerusalem was led by a Council of
Elders, and considered itself part of the wider Jewish community. This collegiate system of government in Jerusalem is seen in and . Eusebius provides the names of an unbroken succession of thirty-six
Bishops of Jerusalem up to the year 324. The first fifteen of these bishops were of Jewish origin (from
James the Just through
Judas). Eusebius wrote that the bishops were Hebrew until
Hadrian suppressed the
Bar Kokhba revolt. After this the bishops were
gentiles. :"But since the bishops of the
circumcision ceased at this time [after
Bar Kokhba's revolt], it is proper to give here a list of their names from the beginning. The first, then, was James, the so-called brother of the Lord; the second, Symeon; the third, Justus; the fourth, Zacchaeus; the fifth, Tobias; the sixth, Benjamin; the seventh, John; the eighth, Matthias; the ninth, Philip; the tenth, Seneca; the eleventh, Justus; the twelfth, Levi; the thirteenth, Ephres; the fourteenth, Joseph; and finally, the fifteenth, Judas. These are the bishops of Jerusalem that lived between the
age of the apostles and the time referred to, all of them belonging to the circumcision." •
James the Just (until 62) •
Simeon I (62–107) •
Justus I (107–113) •
Zaccheus (113–116) •
Tobias (116–116) •
Benjamin I (116–117) •
John I (117–119) •
Matthias I (119–120) •
Philip (120–124) •
Senecas (124–1??) •
Justus II (1??–1??) •
Levis (1??–1??) •
Ephram (1??–1??) •
Joseph I (1??–1??) •
Judas (1??–135) ==Bishops of Aelia Capitolina==