Epistle of James
The Epistle of James, often titled simply, James, is a letter canonized into pretty much all Christian bibles. The author identifies himself as "James," and is writing to the 12 Jewish tribes, though, the identity of the physical recipient is unknown.
The letter directs new Jewish Christians to continue to follow the tenants of their religion, refrain from evil things, and have faith in theos (God) and kýrios (Lord). It also stresses the importance of good works as necessary proof for faith.
Authorship and Dating
The author identifies himself simply as "James," but there are at least six people in the New Testament with that name, two of which are described as "apostles of Jesus," as well as any number of people named James not mentioned in the bible. Christians can't agree on which, but the most common belief comes from Catholic tradition which maintains that the author is James, son of Alphaeus who they also believe is the same person as James the Just. The document is dated by scholars anywhere between 60 CE and 125 CE. Those who believe the Catholic tradition have no choice but to believe an early date when James would still be alive. No historical documents acknowledge the letter's existence until around 180 CE. The majority of Christians didn't agree the epistle should be part of the Christian canon until around 350 CE.
Status
I have several translations of this book from various bibles, and have read the NIV.
Review
Good
- Some good advice is scattered throughout the letter like (1:19), "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." It's far from profound, but it's a generally good idea to follow.
- The author warns against giving undue respect to rich people (2:2-9), which is wise.
Bad
- The letter is lacking in structure. Aside from the single-sentence introduction, the letter is a mishmash of thoughts and ends abruptly.
- More of the same from the previous epistles. Just a bunch of generic "don't do bad things, do good things." And the author repeats himself several times making for boring reading.
- The author says that God doesn't temp men (1:13), but there are several instances of God temping men throughout the bible.
- 2:14-18, 24 explains how faith without deeds is useless, which contradicts contradicts Romans 4:5, and says that faith by itself won't feed or clothe you, which is the opposite of what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-26.
- The author makes everything out to be black and white. If you're humble, you're of God, but if you're selfish, you're of the devil (3:13). While I can understand this as a general rule, the author doesn't leave room for any nuance. Is it selfish to keep food for the future in order to prevent starvation, or should you always humbly give it away to the hungry and run the risk of your own starvation?
Ugly
- The author suggests that, no matter how well you follow the majority of the laws, if you ever break a single one, you're guilty of breaking them all (2:10). In the Gospels, Jesus makes similar ridiculous statements which go against any semblance of justice. If someone steals a candy bar, we don't charge them rape, nor should we.
- The author points to the Binding of Isaac as a great example of good works through faith (2:21).
- The author suggests that the most important thing for a Christian to do, even above not bragging, not oppressing, not playing favorites, and even more important than submitting yourself to God, is to not swear oaths! (4:12). This hugely contradicts the majority of the bible.
Links
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_of_James - Wikipedia.
