04 — The Epistle of James
The catholic Epistle of James — the one writing of the New Testament bearing the name of the Lord’s brother — is a book of practical wisdom that has been, at the same time, one of the most contested in the canon. This section reads the epistle on its own terms as Christian wisdom literature, traces its slow and disputed reception (the antilegomena, Luther’s “epistle of straw”), and takes up its most famous crux, the relation of “faith and works” to St. Paul, as the centerpiece both-sides study of the collection.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle)
The Epistle of James offers not a sustained argument but a chain of ethical exhortations — on trials, the tongue, the rich and the poor, prayer, and the anointing of the sick — saturated with echoes of the Sermon on the Mount. The Orthodox Church receives it as one of the seven catholic epistles and reads its command to anoint the sick (James 5:14–15) as a scriptural ground of the sacrament of Holy Unction. Yet its history in the canon is genuinely difficult: Eusebius numbers it among the disputed books, it is absent from the Muratorian Fragment, and at the Reformation Luther relegated it for its teaching on justification. These two files set out the epistle and its reception, then weigh the “faith and works” question with both the Orthodox synergy reading and the Lutheran sola fide reading fully sourced.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Epistle of James | The catholic epistle as Christian wisdom literature; its care for the poor (2:1–7), the tongue (3), patience (5:7–11), and the anointing of the sick as the basis of Holy Unction (5:14–15); its slow canonical reception among the antilegomena (Eusebius, HE 2.23; 3.25); Luther’s “epistle of straw”; and the disputed question of authorship. |
| Faith and Works | James 2:14–26 set beside Paul (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8–9); the Orthodox reading of justification as synergeia, faith “made perfect” by works (2:22); and the Lutheran sola fide reading with imputed righteousness — both presented fairly and with their sources. |
See Also
- James the Just — the author to whom the epistle is traditionally ascribed
- The Liturgy of St. James — the other great work bearing his name
- Holy Scripture — the Orthodox doctrine of the canon within which James is received
- Soteriology — the doctrine of salvation the “faith and works” study engages
References
- The Holy Bible. The Epistle of James; Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8–9.
- Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History (HE) 2.23; 3.25. Trans. Arthur C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 1. 1890.
- Luther, Martin. Prefaces to the New Testament (1522), including the Prefaces to the Epistles of James and Jude. In Luther’s Works, Vol. 35. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1960.
- Bauckham, Richard. James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage. London: Routledge, 1999.
- Bray, Gerald, ed. James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, Jude. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament XI. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000.