The book of James is often treated as the poor man’s relation to Paul’s epistles. Luther infamously described it as an “epistle of straw” and I think many, like him have seen it as troublesome, potentially in conflict with the message of justification by faith and salvation by grace alone that we see in Romans, Ephesians and Galatians. Occasionally someone will pull out a quote about the danger of the tongue or use chapter 5 to instruct on healing ministry. However, it isn’t a go to book for preaching series in the same way that the aforementioned Pauline epistles are.
I suspect another factor is that the style is very different to other New Testament books and that makes for a challenging read. The structure and flow take some work to follow. In my opinion, there are similarities in terms of genre with the Old Testament wisdom literature. Try reading it in the same way as you would the Proverbs and put out of mind your approach to reading Paul and that might help.
If the book has been neglected, then that is a shame. Far from contradicting Paul, James complements his teaching. The letter has much to teach us about what it means to follow Jesus and to live fruitful lives as a result of God’s grace to us.
Date and Author
The date and authorship of the epistle are wrapped up together to some extent. There were a number of possible candidates in the New Testament church who took the name James, or more properly Jakob. The most obvious options are James, the apostle, one of the twelve disciples and the brother of John or alternatively James, the brother of Jesus who became an elder in the early church and seems to have been recognised as having apostolic status.
James, the disciple tends to be ruled out quickly because it is assumed that the earliest date for other books would have been from the 50s onwards. Galatians is often presumed to be the first piece of New Testament literature written and James is seen as a response to this. This would make the letter too late for the disciple to have written it given his early martyrdom.
So, James, the brother of Jesus, is the one most often associated with the letter, although unlike Jude, the author doesn’t mention his relationship to Jesus beyond being “a slave” of him. However, if the letter is a response to Paul, this might make sense given that James, directly or indirectly seems to have been connected with the Judaizers in Galatians 2. So, it is possible that this James would want to set the record straight.
However, perhaps there has been too much of a tendency to read James in the light of others and as Scott McKnight suggests, we simply need to “read James in the light of James.”[1] There are strong arguments that far from being a response to Paul, this letter, especially James 2:14-26 point away from the author having a detailed knowledge of Galatians.[2] Perhaps in fact, rather than seeking to respond to another apostle, James is writing on his own terms to deal with other concerns and maybe, just maybe, Paul would have agreed entirely with him and made the same points if in his own way.
Certainly, when James deals with the issue of works and faith, his concern is more with charitable deeds than ceremonial Torah observance. This means that it is possible that those James is engaging with have corrupted Paul’s teaching to turn it against its opposite intent of love and welcome to the most needy in the church. It is also possible, that the Judaizers had corrupted James’ reminders that good works are a part of the Christian life and evidence of faith.
All of this means that the letter may well have been written prior to AD44 and even as early as the late 30s. This means that is possible that James the disciple could have written it. However, James, the brother of Jesus still seems more likely. Certainly, church traditional from earliest times has pretty much universally associated the letter with him.[3]
Crucially, the letter is from one of the early leaders of the church, it is written by a close companion and eyewitness of Jesus. If it is from the disciple, then this was a man whose reputation was one of “the sons of thunder” and who had craved power and position in Christ’s kingdom. If it is from the brother, then this was one who had initially been a cynic, considering his brother a madman. Either way, then, the letter bears testimony to the power of the Gospel, through the work of the Holy Spirit to change a person’s life completely. Neither the disciple, nor the brother would have written these kinds of things before the resurrection.
Intended audience
Unlike Paul’s letters to specific churches, James writes more generally. His letter is addressed “To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.”[4] This suggests that the letter was intended to be circulated to various young churches around the known world of the time. The description of “scattering” indicates that it is intended for Christians who have been exiled from their homelands. This could refer to the Jewish diaspora, many Jews had not returned from exile and were spread out throughout the Empire, these were often the first witnessed to by Paul and others on their missionary journey. There are clues in the vocabulary of the letter, such as the reference to synagogues that James may have primarily intended a Jewish Christian audience. However, there were also Gentile Christians who had been dispersed through persecution and it may be that the reference to the “twelve tribes” is intended more figuratively for the whole church as God’s people.[5]
My inclination is that the primary recipients were Jewish Christians and this will help us to understand the context of the letter better. However, I would have expected Gentile and Jewish coverts to be worshipping together in the same congregations and so, the letter would have had broader application, just as it is relevant to believers today.
What is James all about?
James’ reason for writing can be found right at the start of the letter. AS we’ve already seen, the letter is written to those “scattered” this already alludes to the audience being those who are likely to have suffered loss and persecution, whether now or in the past. It also sets them up as the underdogs in the society they now live in. James goes on to write:
2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
This confirms that James’ concern is for those who were experience trials and suffering. He wants to encourage them to persevere and not to give up on Jesus and the Gospel.
If they were suffering, then we will next want to think about what the cause of the suffering was and where the danger was coming from. Now, it is possible, probable even that there had been outside persecution. They lived in a world that would have been hostile to them and their beliefs. If they were Jewish Christians then they were subject to double the discrimination.
However, James sees the primary danger as coming not from the outside but from inside the church. There are two related aspects to this. First, the biggest danger is not that they will suffer physical harm but that their faith will take a knock, that they will lack grounding and stability.[6]
Secondly, especially with shallow and unstable faith, there is a risk of selfishness as people seek to survive and look after themselves in harsh. So, a great danger is that they will be divided, that they will fail to look after one another and so suffering will be exacerbated, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. All of this could happen whilst covered with a veneer of piety.[7]
This may help us to understand a bit better what is going on in the letter and particularly those areas that have become controversial. When James writes about faith and works, his concern is to ensure that the believers have a true, deep, robust faith that will last and that will enable them to live for Christ by loving one another. This also helps us see why towards the end, James will pick up on the question of faith, prayer and healing. It is highly likely that Christians facing suffering will have had to endure sickness as part of that. The big question then is whether their response to sickness, as with other suffering will be characterised by faith and whether that faith will lead to practical action.
James, therefore, speaks to us today. We live as God’s people, spiritual exiles, scattered in his world and this means that we will to different degrees face different types of suffering. How will we respond? Will the way that we face our trials and look out for each other evidence deep trust in Christ, a growing faith and love, or will it point to something different?
Structure and Overview
I would suggest that the argument in the book develops as follows.
Greetings to a scattered people (1:1) James identifies himself as a slave of God and Christ and writes to an audience of scattered exiles.
Hope for a suffering church (1:2-18). James writes to Christians who are suffering, in order to encourage them in two ways. First, he encourages them by reminding them of the good purposes of suffering, God tests, proves and refines us for our good and his glory. Secondly, he identifies the great need of believers when facing fiery trials as “wisdom.” This is something we are to exercise faith in trusting God for. James is a piece of wisdom literature.
Faith and Words, hearers and doers (1:19-2:26) Jesus used the parable of the wise man who built his house upon a rock to show that we need to be both hearers and doers. It is no surprise then to find James arguing that true wisdom is about faith and works, hearing and doing together.
Wisdom and Self-control (3:1-18). Self-control is a fruit of the spirit and evidence of faith and wisdom. This is exemplified by what we say as well as what we do. The tongue can be used to build up or to destroy.
Faith and submission (4:1-12). If Solomon argued that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning if wisdom”, James will say that faith is about submitting to God, not siding with the world and not resisting him. So, submission will lead to sanctification as God works in our lives.
Boasting and the Future (4:13-5:20). True faith and true wisdom are characterised by humility. This means that we have grounded hope in God to preserve us but we do not boast and make grand claims and plans for the future. In fact, such grand boasts may be an escape from the reality of suffering now. Instead, again our eyes are turned back to what it means to live with practical faith now because of confident hope in the future promise. This includes repentance and the prayer of faith, seeking God’s help in times of trouble.
The Message of James
We can sum up the message of James as being about how we live in the face of suffering with faith. Faith in Jesus enables us to face our own suffering with joy, to help others in their own suffering and to confidently seek help through prayer as we face our own.
[1] McKnight, The Letter of James, 1.
[2] Carson, Moo and Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, 414. See also Bernier, Rethinking the dates of the New Testament, 198.
[3] McKnight, The letter of James, 15.
[4] James 1:1.
[5] See Carson, Moo, Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, 414.
[6] James 1:6.
[7] James 2:1-26.
Faithroots 