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)