James
Summary[i]
Writer: James
See Scofield
- Mat_4:21), called "the
Just" mentioned by Paul with Cephas and John as "pillars" in the
church at Jerusalem Gal_2:9. He seems
to have been, as a religious man, austere, legal, ceremonial Act_21:18-24.
Date: Tradition fixes the martyrdom of
James in the year 62, but his Epistle shows no trace of the larger revelations
concerning the church and the distinctive doctrines of grace made through the
Apostle Paul, nor even of the discussion concerning the relation of Gentile
converts to the law of Moses, which culminated in the first council (Acts 15),
over which James presided. This presumes the very early date of James, which
may confidently be set down as "the first Epistle to
Christians."--Weston.
Theme: By "the twelve tribes
scattered abroad" we are to understand, not Jews, but Christian Jews of
the Dispersion. The church began with such Act_2:5-11
and James, who seems not to have left Jerusalem, would feel a particular
pastoral responsibility for these scattered sheep. They still resorted to the
synagogues, or called their own assemblies by that name Jam_2:2, where "assembly" is
"synagogue" in the Gr.). It appears from Jam_2:1-8
that they still held the synagogue courts for the trial of causes arising
amongst themselves. The Epistle, then, is elementary in the extreme. To suppose
that Jam_2:14-26 is a polemic against
Paul's doctrine of justification is absurd. Neither Galatians nor Romans was
yet written.
James' theme, then, is
"religion" (Gr., threskeia, "outward religious service") as
the expression and proof of faith. He does not exalt works as against faith,
but faith as producing works. His style is that of the Wisdom-books of the O.T.
The divisions are
five:
1. The testing of faith (James 1:1 - 2:26).
2. The reality of faith tested by the tongue
(James 3:1-18).
3. The rebuke of worldliness (James 4:1-17).
4. The rich warned
5. Hortatory