Epistle of James

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The Epistle of James is a letter of the New Testament of the Bible. There is a response in the form of letters, a so-called " Epistle ," the admonishing and encouraging appeals to the entire former Christendom. Therefore, you count it to the group of the Catholic Epistles. The epistle is divided into five chapters since the Middle Ages.

  • 3.1 receiver
  • 3.2 life
  • 3.3 Comparison of Pauline theology
  • 3.4 Various exegetical approaches
  • 3.5 Keyword -like content

Author and date

Because the text itself contains only very few actionable information, authorship and date of origin are controversial within the biblical science. There are two main views are represented.

Early emergence by James the Just

The author calls himself James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since further additions to names or descriptions of themselves missing because James has no further introduction needed. As the author is not designated as apostles, traditionally James the Just, brother of Jesus, and another important James his time next to the apostles James is the Elder and the Younger, James accepted as a writer. Theologically conservative authors see confirmed by external and internal evidence.

A writing by James the righteous implies a creation date before his death in the year 62, which is delivered regardless of Flavius ​​Josephus and Eusebius of Caesarea. Thus, the Epistle of James would be one of the oldest writings in the New Testament. This dating is supported by a strong roots in Jewish traditions content. Most likely, the letter would be incurred before the Apostolic Council (about AD 45 ), because there the negotiated issue of inclusion of non- Christian Jewish tradition ( Gentile Christians ) in James does not matter (see below).

Later pseudepigraphy

Historical- critical theologians regard the Epistle of James, mainly for a subsequently formed pseudepigraphic font. The author was called in this case either James, to give the letter 's authority, or because the author is understood as standing in the theological school of James. Also conceivable is the complete independence of these two namesakes, as a Latinized form of the name Jakov James refers to the Old Testament patriarch and was widely used in Judaism.

The reasons against the authorship of the " brother of the Lord " James are:

Assuming that James probably not as good Greek 've skillfully, Louis Berkhof contradicts with reference to Flavius ​​Josephus.

The majority of authors who view the Epistle of James as pseudepigraphical, date it around 100 AD The oldest surviving quote from the Epistle of James is found in Origen in the 3rd century.

Inclusion in the canon

In the first centuries of the Christian Church the authenticity of the Epistle of James was doubted among others, Theodore of Mopsuestia. It is not included in the Muratorian Canon. In Western churches it was not long used so that Eusebius him in his Ecclesiastical History (3.25; 2.23 ) counted under the disputed writings. Athanasius of Alexandria took the Epistle of James, however, on in his canon of New Testament writings accepted today. Since the 4th century, it is an accepted part of the canon of almost all Christian churches (except Syriac Orthodox Church ).

Martin Luther, however, presented the canonicity of the Epistle of James in question because this writing according to his understanding the works instead of faith to justify attributing (see WA DB 7, 384 ). This is also the reason why he changed the original order of the New Testament books and the Epistle of James ( to the Hebrews ) "backwards" postponed.

Content

Receiver

The epistle is addressed to " the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad " ( James 1:1 EU), a traditional Jewish expression from the time of the Second Temple. Multiple is in the fundamental importance of the "law " says (James 1.25 EU; 2.10 EU). This law is widely understood as the Jewish law, the Torah. Here, as throughout the rest significantly ( synagogue instead of Ekklesia, Jak 2.2 EU; Abraham's designation as " our Father ", Jak 2.21 EU) is that writer and addressee are in Jewish tradition. In addition, can be found in the ethical exhortations parallels to the sayings of the Jewish fathers.

At the same time, however, it is apparent that it is the beneficiaries are Christians (Jas 2.1 EU; 5.7 EU).

Lifestyle

The writer stresses the importance of proper conduct. He condemned a formal piety, which exhausts itself in the following of ceremonies, and this sets an inner purity counter (James 1.27 EU). He also speaks out against falsehood ( 3.2 to 12 EU), self-praise (4.16 EU), as well as greed and oppression of the poor.

One important lesson is patience in temptation ( 1.2 EU), in good deeds ( 1:22-25 EU ) when provoked (3.17 EU), when suppressed ( 5.7 EU) or followed (5, 10 EU) is. The Patient will be rewarded when Jesus will speak a fair judgment at His coming ( 5.8 EU).

Compared to the Pauline theology

Early commentators saw theological tensions between the Epistle of James and the epistles of Paul. Martin Luther felt the opposition on the issue of justification as being so serious that he called the Epistle of James as an epistle of straw. Therefore he moved him almost to the end of the New Testament. There he is in the Luther Bible to this day, in contrast to almost all other Bible translations.

In the decisive verses Jak 2.14 to 20 EU and EU 2.24 James emphasizes the importance of doing in the extraction of salvation, and rejects an idle faith. In contrast, Paul states in Romans ( 3:27-28 EU) that faith saves regardless of the compliance with the law or whatever good deeds before destruction and death to the action of God in Christ's death and resurrection. The importance of faith in Jesus Christ is also highlighted in Gal 2,16 EU, Phil 3.8 to 14 EU and EU Rom 5:1. Paul states in several places but also those resulting from the belief practical- ethical implications of point (eg, Gal 5.6 EU). Both authors cite the example of the Jewish patriarch Abraham ( Gen 15:6 EU) in order to justify their point of view (James 2:21-23 EU, Romans 4:2-3 EU).

The two lessons can be exacerbated to the following statements: " Faith alone brings salvation " ( Paul) and " A faith without deeds is lifeless " (James ). These two statements are not mutually exclusive mutually exclusive but complement each other, by treating different problems and maybe even come from the same author.

Various exegetical approaches

A number of Christian commentators resolve this apparent contradiction by presenting both representations as two sides of the justification of the sinner before God. Paul emphasize in this view, not verdienbare also by deeds grace of God which is given as faith, while James the godly lifestyle ( sanctification ) stress, which is a natural consequence of faith.

An alternative solution is that James in front of other people in the eye have the justification of the Christians, while Paul wanted to see the people before God justified. It also refers ( for example, the comment of the Bible) that Paul of works by the (Jewish) law, James, but I talked about acts of charity, which also hold for Paul the necessary expression of faith: " For in Christ Jesus comes it is [...] to [... ] to have the faith that is through love. " ( Gal 5:6 EU)

Skeptics, however, see the work as a testimony to a voltage in the early church between Jewish and Gentile Christians. While James the observance of the Jewish law giving priority, Paul was developing a theology of justification before God, which put forward the faith. A similar conflict also find in the book of Acts, where the observance of Jewish law by Gentile Christians was up for discussion. Again, find a conflict between James ( representative of the Jerusalem Church ) and Paul ( representative of the Gentile Christians ), which was decided at the Apostolic Council in favor of the Pauline position.

Still other commentators point out that James and the communities it addresses the relevant passages of Paul must have known well, as these are taken very carefully. James react after this understanding to the abuse of the doctrine of justification by communities that ignore the social demand of the Gospel among abbreviated reference to Paul.

Keyword -like content

" Sub conditione jacobi "

The traditional phrase sub conditione jacobi ( under the condition of James, abbreviated letters scj ) refers to Jak. 4.15: "God willing and we live " (James 4:15 LUT). Several recent Bible translations formulate: " The Lord willing, we will live and ... " ( For example: Jak 4.15 SLT)

Apocryphon of James Nag Hammadi library First Epistle to the Corinthians Second Epistle to the Corinthians Epistle to the Galatians Epistle to the Ephesians Epistle to the Philippians First Epistle to the Thessalonians Second Epistle to the Thessalonians First Epistle to Timothy Epistle to Titus Epistle to Philemon General epistles First Epistle of Peter First Epistle of John Second Epistle of John Third Epistle of John Epistle of Jude Book of Genesis Martin Dibelius Augustine of Hippo Fontes Christiani Rudolf Hoppe Eschatology Hans-Josef Klauck Otto Kaiser (scholar) Integrated Authority File
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