James on participating in the divine nature

I’m going to start leading our small group Bible study through a series on the Letter of James tonight. The thing I am most excited about is that this small group has become increasingly open to dig deeply into the Scriptures and into the dark places of our souls. We seem more willing to share with one another about the things we are struggling with and to keep one another accountable in our walk of faith. That’s what James is all about.

Since we didn’t decide until yesterday that we would be doing this study, I gave them a quick reading assignment to prepare: James 1:1-2 and 5:19-20. James is written to the twelve tribes living in the Diaspora. The people of God who have been scattered. By the end of the letter it is clear that this is no mere geographical designation. It is written to brothers and sisters who have wandered off the path of truth. And it is written to brothers and sisters who are in such a relationship with God that they can be His instruments to steer their wayward family members back onto the path of life.

Peter talks about participating in the divine nature through the promises of God (2 Peter 1:4), and James has his own message along these lines. In the beginning of the letter, James lays out a contrast between our own evil desires that lead to death (James 1:14-15) and the desire of our heavenly Father to give us new birth through his word of truth (James 1:17-18). This divine word is the only thing that can truly inspire us with godly wisdom, save us from the filth around us, and give abundant life to our mortal souls.

By the end of the letter, James presents a picture of the church accomplishing through prayer what only God can do: healing the sick, forgiveness of sins, stopping the rain and making it rain again (James 5:15-18). When we come alongside a wandering brother or sister in Christ and turn them back to God, we participate in the nature of God by saving others from death and covering over a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20). Surely, the prayer of a righteous person is very powerful since it is God who makes it effective (James 5:16).

May we each not forsake our first love (Revelation 2:4). May the love of God well up within us and overflow to all those around us.

Kamell on Grace and Imitatio Dei in James

I have added the following article to the James Bibliography and Recent James Scholarship pages.

Kamell, Mariam J. 2009. “The Nature of Eternal Security in James: Divine Grace Pairs with the Imitatio Dei.” Paper in the current open online volume 2 of Testamentum Imperium, 28 pages.

The pdf article is available online here.

Mariam and I are very much on the same page regarding the overall message in James. While it is so easy to focus on the commands in the letter and the believer’s responsibility to have faith with works, Mariam recognizes the crucial message in James that such a living faith ultimately comes from the grace of God through his word. It also includes the extravagant mercy of God that triumphs over judgment. Thus, James conveys a theology that spans election through eternity, and this perspective is foundational to understanding the imperatives in the letter.

It’s good stuff to think about at Easter. While the moral obligation in James is hopeless for humanity, everything is possible with God. It reminds me of a quote I saw entering the library the other day: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” –Pope John Paul II

Thank you Mariam, and congratulations on nearing the completion of your program at St Andrews! We look forward to much more good stuff from you.

40 Titles on James Added

I have added about 40 more titles to the Recent James Scholarship page. They are in chronological order there, so I list them below in alphabetical order. A few of the titles are not entirely related to James, but they do touch on James.

Andria, Solomon. 2006. “James.” Pages 1509-16 in Africa Bible Commentary. Ed. By Tokunboh Adeyemo. Nairobi: Word Alive Publishers.

Bond, Helen K. 2002. “Book Review: James the Just.” Expository Times 113: 278.

Bottini, Claudio. 1998. “Letter of James (1): Content and the Theological Message of the Letter of James.” Essay prepared by the faculty of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem.

Bottini, Claudio. 1998. “Letter of James (2): The Moral Message of the Letter of James.” Essay prepared by the faculty of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem.

Bottini, Claudio. 1998. “Letter of James (3): Confession of Sins and Intercession (I).” Essay prepared by the faculty of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem.

Bottini, Claudio. 1998. “Letter of James (4): Confession of Sins and Intercession (II).” Essay prepared by the faculty of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem.

Bowman, Christopher. 2000. “Review of Patrick J. Hartin’s A Spirituality of Perfection: Faith in Action in the Letter of James.” Review of Biblical Literature.

Byron, Gay L. 2007. “James.” In True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 461-75.

Cargal, Timothy B. 1999. “James.” In Full Life Bible Commentary to the New Testament, 1401-29. Ed. by French L. Arrington and Roger Stronstad. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Catchpole, David. 1991. “Book Review: The Enigma of James.” Expository Times 103: 26.

Cranfield, C. E. B. 1990. “Book Review: James.” Expository Times 102: 23.

Davids, Peter H. 2000. “Review of Todd C. Penner’s The Epistle of James and Eschatology: Re-reading an Ancient Christian Letter.” Review of Biblical Literature.

Deppe, Dean B. 1990. The Sayings of Jesus in the Paraenesis of James: A PDF Revision of the Doctoral Dissertation The Sayings of Jesus in the Epistle of James.

Eve, Eric. 2005. “Book Review: James and Jude.” Expository Times 117: 35.

Felder, Cain Hope. 1982. “Wisdom, Law and Social Concern in the Epistle of James.” Ph.D. dissertation, Union Theological Seminary, New York.

Felder, Cain Hope. 1998. “James.” In A Catholic and Ecumenical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, ed. by William R. Farmer, 1786-1801. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

Foster, Paul. 2006. “Book Review: Studies on James.” Expository Times 117: 481.

Green, Joel B. 2002. “Review of Matt A. Jackson-McCabe’s Logos and Law in the Letter of James: The Law of Nature, the Law of Moses and the Law of Freedom.” Review of Biblical Literature.

Hagner, Donald A. 2008. “A Response to John P. Meier’s ‘Did the Historical Jesus Prohibit All Oaths?” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 6: 25-32.

Hill, David. 1981. “Book review of S. Laws, A Commentary on the Epistle of James.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 13: 123-26.

Hockman, David. 2006. “Sanctification Day by Day.” Paper presented at the Conference on Baptist Fundamentalism. Watertown, WI: Maranatha Baptist Bible College.

Horbury, William. 1977. “Book Review: James.” Expository Times 89: 88.

Johnson, David Keith. 1971. “James’ Use of the Old Testament.” Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary.

Gwilliam, G. H. 1893. “Mayor’s ‘Epistle of St. James’.” Expository Times 4: 345.

Klawans, Jonathan. 2008. “The Prohibition of Oaths and Contra-scriptural Halakhot: A Response to John P. Meier.” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 6: 33-48.

Meier, John P. 2007. “Did the Historical Jesus Prohibit All Oaths? Part 1.” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 5: 175-204.

Meier, John P. 2008. “Did the Historical Jesus Prohibit All Oaths? Part 2.” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 6: 3-24.

Meier, John P. 2008. “The Historical Jesus and Oaths: A Response to Donald A. Hagner and Jonathan Klawans.” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 6: 49-58.

Pahl, Michael W. 2006. “The ‘Gospel’ and the ‘Word’: Exploring Some Early Christian Patterns.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29: 211-27.

Penner, Todd C. 2000. “Review of Martin Klein’s ‘Ein vollkommenes Werk’: Vollkommenheit, Gesetz und Gericht als theologische Themen des Jakobusbriefes.” Review of Biblical Literature.

Reis, David M. 2005. “Book Review: The Letter of James: Historical and Theological Essays.” Expository Times 116: 173.

Robbins, Vernon K. 1996. “Making Christian Culture in the Epistle of James.” Scriptura 59: 341-351.

Robbins, Vernon K. 2002. “A Comparison of Mishnah Gittin 1:1-2:2 and James 2:1-13 from a Perspective of Greco-Roman Rhetorical Elaboration.” In Jack N. Lightstone, Mishnah and the Social Formation of the Early Rabbinic Guild: A Socio-Rhetorical Approach. Studies in Christianity and Judaism 11. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion: 201-216.

Scott, J. Julius, Jr. 1979. “Non-Canonical References to James, the Relative of Jesus.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. New York, NY.

Scott, J. Julius, Jr. 1982. “James the Relative of Jesus and the Expectation of an Eschatological Priest.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25: 323-331.

Scott, J. Julius, Jr. 1999. “Commas and the Christology of the Epistle of James.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Danvers, MA.

Spitaler, Peter. 2006. “Doubt or Dispute (Jude 9 and 22-23): Rereading a Special New Testament Meaning through the Lense of Internal Evidence.” Biblica 87: 201-222.

Spitaler, Peter. 2007. “Doubting in Acts 10:27?” Filología Neotestamentaria 20: 81-93.

Webb, Robert L., and John S. Kloppenborg, eds. 2007. Reading James with New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of James. Library of New Testament Studies 342. London: T&T Clark.