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I am a bit confused about the identity of the two James in the New Testament. There is: James son of Zebedee, brother of John; James the brother of the Lord; and James son of Alpheus.  Is it correct that:

• The disciple James, the Lord’s brother is James the son of Alpheus who surprisingly enough, did not believe until the Lord had appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:7)?


• James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, (the author of the fourth Gospel) are the cousins of Jesus?


• All the twelve disciples except John were martyred for their faith?

I am surprised that you are drawing this conclusion from the Holy Book of 1 Cor 15:7, that James did not believe until our Lord appeared to him. Does this also apply to the apostles when He appeared to them? James is without doubt the Bishop of Jerusalem (Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18; Galatians 1:19; 2:9-12) and the author of the first Catholic Epistle. His identity with “James the Less” (Mark 15:40) and the “Apostle James, the son of Alpheus” (Mt 10:3; Mark 3:18), is considered certain. There is no reasonable doubt that in Holy Book of Galatians 1:19: "But other of the apostles [besides Cephas] I saw none, except James the brother of the Lord", St. Paul represents James as a member of the Apostolic college. The purpose for which the statement is made, makes it clear that the "apostles" is to be taken strictly to designate the Twelve, and its truthfulness demands that the clause "except James" be understood to mean, that in addition to Cephas, St. Paul saw another Apostle, "James the brother of the Lord" (Acts 9:27). Besides, the prominence and authority of James among the Apostles (Acts 15:13; Galatians 2:9; in the latter text, he is even named before Cephas) could have belonged only to one of their number. Now there were only two Apostles named James: James the son of Zebedee, and James son of Alpheus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). The former is out of the question, since he was martyred at the time of the events to which Holy Book of Acts 15:6 and Holy Book of Galatians 2:9-12 refer (Acts 12:2). James "the brother of the Lord" is therefore one with James the son of Alpheus, and consequently with James the Less, the identity of these two being generally conceded. Again, on comparing the Holy Gospel of St. John 19:25 with the Holy Gospel of St Matthew 27:56, and the Holy Gospel of St. Mark 15:40 (Mark 15:47; 16:1), we find that Mary of Cleophas, or more correctly Clopas (Klopas), the sister of Mary the Mother of Christ, is the same as Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, or Joses. As married women are not distinguished by the addition of their father's name, Mary of Clopas must have been the wife of Clopas, and not his daughter, as has been maintained. Moreover, the names of her sons and the order in which they are given, no doubt the order of seniority, warrant us in identifying these sons with James and Joseph, or Joses, the "brethren" of the Lord. The existence among the early followers of Christ of two sets of brothers having the same names in the order of age, is not likely, and cannot be assumed without proof. Once this identity is conceded, the conclusion cannot well be avoided that Clopas and Alpheus are one person, even if the two names are quite distinct. It is commonly admitted, that Clopas and Alpheus are merely different transcriptions of the same Aramaic word Halphai. James and Joseph the "brethren" of the Lord are thus the sons of Alpheus.  Again comparing the Holy Gospel of St. John 19:25 with the Holy Gospel of St. Matthew 27:56 and the Holy Gospel of St. Mark 15:40, identify Mary the Mother of James the Less and of Joses in Mark and Matthew with "Mary of Cleophas" in John. Regarding the Holy Gospel of St. John 7:5; if you read the Holy Gospel of St. John 7:3-4, you will see that his brothers wanted Him to show Himself to the world; so they were encouraging Him to go to Judea so His disciples may see His works and believe in Him. So we should understand the Holy Gospel of St. John 7:5 that His brothers did not believe that He is the Messiah the savior of the world. And this is clear when the Lord asked the disciples what do they say about Him and only Simon Peter answered Him that He is Christ the son of the Living God.

There is a contention that James and John the sons of Zebedee were our Lord Jesus Christ’s cousins but there is no support for this opinion.

All Orthodox churches as well as the Catholic Church believe without doubt that eleven of the twelve apostles (with the exception of St. John the beloved) were martyred. There is no one book that gives the historical details of their death. It was mainly by aural tradition and writings of some historians that the accounts of their martyrdom were collected. Some of these accounts had been found in the history of the city in which they were martyred or the place of their burial. Also you may find some details in the Coptic Synaxerium.