James Lecture

Background

• James the Brother of Jesus - James the Just

• Twelve tribes in the dispersion - open letter to followers of The Way that were outside of Jerusalem

• Catholic - universal (not Roman Catholic)

• Diatribe - calls out opponents in an angry tone

• Purpose - oppose superficial and worldly religion to promote true faith (deeds not just words)

Critical Issues

• Authorship - why doesn’t he say he is the brother of Jesus?

• Is this Christian? - sounds very similar to Jewish traditional texts with emphasis on the law

Themes: True Faith

• Wise Life - James 1:5, 3:17

• The Way - Didache (follow the way of light and life or the other path to death and destruction)

Themes: Faith and Works

• Response to Paul? - especially to correct Paul’s teaching on the law

  • Faith without works is dead

  • Abraham

Themes: Rich and Poor

• Harsh words for the rich - James 5:1

• No Partially - wealthy and rich got special treatment, James 2:1

• Humility - rich need to make themselves humble, James 1:9

• Generosity - rich need to be generous, James 5:4

• Cannot serve God and Mammon - “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”

  • Mammon - Wealth regarded as an evil influence or an idol