The World that James is Watching
James is a short book that creates a great deal of discussion among
scholars. One interesting twist is that the book has some of the
best Greek of the New Testament, implying an educated writer, perhaps
a Roman citizen and a gentile. At the same time others argue that
the extensive use of Hebrew Bible resources and limited mention
of Christ make James a Jewish-Christian, or perhaps even a Jewish
text. Still others point to James’ extensive use of Gospel
themes, especially the beatitudes and the reversal promised to those
who are poor and persecuted.
These view points influence opinions on who wrote
James, when and where, and to whom. More importantly, James world
view influences our understanding of the meaning of the letter.
James presumes the reader is familiar with many concepts; its teaching
is more like a reminder of previous commitments than the introduction
of a new ideas. Each different world view assumes different audiences,
and thus different meanings for James’ ideas. Early studies
for the first century meaning of the James lead to studies determined
to find out whether James is more Jewish, more Christian,
or more Greek.
Yet modern scholarship is beginning to doubt our ability to draw
clear lines between these cultures. First century Judaism and the
Hellenistic culture that colonized it are not as distinct as we
once thought. And the line distinguishing early churches from first
century synagogues may be different in each geographical regions.
It is possible that the writer James was thoroughly Greek,
thoroughly Christian, and thoroughly Jewish.
The argument that James was more Greek than Jewish was based on
the language he uses in his letter. Basically, the argument was
that a Palestinian Jew was unlikely to write using such fine Greek
(Painter 248). Therefore, the letter must be written outside Palestine,
or have been translated at a later date from Aramaic into Greek.
We have known for a long time that Jewish intellectuals produced
extensive Greek literature in the diaspora (Cohen 17), but recent
scholarship has shown ample evidence that Greek was used extensively
in Palestine as well (Cohen 39). The historical evidence is that
the various forms of Judaism were integrated in many ways with the
many forms of Hellenistic culture. The dichotomy between Jewish
and Hellenistic world view is false.
The image of dichotomy is an overly simplistic view of Jewish and
Greek cultures. And it turns out that it is overly simplistic to
speak of a single Jewish culture. First Century Judaism, like today,
is an expression of a wide range of view points. Palestine was full
of extreme legalists and radical zealots; there were educated leaders
of society, poor peasants who rarely practiced their faith and religious
(like the Essenes) who separated themselves from society. Some sects
were Jews who followed the teachings of a Jewish leader, Jesus (Cohen
168).
The journey from Jewish sect to Christian Church was once thought
to be straightforward and linear. We believed that early Jewish-Christian
house churches gave way to Gentile converts and a Jerusalem centered
Jewish sect became a European centered Christian Church. Modern
scholarship describes a much more diversity in this transition.
Cohen argues that some Christian communities did not cease to be
Jewish until the fifth or sixth century CE (Cohen 168). Congregations
in other locations, formed long before this, may not have ever been
Jewish.
Christian communities varied dramatically based on where they were
located and the demographic details of the early believers. Even
our Biblical sources show us very different communities in Rome,
Corinth, and Galatia, for example. Each of these communities attracted
different people to Christianity. They split with their Jewish family
and neighbors at different times, and probably over different issues.
Some, like that of Luke, were concerned with issues of wealth and
poverty, and included many gentiles. Some, like that of Matthew,
stressed Jesus continuation of God’s promise to Israel, and
may have been mostly Jewish.
The writer of James, even if written after the destruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem, seems unlikely to be concerned with the dichotomy
of Jew and Christian, and unaware of our concerns
with his fine Greek. It is likely that James knew himself to be
a true Jew, and a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
(James 1:1).
Shaye J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah.
Wayne A. Cohen, ed. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1987).
John Painter, Just James The Brother of Jesus in History and
Tradition (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina
Press, 1997).
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