Jesus Works: The Letter of James

Sources: Luke Timothy Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation, rev. ed. (Fortress, 1999); William F. Brosend II, The New Cambridge Bible Commentary: James and Jude (Cambridge, 2004); Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 3d ed. (Oxford, 2004); I. Howard Marshall et al., Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Letters and Revelation (IVP, 2002), chapter 21; Geert Lernout, "Reception Theory," in Michael Groden and Martin Kreiswirth, The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism (Johns Hopkins, 1997).

I. What a Letter Says about Both Testaments
The greeting in this "letter" (1:1) says a lot.
From "James a servant of God and [the] Lord Jesus Christ":

probably the leader of the Jerusalem church.
Likely from Jerusalem, probably in or before 50's AD.

To "the twelve tribes of the dispersion."

Referring to Jewish Christians (cf. 2:21), or multiethnic Christians?
Scattered among literal Gentiles, nonmessianic Jews, or nonbelievers in general?*
Soon regathering (5:8)?

James refers to the breadth of Israel's scriptures throughout the letter:

Torah	Gen 1:26-27, 4:10, 22:9, 22:12; Ex 10:5, 20:13-14, 23:6; Lev 19:13-18; Deut 5:17-18, 11:14, 24:14-15
Prophets	Josh 2:4, 2:15, 6:17; 1 Kings 17:1, 18:42-45; Isa 5:9, 40:6-7; Jer 5:24; Dan 12:12; Zech 1:3; Mal 3:5-7
Writings	Job 5:11, 34:19; Ps 18:6, 21:9, 34:13, 102:4, 102:11, 103:8, 111:4, 140:3, 141:3; Prov 3:34, 10:12, 27:1; Eccl 7:9; Sir 5:11, 15:11-13

These 'social constructions' imply a whole 'worldview' or framework of understanding.

Discuss: Are James' people the same kind of people the Old Testament's people were? Or has something changed?

II. Receiving Faith
A text's reception describes the way readers 'actualize' (activate, or act on) it.

(So James has distinct 'reception histories' among Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, Methodists, and Mormons.)

But James is himself receiving earlier traditions.

Halakha refers to the body of practical Jewish law and tradition (cf. Aggadah) as living reception of God's Torah (instruction).
James seems the NT writing that is most positive toward its contemporary Judaism, critically affirming its culture.
Faithful life "receives with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21).
We can receive these traditions along with him.*

James subtly re-frames Jewish traditions under Christ's reign and teachings:

Allusions to the Sermon on the Mount and other teaching traditions of Jesus:
ask and you will receive (Matt 7:7, Luke 11:9)	1:5, 4:2-3
the kingdom belongs to the poor (Matt 5:3, Luke 6:20)	2:5
do not treasure up wealth (Matt 6:19-20, Luke 12:33)	5:2-3
those who laugh will mourn (Luke 6:21, 25)	4:9
woe on the rich (Luke 6:24)	5:1
swear no oaths (Matt 5:33-37)	5:12
the humble are exalted (Matt 23:12, Luke 14:11, 18:14)	4:10
... and much more teaching material, especially from Matthew and Luke
Tips of James' christological iceberg:
"a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ"	1:1
"birth by his word of truth, that we might become a kind of firstfruits"	1:18
"believe in our Lord Jesus Christ of glory"	2:1
"heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him"	2:5
"the Spirit he has made to dwell in us" (?)	4:5
"the coming of the Lord is near ... the Judge is standing at the doors"	5:8-9

"The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2:1) gives all threads of the OT's halakha continuing life:

The Law of Moses becomes the law of liberty (1:25) under which we operate (work) out of trust (faith) (ch 2).
The writings become life-giving wisdom from above (1:5-8, 1:19-24, chs 3-4).
The prophets become prophets of Christ's judgment on both the faithful and unmerciful (1:2-4, 1:9-18, 1:26-27, chs 4-5).

So James, like many NT writings, has a discernible "Old Testament theology."

III. Overture/Appetizer: James 1

Greeting	1:1
Rich and lowly	1:9-11	1:27-2:9, 4:13-5:6
Doing the word	1:22-27	2:10-26
Taming the Untamable tongue	1:19-21	3:1-12
Wisdom from above	1:5 (an LDS favorite)	3:13-4:10
Enduring trials	1:2-4, 12-18	5:7-11, 19-20
Trustful prayer	1:6-8	5:13-18

IV. Rich and Lowly (1:9-11, 1:27-2:9, 4:13-5:6)
"Boast in being brought low" (1:9, cf. Luke 1:46-55):

The word's universal justifying mercy triumphs over the tyranny of judgment according to social status (2:5, 13).
All the Kingdom's heirs (2:5) serve alongside one another in the assembly ('synagogue', 2:2).
Favoritism (2:1) is judgment (cf. 4:11) that violates both the gospel's inclusive love and the Torah's (Lev 19:15, 18).
Favoritism also mocks God's reversal by sharing in the wealthy's sin against the lowly (2:6-7, 9, 5:4).
Is only ill-gotten wealth (2:6, 5:4-6) dangerous? Or is all wealth (1:11, 4:13-5:3, cf. Matt 6:24) dangerous?

In this way, James' social ethic implies sturdy doctrines of salvation, the church, the end-times, and many others.

Discuss: What do our churches' social ethics assert that God has, and hasn't done?

VI. Taming the Untamable Tongue (1:19-21, 3:1-12)
Speech is further integrated with inner dispositions and outward actions.

Cf. Matt 12:33-37 on the heart: "How can you speak good things when you are evil?"
and Matt 15:11: "What comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them."
So our words compete with the implanted word, like tares and wheat (Matt 13:24-30);
however, here any impurity is a tragic flaw (cf. 2:10).

"This ought not be so" (3:10). James' implied goal is perfection:

purification of the heart (4:8),
transformation of the tongue from a destructive fire to a restraining bit to a guiding rudder (3:3-6),
"making no mistakes in speaking" (3:2; through 1:19's listening and silence?),
freedom from partiality and hypocrisy (3:17), and
fitness for teaching (3:1b, cf. Matt 23:8-10, 13:51-52), leadership, and inheritance.

This material (and what follows) sketches James' doctrines of sin, depravity, and grace.

Discuss: Is 'taming the tongue' a practical way (like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to discipline the heart and achieve integrity and perfection?

VII. Wisdom from Above (1:5, 3:13-4:10)
Inward and outward conflicts reflect warring pleasures (hêdonai),

"friendship with the world ... enmity with God" (4:1-4, cf. Hosea 3).
The wise, by contrast, exhibit consistent righteousness (3:18).

Such conflictedness is a sign of God's ongoing pursuit of us (4:5, which does not seem to be a quotation, and 4:6).

We are struggling against our new God-birthed selves (1:18), rather than striving to attain them.
James is no Pelagian!*

Our stubborn, ugly impurity can be rectified through "wisdom from above" (3:17).

Here reception looks like humbling, drawing near, submission, cleansing/purifying, lamenting, resisting evil:
not moral or spiritual heroism but trust, vulnerability, and perseverance.

The contrast and change suggest a doctrine of the Holy Spirit. (And Pentecost?)

Discuss: How does this compare with Gal 5 on the Spirit versus the flesh? How does it apply in your church life?

VIII. Enduring Trials (1:2-4, 1:12-18, 5:7-11, 5:19-20)
A temptation: When suffering, we can project the consequences of our own desires onto a God we then mistrust (1:13).

God the Father bestows only good.
God's specific intent is for his word-birthed heirs to be (sacrificial?) "firstfruits" of new creation (1:18).
So trials are not abandonment but refining and glorifying.

Trials call for patience and readiness in hope of the Lord's coming (5:7-11, cf. Beatitudes in Matthew 5's context).

Impatience and patience manifest themselves in a variety of different, sometimes nonintuitive, behaviors (4:13-5:5, 5:10-20).

James' doctrine of God and apocalyptic eschatology* are key to his "interim ethic."

Discuss: What do eschatological impatience and patience look like in your context?

IX. Trustful Prayer (1:6-8, 5:13-20)
James contrasts passive neediness, unstable "double-mindedness," and patient, insistent, powerful prayer.

(Similar to unbelief, 'faith,' and 'works' in 2:14-26?)
The differences lie in the faith and hope of those praying.
The setting (and underlying doctrine) concerns reconciliation,
and implies an ecclesiology with determinative relationships to God and others.

Discuss:

Does James' assurance underwrite a prosperity gospel?
Does unanswered prayer imply spiritual inadequacy?
What would you advise for passive, untrusting, unstable, or hopeless people to do?

X. Conclusion: Faith (and Hope and Love) as Ethics
N.T. Wright (After You Believe) contrasts the NT's priority on Christian character development

with our contemporary culture's reliance on rules or authenticity.

James is characteristically (but not at all uniquely) and distinctly ethical in its theology.

James frames character not in (Greek, patristic, and medieval) terms of virtue and vice,
but in basically Jewish apocalyptic terms of "sin leading to death" and receiving "the crown of life."

James' parenesis reads like Rom 12-15, Eph 4-6, 1 Thess 4, and many other biblical exhortations.

What does it mean that James is not prefaced by the kind of Aggadah or instruction in Rom 1-11 or Eph 1-3?
Is James' theological framework absent, embryonic, or presupposed?
Is his audience's?

Christians have historically received James in uneven ways. How should we receive it?

Discuss: Is James Judaism with a Christian label or veneer (so Luther)?
... Christian faith for Jews only?
... embryonic Christianity (e.g., "From Jesus to Christ")?
... the Jewish core and goal of Christian faith?
... inconvenient proof that Protestants preach cheap grace?
... in the context of the whole NT a warrant for a multicultural Church?
... something else?