The First Apocalypse of James was written in the Coptic language around the second half of the third century CE. It is regarded as part of the New Testament apocrypha. The text was first discovered in the last part of the month of December in 1945. It was found among 52 other Gnostic Christian texts contained in 13 codices or scrolls.

The writing of the Second Apocalypse of James likely originated in Greek with a text was probably written in middle of the 2nd century, placing its date before the First Apocalypse. Occasional appearance of a name or a word of Greek origin or influence is an indication of a translation from the Greek. This can prove helpful in our understanding of the Coptic text. The text narrates martyrdom of James the Just.
The gnostic text contains many Jewish-Christian themes, making many scholars think it may be one of the earlier texts and was likely written before The First Apocalypse of James.

The First Apocalypse of James is reasonably well preserved and fairly legible, but there are fragments missing, as the codex was brittle and pieces were broken away from the scroll. Another copy of the Apocalypse of James has recently been found in the Codex Tchacos, where it is simply titled 'James'. A Greek copy of the text, dating to the fifth century CE, was discovered in 2017 at Oxford University by Geoffrey Smith and Brent Landau, religious studies scholars at the University of Texas at Austin. It is thought this copy was used in a school environment to teach students to read and write. As the title implies, the text reports to have been written by James, one of the most influential leaders of the early church. The 1st century theologian, Clement of Rome, wrote that James was called the "bishop of bishops, who ruled Jerusalem, the Holy Church of the Hebrews, and all the Churches everywhere." According to this James was over the early Christian Church, which at that time consisted mostly of Jewish converts.

The Apocalypse of James is a revelation dialogue between Jesus and James, the man the Lord calls “Brother”. In the manuscript, Jesus clarifies the title by explaining that James is a brother in a purely spiritual sense. Jesus identifies his place and essence by saying, “I am an alien, a son of the Father's race”. This separates the “race” of the Lord from the human “race” of man and means their very substance is somehow different. In the text, James knows of the upcoming events of the Lord’s suffering and death. The knowledge, along with James’ inability to change the upcoming events engenders anxiety and questions. The Lord’s gives James secret knowledge in the form of teachings and explanation. This gnosis or knowledge places the Apocalypse of James in the realm of Valentinian Gnosticism.

The Second Apocalypse of James is less well preserved. The codex is missing in places, making the meaning of certain lines a matter of speculation. In the Second Apocalypse of James, the name of James' father and Mary's husband is given not as Joseph but as Theudas. The text reads, 'he (Jesus) is a brother of yours (James'). Unlike the First Apocalypse of James, the writer does not go out of his or her way to reject a bodily, material, or brotherhood relationship between Jesus and James. The text states that James and Jesus were nourished from the same milk. This reference to mother’s milk could easily be taken as spiritually metaphorical.

The wife of Theudas is named Mary, but whether this Mary is the same woman as the mother of Jesus is not clear from the text. The text features a kiss between James and Jesus, on the lips, in the way Jesus kissed Mary Magdalene in other gnostic texts. A kiss is a metaphor for the passing of gnosis.