Letter to James

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Letter to James

• A Letter from the Brother of Jesus!

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Authorship and Date

• author identifies himself as James, a servant of
  God and the Lord Jesus Christ
• because only one James was of such a stature,
  early Christians assumed this is Jesus brother.
• James, son of Zebedee (Jesus disciple) was
  martyred in 44 CE by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 122)
• this is questioned on following grounds
• excellence of the Greek (Jesus brother?)
• 214-26 a reaction to Paul which might suggest a
  date later than that of James death (AD 66)
• all in all, I think James authorship is worthy
  of acceptance.

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James, the Brother of Jesus

• takes its name from James, the brother of Jesus
  (Mt 1355, Gal 119)
• James became a leader in the Jerusalem church
  (Gal 29, Acts 1217)
• discovery of the James ossuary

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James and Jacob

• James is the English equivalent of the Greek
  Jacobus a common 1st century Jewish name
• there are two James named as Jesus disciples.
• James often listed with John (main disciple)
• James often called the less about whom nothing
  is known
• James, Jesus brother is a third James (I Cor
  95)
• He was apparently not a follower of Jesus during
  his ministry (Mat 1246-50)
• He is reportedly with the 12 after Jesus
  resurrection and ascension (Acts 114)
• James later is a leader of the Jerusalem Church
  (Acts 1214 1513 2118)

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The Inscription
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James the Church Leader

• James is one to whom Jesus appeared after the
  resurrection (I Cor 1517)
• Paul acknowledges James leadership (Gal 21-12)
• In Acts, James defends the Gentile mission of the
  church (ch 15)
• Josephus reports that James was put to death in
  Jerusalem a few years before the destruction of
  the temple in AD 70.

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Testimony of Josephus

• Ananus, supposing that he had an opportune moment
  with Festus having died and Albinus still on the
  way, convened the judges of the council or
  Sanhedrin and arraigned before them the brother
  of Jesus who was called Christ, James by name,
  and some others. Having brought the charge that
  they had violated the law, he handed them over to
  be stoned. (Ant. 20.200).

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The Epistle of James

• 11 the 12 tribes in the Dispersion
• letter intended for the church at large
• many affinities with Matthews gospel
• James 16 cf. Matt 77
• Jam 122, cf. Matt 534-37
• suggests that the recipients are Jewish
  Christians in or near Palestine
• vehemence against the unrighteous rich (26-7
  51-3)
• who oppress the community and blaspheme its name
• indicates the readers are socially marginalized
  and persecuted.

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Form and Content

• lacks epistolary characteristics
• appears to be composed of self-contained units
  without obvious development of thought or
  sustained argument
• frequently addresses brothers followed by the
  imperative
• which gives instructions to the community on
  various topics
• commonly called paraenesis
• resembles Sermon on the Mount
• or paraenetic sections of Pauls letters

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Table of Contents

• Chapter one serves as something of a table of
  contents for the book
• announces themes developed in chs 2-5
• separate units are held together by an emphasis
  on deeds or works whereby one keeps the law of
  liberty (125, 29, 10 411)
• one must become a doer of the word (122-23)
  and not a hearer only
• however, the law Christians keep however is the
  love commandment (28)
• no emphasis on ritual observance of the OT

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Outline of Contents

• I. Introduction
• II. Introduction of Main themes (12-27)
• enduring trials (12-4, 12-15)
• similar theme in 57-11)
• prayer and divine wisdom (15-8)
• Prayer and Faith in 513-18)
• Rich and poor (19-11)
• 21-13 rich and poor in assembly
• Wisdom from above (116-18)
• prayer and divine wisdom (313-410)

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Outline of Contents

• Use of the tongue (119-21)
• Use of the tongue (31-12)
• on swearing oaths (512)
• Doers of the Word (122-27)
• be doers of the word (214-26)
• doers of the law and judging ones brother
  (411-12)
• the recovery of a brother (519-20)

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The Love Commandment

• Observance of the love command precludes the show
  of partiality (21-13)
• lack of compassion for the poor (214-26)
• slanderous speech against a brother or sister
  (411-12 cf. 31-12)
• pure religion involves concern for the helpless
  (127)
• Christian behavior includes a pattern of life
  that is not controlled by desire (413-56)
• or worldliness (41-6) but submission to God
  (47-10)

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James and Paul

• James 214-24 and Rom 328
• Is James arguing with Paul right in the pages of
  the NT?
• Some say yes
• the language is so similar
• the fame of both authors so established
• some think it impossible that they are not
  arguing with each other
• James calls Paul a senseless person (v 20)!
• May be a literary fictional dialogue opponent

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James and Paul continued

• A close reading reveals that James seems to be
  arguing against a misunderstanding of Paul
• a critique of a misuse of Pauls teachings
• when Paul speaks of works of the law
• he refers to obeying commandments found in the
  Law like circumcision and dietary laws
• when James uses works, he means
• deeds of charity and mercy required for
  Christians (212-13)
• Paul also requires charity as central to all
  ethical Christian life

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Quote from NOAB

• For Paul, the believers justification comes
  through faith, not works (Rom 416-52). for
  James, faith by itself, if it has no works, is
  dead (217). The conflict, however, is more
  apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily
  trust in God (Rom 45), a sense of the word that
  James also shares (15), but in his critique of
  faith, James means by it essentially the assent
  to ideas about God without any personal
  relationship or commitment to inform them Even
  the demons believe and tremble (219). James
  sees works as the acts that spring from the love
  of the believer for God, whereas for Paul works
  are the external observation of ritual, like
  circumcision, regarded in isolation from any
  connection to ones relationship to God.

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James and Paul on Abraham

• in 214-26, James follows the Jewish tradition in
  arguing that Abrahams righteousness was
  demonstrated in deeds
• esp. in the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen 22)
• 1 Macc 251-52
• Paul emphasizes that Abraham was already declared
  righteous (Gen 15) before he knew the law or was
  tested
• Paul never mentions the Aqedah (binding of Isaac
  story in Gen 22).

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James Jewish Character

• the source of moral virtue is wisdom received
  from God (15, 17-18, 27a 317)
• Morality is supported by prayer and humility
  before God (46-10)
• community of Christians are assumed to be
  constantly in contact with each other (21-26
  41-2, 11)
• obligation to
• pray for sick and suffering
• and acknowledge their own sins,
• and bring sinners back to the truth (513-20)

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My favorite passages

• 12-8 Consider it all joy
• 21-13 Warning against Partiality
• 31-12 Taming the Tongue
• 313-18 Two Kinds of Wisdom
• 413-17 Boasting about Tomorrow
• 57-12 Patience in Suffering
• 513-18 The Prayer of Faith