Beginning a study of a book of the Bible is something like preparing for a trip: you like to know where you are going and what you can expect to see. The Epistle of James has been one of the most misunderstood and maligned books in the Bible, for the same reason any other passage of Scripture is misinterpreted: the essential questions of Who, What, When, Where, Why and To Whom was it originally written have not been addressed before trying to discover the Wherefore: what does it mean to us today? Failure to understand the context and background of a passage almost guarantees an interpretation and understanding different from the original intent of the author/Author.

Controversy has waged over the authorship of James, its date, its recipients, its canonicity, and its unity. It is well known that Martin Luther had problems with this book. He called it a "right strawy epistle." This writing of James is designed to exhort and encourage, to challenge and convict, to rebuke and revive, to describe practical holiness and drive believers toward the goal of a faith that works. James is severely ethical and refreshingly practical.

Considered one of the General Epistles, James, like the epistles of Peter, John, and Jude, is an encyclical addressed not to individual churches or persons but to a larger sphere of believers. The teaching in these general letters complements the doctrine of Paul. Paul emphasized faith; James stressed conduct; Peter, hope; John, love; and Jude, purity.

In the initial stages of recognizing a New Testament canon, Paul’s letters were read in churches and recognized as authoritative. In approximately a.d. 175 the Muratorian Canon listed all New Testament books except Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, and 1 John. Writing in a.d. 367, Athanasius (293-373) listed all the books of our present New Testament. Widespread agreement on these twenty-seven books followed.

Now, let’s look at the essential questions of Who, What, When, Where, Why and To Whom the book was originally written…it will take weeks to explore the Wherefore.

The human author of this epistle is not easily identified. The New Testament mentions at least four men named James: (1) the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Mark 1:19), (2) the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18), (3) the father of Judas (not Iscariot; Luke 6:16), and (4) the half brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19). Which one wrote the epistle?

James, the son of Zebedee, could not be the author since he suffered martyrdom under Herod Agrippa I before this epistle was written (Acts 12:2). It is unlikely that the little-known son of Alphaeus was the author though some, especially Roman Catholics, equate the son of Alphaeus with the Lord’s brother. They claim that James was really Jesus’ cousin through Mary of Cleopas, wife of Alphaeus, the Virgin Mary’s sister. This contention, however, violates a literal interpretation of "brother" and is clearly an attempt to support the invention of the perpetual virginity of Mary. It seems clear from Scripture that children were born to Joseph and Mary after the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is called "her firstborn" (Luke 2:7), implying that others were born thereafter. The Scriptures state that Joseph had no union with Mary, that is, no normal physical relationship, "until" (heōs) after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:25). Repeated references are made to the Lord’s half brothers and half sisters and four of His brothers are named: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matt. 13:55).

James, the father of Judas (not Iscariot) did not figure as an important person in the early church. He could hardly be the author of this epistle. It seems clear therefore that the author is James, the half brother of Jesus, who became the recognized leader in the Jerusalem church. This conclusion is supported by the authoritative tone of the letter and by the marked similarities in Greek between this epistle and the speech by James recorded in Acts 15.

Though James was reared in the same home with the Lord Jesus, he apparently did not become a believer until after Christ’s resurrection. John wrote, "For even His own brothers did not believe in Him" (John 7:5). James’ encounter with the risen Lord may have brought him to saving faith. Christ "appeared to James, then to all the apostles" (1 Cor. 15:7). Paul later listed James, Peter, and John as "those reputed to be pillars" of the church (Gal. 2:9).

The strongest evidence for the authorship of the Epistle of James clearly favors the half brother of Christ. Furthermore, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, Augustine, and many other early writers support this view.

The Book of James is as much a lecture as it is a letter. Though it opens with the customary salutation of an epistle, it lacks personal references common in a letter and it has no concluding benediction. This so-called "epistle" was obviously prepared for public reading as a sermon to the congregations addressed. The tone is clearly authoritative but not autocratic. James included 54 imperatives in his 108 verses—an average of one call for action in every other verse!

James’ style is both energetic and vivid, conveying profound concepts with crisp, well-chosen words. The sentences are short, simple, and direct. He used many metaphors and similes with a touch of poetic imagination. In fact, the Book of James probably has more figures of speech, analogies, and imagery from nature (30) than all Paul’s epistles together. Exhortations, rhetorical questions, and illustrations from everyday life give spice to this little book.

James’ teaching strongly resembles that of John the Baptist. Probably James, like Peter, John, and Andrew, had heard John the Baptist preach. Amazing parallelisms exist between James’ letter and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 (by my count fifteen). James did not actually quote the Lord’s words, but he obviously had internalized His teachings and reproduced them with spiritual insight and depth.

In addition to his unique and innovative style, James furnishes an unusual number of references or parallels to other writings. He makes reference to Abraham, Rahab, Job, Elijah, to the Law and the Ten Commandments, and includes allusions to passages in 21 Old Testament books: Genesis through Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and 7 of the 12 Minor Prophets.

The date of the epistle is related to its authorship. Some deny that James wrote this letter because of its excellent Greek. They place the writing between a.d. 80 and 150. This is hardly justified. James was obviously a gifted Galilean, fluent in both Aramaic and Greek. Flavius Josephus, first-century historian, records that James was martyred in a.d. 62, so the epistle must have been written prior to that date. Some commentators believe that James wrote the epistle near the end of his life, while others observe that since no mention is made of the Jerusalem Council (a.d. 49) in which James took so active a role, it is likely that the letter was written between a.d. 45 and 48.

James is probably the earliest of the writings of the New Testament and therefore can hardly be seen as a argument against Paul’s letter to the Romans, which was written later. Romans, however, is not a refutation of James. It is apparent from Paul’s relationship with James (Acts 15:13; 21:18) and his recognition of James (Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12) that Paul held him in high respect. Together Paul and James give the full dimension of faith. Paul wrote about inner saving faith from God’s perspective. James wrote about outward serving faith from man’s perspective. The true seed of saving faith is verified by the tangible fruit of serving faith. James’ point is that biblical faith works.

I think it’s important to also note that in our concern with the "unity" of Scripture and being sure there is no "contradiction", we often ignore the progressive nature of the revelation of God to humans. James was the first of the New Testament books written and we must keep in mind that he led the church in Jerusalem during a very difficult time. It was a time of transition, and such times are always upsetting and demanding. There were many Christian Jews in Jerusalem who still held to the Old Testament Law (Acts 21:20). The temple and its services were still in operation, and the full light of the Gospel of God’s grace had not yet dawned. We who have read Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews might be prone to judge these early believers; but we must not. They were saved people, but they were still in the shadows of the Law, moving out into the bright light of God’s grace. While there may have been differences in degrees of spiritual knowledge and experience, there was no competition between Paul and those who directed the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:1–10).

I could find no direct information about where James was when he wrote his Epistle. We know he was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and most certainly lived there. The phrase "to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad" indicates that he is sending this letter "out" to Christian Jews who lived away from where he lived, otherwise he could have spoken with them personally. It is, therefore, most logical to assume that the place of authorship was Jerusalem.

Each New Testament letter has its own special theme, purpose, and destination. Paul wrote the Book of Romans to prepare the Roman Christians for his intended visit. First Corinthians was sent to the church at Corinth to help correct certain problems. Galatians was written to a group of churches to warn them against legalism and false teaching.

As you read the Epistle of James, you discover that these Jewish Christians were having some problems in their personal lives and in their church fellowship. For one thing, they were going through difficult testings. They were also facing temptations to sin. Some of the believers were catering to the rich, while others were being robbed by the rich. Church members were competing for offices in the church, particularly teaching offices.

One of the major problems in the church was a failure on the part of many to live what they professed to believe. Furthermore, the tongue was a serious problem, even to the point of creating wars and divisions in the assembly. Some of the members were disobeying God’s Word and were sick physically because of it; and some were straying away from the Lord and the church.

As we review this list of problems, does it appear to be much different from the problems that beset the average local church today? Do we not have in our churches people who are suffering for one reason or another? Do we not have members who talk one way, but walk another way? Are there not Christians who cannot control their tongues? It seems that James is dealing with very up-to-date matters!

One of the great criticisms of this Epistle is that it lacks unity…there is no theme to the letter…it’s kind of like a New Testament Proverbs…a collection of moral sayings. At first glance that is not a completely unfounded criticism, but a deeper study will reveal that all of these problems have a common cause: spiritual immaturity. This gives us a hint as to a possible theme: the marks of maturity, or lack thereof, in the Christian life. Another possible theme: God brings trials to draw us to Him.

James uses the word perfect several times (see James 1:4, 17, 25; 2:22; 3:2). The Greek word teleios (tel ·i·os) has several meanings, but when referring to a person, it primarily means full grown, adult, mature. It does not mean without fault.

There are at least two ways to look at spiritual maturity, egocentrically or theocentrically (Oh no…here we go again!!!). The Epistle of James is primarily an egocentric approach to spiritual maturity…what makes me draw that conclusion? The words "Lord", "Jesus" and "Christ" appear a total of 17 times in James (108 verses), of those, the words "Jesus" and "Christ" appear twice each and together in the first verse of each of the first two chapters. By contrast, those same words appear a total of 89 times in Ephesians (155 verses), the words "Jesus" and "Christ" appear 66 of those times.

In this Epistle, the truth of the "Christ life" is not clearly developed…it can easily be seen in retrospect in several places, but nowhere in James are believers admonished to allow Jesus to be Jesus in them…they are urged to "control" themselves! The only concept of the "Christ life" found clearly in James is our need to humble ourselves before God and to surrender (4:5-10). Why? I can think of two possible reasons: 1) That concept had not yet been revealed to James and he continued to approach life by way of the Old Covenant…obey and prosper…disobey and die; and/or 2) James understood that the best way to drive Christians to grace is to put them back under the Law…it won’t take too long for them to realize their inability to satisfy even God’s most basic requirements.

I don’t think so…"Justification by works," which James contends for, is justification before man…the justification of our profession of faith by a consistent life. Paul contends for the doctrine of "justification by faith;" but that is justification before God, a being regarded and accepted as just by virtue of the righteousness of Christ, which is received by faith.

The phrase in verse 1, "to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad", clearly identifies the original intended recipients…Christian Jews who lived outside of Jerusalem. It is likely that Peter wrote to the Jewish Christians scattered to the West (1 Peter 1:1) and that James addressed the Jewish Christians scattered to the East, in Babylon and Mesopotamia. Though some suggest that the "12 tribes" may be taken metaphorically as the Gentile church scattered throughout the Roman Empire, it is far more logical to take the statement in its normal sense.

With the background we’ve just laid, it is my prayer that our study over the next several months will encourage us to allow Jesus to be Jesus in us…when that happens, all the admonitions found in the Epistle of James will be demonstrated in our lives.

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