James

by Hartin, Patrick J.

• ISBN13: 9780814658161
• ISBN10: 0814658164
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Michael Glazier

Summary

The letter of James is one of the most neglected writings of the New Testament. One of the strongest and most influential voices against James has been that of Martin Luther who saw James as a challenge to Paul's teaching on the relationship between faith and works. Even within the Roman Catholic Church, James has suffered great neglect as is evidenced through the scant usage of this writing within her liturgy.
Hartin's study begins with a detailed examination of the letter's literary background and its relationships within the context of the Jewish, Hellenistic, and emerging Christian worlds. From this examination James emerges clearly as a writing at home within the world of Jewish-Christianity. Those complex issues of genre, authorship, and readership are examined, and Hartin argues convincingly that James is an early writing, stemming from the authority of James, the brother of the Lord, who writes to those Jewish-Christians in the dispersion of northern Syria.

Author Biography

Patrick J. Hartin teaches New Testament in the Religious Studies Department at Gonzaga University, a Jesuit University, in Spokane, Washington.

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface	p. vii
Author's Preface	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction
Approaches to the Letter of James	p. 1
Text and Canonicity	p. 6
Genre and Purpose	p. 10
Author and Date	p. 16
Evidence in the New Testament	p. 16
Evidence from Beyond the New Testament Writings	p. 20
Evidence from the Letter of James	p. 21
Conclusion: James of Jerusalem as Author	p. 24
Addressees and Context of the Letter	p. 25
Structure of the Letter	p. 28
Theological Vision	p. 29
Faith	p. 30
God	p. 31
Christ	p. 33
Eschatology	p. 34
Prayer	p. 36
A Theology of Social Concern	p. 37
Outline of the Letter of James	p. 38
General Bibliography	p. 39
Translation, Notes, Interpretation
Greetings (1:1)	p. 49
To the Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion (1:1)	p. 53
Testing, Wisdom, and the Lowly (1:2-11)	p. 56
James and the Heritage of Israel (Perfection and Purity [1:2-4])	p. 71
The Wisdom of James (The Gift of Wisdom [1:5-8])	p. 75
James and the Heritage of Jesus (James's Use of the Jesus Traditions [1:9-11])	p. 81
Testing, Hearers and Doers of the Word (1:12-27)	p. 88
The Perfect Law of Liberty (1:25)	p. 111
Do Not Show Favoritism (2:1-13)	p. 116
Honor and Shame, Patronage and Grace (Cultural Scripts behind the Letter of James)	p. 140
Doers of the Word/Faith and Works (2:14-26)	p. 149
Faith and Works in James and Paul	p. 163
The Tongue and Speech (3:1-12)	p. 172
Call to Friendship with God (3:13-4:10)	p. 190
Speaking Evil against Another (4:11-12)	p. 217
Judgment on the Rich Because of Friendship with the World (4:13-5:6)	p. 223
Call to Patient Endurance (5:7-11)	p. 240
Call to Avoid Taking Oaths (5:12)	p. 257
Prayer (5:13-18)	p. 264
The Great Commission (5:19-20)	p. 282
Indexes
Scriptural Index	p. 291
Index of Ancient Writings	p. 309
Author Index	p. 316
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