introducing the book of James

“World’s Best Burgers!” What an extravagant claim – at least I thought so as I was sitting with friends for lunch at a restaurant near our church. Who can really say they have the “best” burgers in the entire world? Who can even say they have the “best” burgers in their own city? According to whom? Of course, none of these questions matter when it comes to marketing. Messages that scream, “whiter teeth,” “quicker weight loss,” “greatest ever,” are meant to infiltrate our brains so we buy the new, improved, best item available on the market for whatever purpose we have come to believe is vital. Cars, clothes, smart phones, cosmetics, and the latest technological device are guaranteed to bring happiness, friends, and a more efficient life. Similarly, they promise to make us feel good about ourselves. The latest candidate up for election makes promises that everyone wants to hear. Yet talk is cheap. Too frequently, and often too late, we realize the boasts made were hollow and quite far from the truth.

Christians are also notorious for making great claims while being guilty of belying them with duplicitous actions. “Jesus is the answer!” … “Trust in God and be healed!” … “Go to church and be different!” Professing to trust God and to be His people, many Christians actually cling tightly to the world and its values. Knowing all the right answers, they contradict the Good News with their lives.

With straightforward words and often times a harsh tone, James confronts Christians who say they believe one thing while living another way. It is not enough to talk the Christian faith. It is not enough to go to church. James says; we must live the Christian faith. We must be the church. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds?” (2:14). The proof of the reality of our faith is a transformed life! Genuine faith will inevitably produce good deeds. Theologically, James explores seven areas for Christians to consider as they live the faith including 1) Suffering/Testing, 2) Eschatology, 3) Christology, 4) Poverty-Piety, 5) Law, Grace, and Faith, 6) Wisdom, and 7) Prayer. Central, then, to James’ message is his concern for Christians to continue to walk strongly in faith amidst a world of temptation, spiritual attack and persecution.

James in the New Testament
Today, the book of James is a favorite among many in the church. However, this wasn’t always the case. The book of James struggled through a long and difficult fight to get into the New Testament. Even after its inclusion, it was spoken of with a certain suspicion.

In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther would have gladly banished James from the New Testament altogether. Its lack of reference to Christ and its apparent disagreement with Paul add to Luther’s assessment of the book as a limited help to Christian formation. As such, the book was late in emerging in the Latin Church; but Jerome’s inclusion of James in the Vulgate, and Augustine’s full acceptance of it, gave the book its deserved full recognition.

James, the brother of Jesus, died a martyr’s death. Josephus briefly mentions his death (Antiquities 20:9.1):

So Ananus, being that kind of man, and thinking he had a good opportunity because Festus was dead and Albinus not yet arrived, holds a judicial council; and he brought before it the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ-James was his name-and some others, and on the charge of violating the Law he gave them over to be stoned.

James willingly lost his life for the message he passed on to us. This gives us all the more reason to pay attention to his words.

Origin of James
The letter was most likely written in two (or three) stages. The original text was a sermon given by James either around 49AD, before the Jerusalem council in 50AD, or in the months prior to his martyrdom in the 62AD. Later, someone skilled in Hellenistic rhetoric edited, expanded, and distributed the sermon in the form of a circular letter, probably in the late 80s or 90s. It went to churches scattered outside of Palestine (Diaspora) that were in disarray and needed to hear the authoritative voice of the Jerusalem church’s leader. Its aim was to instruct Jewish Christians in making their new found faith practical, while they were experiencing the stress of living in a time of hostility.

The Message of James
The book of James falls under the genre General Epistle. Thus, it is a universal letter, written to any Christian audience of any era. The letter takes its name from the authority and tradition associated with James, the brother of Jesus (cf. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Galatians 1:19), who eventually became the leader of the church in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9,12; Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18).

James is a book of moral instruction and wisdom sayings, inspired by different passages in the Scriptures. The instructions stem from the Hebrew Bible (a Jewish worldview) and the Jesus tradition (cf. Matthew and Luke). There may also be references to Paul’s teaching, though this is uncertain. In general, the letter is a hybrid of pastoral, prophetic, and teaching tones, addressing a people in crisis. The basic message is an urgent appeal and encouragement for those who call themselves Christians to adopt a courageous faith that will help them walk through the trials of life, and that will produce in them heightened moral integrity and loving actions.

James and Paul
In dealing with issues of concern to Jewish Christians, the letter (particularly in 2:14-26) appears to oppose the thinking of Paul on the issue of the relationship between faith and works, and the means by which a believer attains “justification,” that is, right standing with God. Such a view is what caused Martin Luther to assess the book of James as “an epistle of straw” because it seemingly belittled the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Paul and James each interpret a verse from the Hebrew Bible –“And he [Abraham] believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6)- to support his own view (Paul in Galatians 3:6-14, James in 2:21-24). For Paul, the believer’s justification comes through faith, not works (Romans 4:16-5:2). For James, faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead (2:17). The conflict, however, is more apparent than real. For Paul, faith is primarily trust in God (Romans 4:5), a sense of the word that James also shares (1:5); but, in his critique of faith, James means by it essentially the assent to ideas about God without any obligation to adhering to the covenant of being God’s chosen people, or the commitment to follow Jesus’ life example. Thus his statement, even demons believe (2:19). James sees deeds as the acts that spring from the love of the believer for God (2:14), whereas for Paul deeds are the external observations of ritual, like circumcision, regarded in isolation from any connection to one’s relationship with God.

It is quite difficult for the reader to find a cohesive flow, as James appears to skip from one topic to another without much connection. The intrinsic unity, however, can be seen if one views the letter as a reaction to the circumstances in which these early Christians found themselves. The Christian gatherings were tiny minorities existing within large populations that were indifferent or hostile to their beliefs. James is concerned that these early Christian groups should not adopt, or fall back into, the values or the behavior of the surrounding population (4:4), and that they take care of one another as the family of God.

Overview
Chapter 1 provides the letter’s structure and sets out the basic issue to be faced: how is the Church to cope with life’s troubles while maintaining an accurate understanding of God and their role as God’s people? The second main section expounds on the existence of the Church in two ways: 1) a practicing of the Word and, 2) a call to resistance. James is a sermon. As we approach this short letter, as we faithfully and diligently study the words spoken, we need to hear these words as a call to live as the Church. In doing this, we will truly be thankful to the Lord for preserving this work for our edification and inspiration.