Ouachita Baptist University Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita Honors Theses Carl Goodson Honors Program 1970 A Critical Introduction to the Epistle of James and an Exposition of James 1:2-18 Roger Schoeniger Ouachita Baptist University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses Part of the Biblical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Schoeniger, Roger, "A Critical Introduction to the Epistle of James and an Exposition of James 1:2-18" (1970). Honors Theses. 393. https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/393 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Carl Goodson Honors Program at Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE OF JAMES AND AN EXPOSITION OF JAMES 1:2-18 Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements For Religion Special Study H 492 Roger Schoeni ger S~n'9--l-9-7tr Ouachita Baptist University Arkadelphia, Arkansas ~ -r; ) ) ) AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTER OF JAMES I. Authorship A. Extern a1 Evidence 1. Church Tradition -According to patristic tradition, it was James, the half-brother of Jesus, who wrote the epistle.1 Origen (c. 230 A.D.) is the first church writer who explicitly quotes this epistle as Scripture. He ascribes the epistle to James, the Lord's brother, although in another place he refers to it as only an epistle under the name of James. 2 2. Biblically - There are four Jameses (James is the Greek form of Jacob)3 mentioned in the New Testament: (1) James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. He was beheaded under the reign of Herod Agrippa I not later than the spring of 44 A.D. (Acts 12:2). It seems unlikely that an apostle would write a letter of this type before 44 A.D. as the matters presented in the epistle were hardly acute in the Jewish-Christian world by that date. There is also no record of his ever attaining a special position among the Jewish­ Christians which would justify his writing of the type of letter that James is; (2) James, the son of Alphaeus, also one of the twelve. He lBruce Metzger, T.he New Testament: Its Background, Growth, Content (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 253. 2Alexander Ross, Commentary on the Epistle of James and John (in The New International Commentary-on the New Testament, e~F~Bruce. Gran<n<apids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerctmans Piililishing Co., 1954), p. 11. 3A. T. Robertson, Studies .i.!l the Epistle of James, ed. Heber F. Peacock (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1959), p. l. is little known even as an apostle. There is no biblical record or church tradition that he was ever in the position of authority which this letter claims. It is highly improbable that he write the epistle; 11 11 ( 3) James, the father of Judas not Iscari ot - one of the twe 1ve. He is ruled out because he is virtually unknown except for his relation­ ship to one of the apostles as listed in the Bible (Lk. 6:16 and Acts 1:13); and (4) James, the brother of Jesus.4 The exact relationship 11 11 of James (and his brethren ) to Jesus is often disputed. Some have regarded them as children of Joseph by another marriage, while others, wishing to maintain the virginity of Joseph as well as Mary, have argued zthat they were Jesus•s cousins on his mother•s side (or on Joseph•s side). In Luke 2:7, however, Jesus is listed as Mary•s 11first­ 11 born son • The most probable view is that James and the other children (listed in Matt. 13:55 and Mark 6:3) were the children of Joseph and Mary born after Jesus. One is left only little in the way of references as to what effect the ministry of Jesus had upon the other children of Joseph and Mary. We do know that during the Lord•s ministry Mary and other children came to get Jesus because 11 He is beside himself 11 (Mark 3:21). This, plus the incident in John 2:4 where the other children scoff and ridicule Jesus for doing his work in secret, but claiming publicity, add up to a rather skeptical attitude on the part of James and the other children toward Jesus•s ministry. It is no wonder at the crucifixion that Jesus commends his mother to John rather than one of the other children. 4o. Edmond Hiebert~ An Introduction to the · Non~Pauline Epistles (Chicago, I 11 i noi s: MoodyPress, 1962), j).'" 38. In I. Corinthians 15:7 Paul mentions that James received a special appearance of the Risen Christ. Whether James had been converted before or after the encounter is not known. The next biblical mention of James (in chronological order) is in the Upper Room in Jerusalem waiting with the rest of the disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). James rose as a person of authority in the Jerusalem church. In Galatians 1:19 Paul calls James an apostle. In Acts 12:17 Peter clearly recognizes James as occupying a position of authority in the church. He later is the president of the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15:14-21) in about 50 A.D. James retains this position of leadership throughout the record in Acts. 5 Church tradition tells us that James died a martyr•s death. The account which probably is the most accurate is that given by Josephus (Ant. xx ix 1). He places James•s death about 62 or 63 A.D. According to this account, James was killed by the Sadducees through Ananus, the high priest. It happened after Festus died and Albinus, his replacement, was still in his way to Judea. Josephus reports that Ananus called for a Sanhedrin of judges and accused James of being a transgressor of the law. James was then stoned to death. James acquired the name, 11 James the Just 11 (according to church tradition) as a reflection of his character. Everything in the biblical 5Robertson, ~Cit., pp. 1-27. account points to James as being a person of high authority within the Jersualem Church who was respected by Jewish-Christians.6 James, the brother of Jesus, is the only James in the biblical record who had the authority to write such a letter during the time it probably was written. 3. Other Possibilities - Two other possibilities are sometimes set forth for authorship: (1) The product of a later-day Christian who affixes James•s name to the epistle to gain its acceptance; and (2) A Jewish writing which has been 11 Christianized 11 J These two possibilities are based on internal elements which will be discussed in the following part. B. Internal Elements- The internal evidences of authorship speak the loudest for James, the brother of Jesus, as the author. 1. Elements in favor of James: (1) The atmosphere of the letter is clearly Jewish-Christi an. He speaks about Abraham as 11 0ur Father 11 in a literal sense (2:21) and writes about the Jewish heritage (such as Rahab, the prophets, Job and Elijah). God is spoken of in the Hebrew•s term, 11 Lord of the Sabaoth 11 (5:4). James knows the Mosaic Law and takes it as a binding and final authority (2:9-11; 4:2). He uses .. synagogue .. to indicate the place of worship (2:2); (2) The setting must be Palestine, for only there in ancient times did farmers employ hired labor rather than slaves (5:4}; (3) The author was deeply impressed by the moral teachings of Jesus. This epistle contains more 6Hiebert, ~Cit., p. 46. ?Burton Scott Easton, and Gordon Poteat, 11 The Epistle of James .. , The Interpreter•s Bible, ed. George A. Buttrick (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1955) , p. 6. · verbal recalling of the teaching of Jesus than all the other apostolic writings taken together8 ; (4) There are some coincidences between the epistle, the speech of James at the Jerusalem Council, and the letter he wrote: (a) The letter and the epistle have a similar greeting; (b) Hebraic use of .. your souls 11 (James 1:21; 5:20); (c) The verb 11 to turn .. for conversion (Acts 15:3; James 5:19,20); (d) The expression 11 upon whom my name is called 11 (Acts 15:7; James 2:7); (e) 11 To spend 11 (Acts 21:24, James 4:3); and (f) 11 To purify 11 (Acts 21:24,26; James 4:8); (5) The epistle is the work of the type of person which the New Testa­ ment and church tradition reveal James to be: (a) No doubt James had a strong attachment to the Jewish Law (Acts 21, gathered from Galatians 2:12); (b) His keeping of the requirements of the Jewish Law won for him the admiration even of unbelieving Jews according to Josephus; (c) His epistle reflects a great deal of knowledge about the Old Testament; (d) Tradition says that he was especially known for his earnest prayer which may be reflected in James 5:.169 ; (6) The fact that he does not trouble to identify himself more fully, plus the fact that 1he letter is encyclical and it speaks in an authoritative tone, would all indicate that the author was the well-known James of the Jerusalem Church.lO It is also argued that if someone else was using 8Metzger, ~Cit., p. 253. 9Ross, ~Cit., pp. 14-18. lOsamuel A.