THE LETTER OF ST. JAMES
Introduction
James 1:1-11
INTRODUCTION
Relationship of James to Paul
It is good to study James right after studying Romans 1-8. For all practical purposes James complements or completes the theological portion of Romans. When people take Romans 1-8 by itself, they can conclude that being free in Christ means they can do anything they want. This leads not to freedom, but to license. Instead of Law being a cruel taskmaster, the flesh can enslave a person. Ask any drug addict. That person may be free from the Law, but he is definitely enslaved to the flesh, something Paul himself warned against (Gal. 5:13—"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another"). Ask that drug addict if he enjoys his "freedom." On the other hand, when people take James by itself (or rather the way Martin Luther took it), they often conclude that Christianity is a religion of "do's" and "don't's." We get back to the very situation Paul fought against in Romans and Galatians. Neither conclusion though is correct and neither conclusion accurately reflects the documents. Freedom is not license, and acting freely responsibly is not enslavement.
The truth is that Christian faith will produce works; just like the apple tree naturally and automatically produces apples, so faith will produce fruit, that is works. In fact, the only kind of works which are Christian come from faith. Works and faith go hand-in-hand. It's just that faith produces works. Works is not a substitute for faith.
Just a side note here. Martin Luther who championed Romans and Galatians and their call to freedom really had a hard time with James. If James was not already a part of the established New Testament, he would have discarded it because he felt it contradicted Galatians; he went so far as to call it an “epistle of straw.” His attitude towards James and its teaching is tragic. He totally misunderstood James (and Romans), producing a terrible split within Christendom. Luther is guilty of separating works from faith, the sin of Satan (James 2:19). On the other hand, we as Catholics need to be careful to make sure our works flow from faith. If they don't, then we are committing the sin of the Pharisees. Whereas Luther basically condemned James for highlighting works, the fact is that if you look closely, you will see James uses the word "faith” several times in his letter. Paul and James don't contradict each other. They just highlight different aspects of the same faith/works nexus; they complete each other.
Purpose of the Letter of James
When we studied James, and Paul for that matter, we must go back 2,000 years to the situation James and his congregation were facing. Too often when we study James and Romans/Galatians we go back only 500 years to the false Protestant/Catholic controversy ginned up by Martin Luther. Neither James nor Paul was concerned about the use or misuse of indulgences. Paul to a large degree was dealing with those who claimed that works were the basis for salvation. James, while correcting a false interpretation of Paul, was concerned about the troubling situation his congregation found themselves in. To appreciate more fully the Letter of James, we need to understand what was going on about the time he wrote his letter.
The times James was addressing were similar to the ones of our day: turmoil. For over 100 years the Romans had ruled over Israel (63 BC - James' day, ~66 AD). That alone was bad enough to send any pious Jew into frenzy; however, the situation was worse in that many Jews collaborated with the Romans and profited off their fellow countrymen. In fact, many of the Jewish religious leaders were some of the worst at oppressing their countrymen. The household of Anna which controlled the priesthood from 6 AD - 66 AD was considered by the Jews of their day to be thoroughly corrupt. In fact, his son, Annas the Younger, was assassinated by the Jews in 66 AD because he urged collaboration with the Romans. By 66 AD many Jews in Israel had had their fill of the Romans and their Jewish collaborators. In 67 AD the Jews revolted, leading to the cataclysm of the Romans crushing the rebellion in 70 AD, resulting in the death of 1 million Jews (according to Josephus, first-century Jewish historian).
Unfortunately, many Jewish Christians were being swept up in this political and fanatical fervor. Disaster will strike not only those Jews who were not Christians; it will strike also the Jewish Christian. This is the situation James is addressing.
Since 1980 the Christian Right has been involved in the political process. Although it was hyper hypocritical of the Left to claim that the Right was violating separation of Church and State since they had been railing in churches for the longest against injustices they cared about, the Christian Right became enmeshed with the Republican Party. God and the Republican Party almost became synonymous for many Christians. Although we are to vote, we are to remember that Christ is neither Democrat nor Republican. Too many Republicans, not to mention to Democrats, have thoroughly violated the very essence of Christianity, lack of concern for the poor on one hand and promotion of abortion rights on the other. We compromise Christ when we wed Him to a political party.
The Cyclical Nature of the Letter of James
Just one more word before studying James. For many of us James can be a frustrating study because of the way James structures it. He will introduce a topic, leave it and later return to it. For example, at least 3 different times in the book James deals with the topics of the tongue and of wealth. What we would prefer is that James deal with the topic of the tongue all at once and then proceed on to another topic, finish that topic, and then proceed to a third. James' teaching, though, is cyclical in nature, meaning that he will introduce several topics, then return to those topics, and then return to them again.
Which approach is better, dealing with a topic all at once and leaving it totally behind to deal with another topic, or just keep going back to those topics as in a cycle? Whereas we may prefer the first approach, the second approach really is more realistic. Do you really think that you can study the subject of the tongue just once and master that study? Do you really think that you can process a teaching on wealth and feel like you will never have issue with that topic again? I sincerely doubt it. Whatever the Christian life is, it is constantly going back to those areas in our lives which plague us.
There is somebody I greatly admire. He is over 70 years old and is a very mature Christian. When I asked him if he was still dealing with issues he dealt with as a 25-year old, he lowered his head and humbly said: “Yes.” Hopefully he is further along in his growth as a Christian in these areas; however, the struggle will go on until we die. We constantly need to be going to the Lord and dealing with these issues. We constantly need to be returning to the Bible to deal with ourselves, not just on an occasional basis. When it is all said and done, life won’t be all tidied up and topped off with a bow until Christ returns. Until that day, we need to keep dealing with the issues which hold us back in our relationship with Jesus.
GREETINGS (1:1)
Author
James is following the custom of first-century letter writers by putting his name, the author's name, at the beginning of the letter. He will then follow his name with the names of his recipients and then conclude with a short greeting.
Just who is this James? Because his letter is included in the New Testament canon (the official books of Christianity), James was either an apostle or closely associated with an apostle. (This was the criterion for acceptance into the NT canon). Moreover, the early Christians who first commented on this book claimed that it came from James, the step-brother of Jesus. Although James did not believe in Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry (John 7:1ff.), Jesus did appear to James after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7). This resurrection appearance was probably all that was needed to convince James that his step-brother indeed was God the Son. Although James was an apostle, being Jesus' step-brother probably elevated him above many of the 11 original apostles/disciples of Jesus. By 50 AD he is the leader of the mother church of Christianity, the Jerusalem church. Paul claims that the church in Jerusalem considered James along with Peter and John to be the 3 pillars of the church (Gal. 2:9).
Now what makes this letter so interesting is that it comes from one who was so close to Jesus during His earthly life. Although James did not believe in Jesus until after the resurrection, he nevertheless moved in circles very close to Jesus while Jesus was growing up. The fact is that when you study the content of the Letter of James very closely, you come to realize that it is extremely close to the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. In fact hardly any of James' teachings are new. Rather they are simply expanding on the very teachings Jesus gave while here on earth. Many claim that the Roman Catholic Church with its tradition is adding to the Bible. It never makes that claim. Rather, it claims that, like James and the other writers of the NT, that it is expanding upon what Jesus did and said. It never contradicts what Jesus said and did; it only expands upon it.
Even more so, when you read James, you discover that a lot of James' style of teaching/writing is very close to Jesus’ style of teaching. Jesus illustrates many of his teachings copiously from nature. Whereas in Paul's writings you find very little referring to nature, James constantly illustrates his teachings from nature. Although it is very likely that James is expanding Jesus’ teachings, it is also quite possible that he is giving us a more expanded version of Jesus' own teachings on wealth, the tongue, works, true religion, prayer, etc. Moreover, since most NT scholars agree that James is one of the first NT books written (45-50 AD?), we are looking at the way the early church presented the teachings of Christ to the churches, especially among the churches made of Christians from a Jewish background. Viewed in this way, James takes us back to the earliest beginnings of Christianity and Christian teachings. Now that should be exciting indeed.
Recipients
Next James informs us that the recipients of his letter are the 12 tribes dispersed abroad. Most Biblical scholars when they speak about the 12 tribes dispersed abroad think about the 10 northern tribes whom the Assyrians had scattered to the 4 winds (721 BC). Others would think of the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian invasion of Judah (605, 596 BC), Daniel and the 3 children being prime examples. Others would think about the general migration of the Jews during the days of the Greek empires after the time of Alexander, some going to Alexandria, others to modern-day Turkey. Whichever situation we are looking at, each situation says that those Jews who were dispersed were not at home in Greece, Egypt, Babylon, etc. Home for the Jew would always be Jerusalem and the land of Israel.
While referring to those Jewish Christians who were not living in Israel, James nevertheless is taking this to the next level, using the dispersion of the Jews as a metaphor for the Christian life. This world simply is not our home. One day the world as we know it is going to undergo such a radical change that it won’t even seem like the same old world. God is going to transform it by purifying it with a raging fire. Everything that is not eternal, especially the way the non-Christian lives, is going to go up in flames. James writes to remind us that we are not only the dispersed people of God, that this world is not our home, but also that we are to live like this world is not our home. We are not to adopt the values, the talk, and attitudes of this world. There is to be a radical distinction between the way a Christian lives and the way a non-Christian lives. James in this letter is showing us the way that we who are aliens or pilgrims in this world should live.
Salutation
James concludes the greetings with the salute “Greetings!” Actually the word is the infinitive form of the Greek word for “Rejoice!” This is such a fitting greeting for this letter (1) because the Christian pilgrim should be one of the most joyous creatures in this world. This world with all its problems is not our home. People keep asking me if we are in the tribulation. I don’t know. I don’t think so; however, even if we were in the tribulation, we have reason to rejoice because it would mean that end is almost near, that Christ is about to return, and that we are about to experience a joyous future that is beyond description. It is also a fine greeting for this letter (2) because if we apply the teachings of James/Jesus to our lives, we are going to experience real joy here and now in this life. Life might be difficult; however, the Christian can experience true joy if he applies the teachings of Jesus to his/her life.