A Brief Survey of James, Part 1
In the Greek, his
name is Ἰάκωβος,
Jacob, rather than James. The name change occurred as the New Testament
underwent translations from Greek to Latin and Latin to English. In fact, all individuals in the New Testament
named James are actually Ἰάκωβος in Greek.
The author of this
Epistle was without doubt James, the brother of our Lord. There are three distinguished persons in the
New Testament who bear the name James: James, the son of Zebedee, John’s
brother – one of the Twelve; James the son of Alphaeus, also of the Twelve,
called James the Less[i];
and James, called by Paul in Galatians "the brother of our Lord,”[ii]
the man who appears in Acts 15 as wielding a paramount influence in the church
at Jerusalem. The epistle could not have been written by James, the brother of
John, for he was martyred by Herod[iii]
before its date. Therefore the authorship must be ascribed either to James, the
son of Alphaeus, or to James, "the Lord's brother."
From the earliest
days of the Church the latter has been agreed upon as the author. All known facts about him point to this
conclusion as well. He was a permanent
resident of Jerusalem St. Paul
Some commentators
have assumed the author to be James, the son of Alphaeus, a cousin of the Lord,
instead of a brother. This theory usually
hinges upon the supposed “perpetual virginity” of Mary. If she had no other children than Christ, his
“brothers” could not be literal siblings.
There are four facts that militate against this theory:
- It is highly unlikely Clopas’
wife was Mary’s sister – this would entail two sisters with the same name.
John names two pairs: Mary and her
sister, and Mary the wife of
Clopas. The sister, no doubt, was
Salome, John’s mother. Hence, John
was Mary’s nephew. Since at the
times of the Crucifixion none of Christ’s brothers were believers, it is
in this connection that Jesus assigns the care of his mother to John
instead of his own brothers.
- We are explicitly told that
Jesus’ brothers were not believers.
Consequently none of them could have been of the number of the
apostles.
- They are never called cousins of
Jesus nor is there any proof that the Greek word which designates them as
"brethren" is ever used in the sense of cousins in the New
Testament.
- After the Resurrection, when
these brothers had become believers, they are distinguished from the
Twelve[v]. This fact cannot be explained if at
least two out of four of them were of the Twelve. It is true that in Galatians
These facts seem to
me to clearly indicate that James, Christ’s brother, the author of the Epistle,
was not one of the Twelve and was a brother to our Lord in the sense that he
was a child of Mary.
James’ prominence
in the early church can be seen in the following references: Acts 12:7; 15:19 ; 21:18 ; Galatians 1:19; 2:9; 2:12 .
The New Testament is silent concerning his later history but Josephus,
the Jewish historian says “[Ananias] assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and
brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was
James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an
accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.”[vi]
Date:
The date of the
Epistle is difficult to ascertain. Based
on internal evidence most commentators place it in the period between Paul’s
two imprisonments in Rome Jerusalem
Canonicity:
In the early
Patristic age there was some questions as to its canonicity, but these passed
away rather soon. Clement of Rome 2:23 .[ix] According to Cassiodorus, Clement of
Alexandria commented on it.[x] Ephraim the Syrian quotes 5:1.[xi]
A strong proof of its authenticity is
that it formed part of the old Syriac version, which contains no other of the
disputed books, except Hebrews.[xii]
James’ inspiration
as an apostle is expressly referred to in Acts 15:19, 28: "My sentence
is…It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us." His ecclesiastical authority is implied by
the deference paid to him by Peter and Paul.[xiii]
The Lord had appeared specially to him
after the resurrection.[xiv]
Peter in his First Epistle (universally
from the first received as canonical) implicitly confirms the inspiration of
James's Epistle by incorporating with his own inspired writings no less than ten passages from James. The "apostle of the circumcision,"
Peter, and the first bishop of Jerusalem Jerusalem
Audience:
The recipients of
this letter were the Jewish Christians who were part of the Diaspora, i.e., the Dispersion of the
Jews throughout the world. This would
seem to explain why, when in Chapter 2, in his discourse against favoritism, he
calls their assembly a συναγωγὴ - a synagogue, instead of ἐκκλησία.
Object:
James’ object was
to enforce the practical duties of the Christian life. This largely accounts for the Epistle’s
conspicuous lack of doctrinal statements.
The Epistles of Paul are usually an even balance: one half theology, one
half application. For instance, the
first three chapters of Ephesians are purely theological pronouncements. Chapters 4-6 however are the application of
the foregoing doctrines. Galatians is
divided the same way as well. This letter however contains 100%
application, insinuating that the theology James is applying was familiar
enough to his audience that he could forego repeating it. He warns against several Jewish vices:
·
Formalism, which made the service of
God consist in washings and outward ceremonies.
He therefore reminds them (1:27 )
that it consists rather in active love and purity.
·
Fanaticism, which, under the cloak of
religious zeal, was tearing Jerusalem 1:20 ).
·
Fatalism, which threw its sins on God
(1:13 ).
·
Callousness, which crouched before the
rich (2:2).
·
Falsehood, which had made words and
oaths play-things (3:2-12);
·
Partisanship (3:14 );
·
Evil speaking (4:11 );
·
Boasting (4:16 );
·
Oppression (5:4).
The grand lesson he
teaches them as Christians is patience:
- patience in trial (1:2),
- patience in good works (
- patience under provocation (
- patience under oppression (5:7),
- patience under persecution (
- the ground of their patience is
that the coming of the Lord draws near, which will right all wrong (5:8).
[i] Mark 15:40
[ii] Galatians 1:19
[iii] Acts 12:2
[iv] Galatians 2:9
[v] Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:5
[vi] Antiquities 20.9.1
[vii] Clement of Rome Corinth
[viii] Hermas, The Shepherd
[ix] Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.16.2
[x] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s
Commentary: Introduction to James
[xi] Ephraim the Syrian, Against the Greeks
[xii] Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s
Commentary: Introduction to James
[xiii] Acts 12:17 ; 21:18 ;
Galatians 1:19; 2:9
[xiv] 1Cor. 15:7
[xv] Compare James 1:1 with 1 Peter 1:1;
James 1:2 with 1 Peter 1:6; 4:12, 13; James 1:11 with 1 Peter 1:24; James 1:18
with 1 Peter 1:3; James 2:7 with 1 Peter 4:14; James 3:13 with 1 Peter 2:12;
James 4:1 with 1 Peter 2:11; James 4:6 with 1 Peter 5:5, 6; James 4:7 with 1
Peter 5:6, 9; James 4:10 with 1 Peter 5:6; James 5:20 with 1 Peter 4:6
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