Epistle of James: Intro

James Intro (1:1) The Epistle of James has had a controversial history. It had a hard fight to get into the cannon of scripture especially in the west. ·      The Latin speaking church fathers never mention it until the 4th century ·      James is absent from the Muratorian Canon (170 AD), which was the first list of NT books we have in the West ·      James seemed to be a late addition in the Western Christian church The Greeks in the East accepted James early. ·      Origen was the first to quote it in the 200s and attributes it to James brother of Jesus ·      Eusebius accepted James in his list of writings but notes that he was aware that other did not. ·      Athanasius in his famous Eastern list on the Canon (which includes our exact list of NT writings) included James without question and since them it has not been questioned until the reformation. ·      Luther called James an “epistle of straw” and wanted it, along with Hebrews, Jude, and Revelation, removed from his Canon. He claimed, “it contains nothing of the gospel”. Why is James’ canonicity controversial? ·      James only mentions Jesus twice in the letter (James 1:1, 2:1) ·      Some have thought that James’ view of justification to be at odds or contradiction with Paul ·      An emphasis on action (doing) rather than mental ascent (knowing/believing). This makes trouble in reformed theology. James 1:1a Author and Date The Early Church credit the letter to James Jesus’ brother. Origen and Eusebius identify him as the author and as the bishop of Jerusalem.  Eusebius and Josephus both report him as a martyr for the gospel. He was stoned to death around 62 AD.  Many scholars date it to 62 AD shortly before his death. Bondservant Absolute obedience, absolute humility, absolute loyalty- All in discipleship Audience James 1:1b The twelve tribes in the Diaspora has a few equally valid possible meanings. ·      The Diaspora was a common term for the 10 northern tribes (Israel) scattered by Assyria during the exile. But James writes to 12 tribes. ·      This could be Jews outside of Jerusalem. Though there were many messianic Jews at this time, this view is unlikely that this is strictly Jewish. ·      This could mean Christian- Jews outside of Palestine. Following the persecution of Stephen, the church spread out. This could be combining both the Jews of the southern tribes that returned to Israel and the norther tribes scattered in Asia Minor and beyond. ·      The phrase could have a 3rd meaning - To the Christians- the Christian Church was the true Israel. At the end of Galatians, Paul sends his blessing to the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). Peter calls Jews and gentiles in 1 Peter Exiles. Paul calls Jews and Gentiles the one new man and inheritors of the promises (Eph 1 & 2).  This notion comes through Jesus being the fulfillment of Israel and the true Jew and all those on Him are considered to be Jews. o   James could be using this to address Christian Jews and Gentiles as “all Israel” in the Diaspora throughout the world. Circumstance and Themes James seems to be giving an exhortation to congregations outside of Jerusalem. Remember our apostle episode where we talked about the Jerusalem model of churches being planted though persecution and spreading. These are likely people who had been part of Body life with James in the past. ·      James is encouraging these Christians thought trials but he is also correcting behavior ·      James 1:2-12 outlines the main points of the letter o   How trials lead to completeness (1:2-4) o   Seek Wisdom from Above and not from the World (1:5-8) o   Favoritism and social status (wealth) have no place in the Upside-down Kingdom (1:9-11) ·      James 1:13-27 takes the same 3 issue and gets more specific o   The blame God for your trials and temptations (1:13-18) o   True Wisdom results in action: Wise doers of the Word  are contrasted with fools who use anger to bring about God’s righteousness (1:19-25)