(avg. read time: 6–13 mins.)
This was something I originally wrote after preparing for a lecture I delivered to an Introduction to the New Testament class at Baylor as part of my Mentoring semester with Dr. Derek Dodson. Specifically, I was responsible for lecturing on Hebrews and James. As I read commentaries and introductions on James, I noticed that there was a common notion that James is organized (perhaps loosely, as some have it) according to recurring topics and that there was disagreement about the central theme/message that brought the apparently scattered thoughts together. One commentary that stood out to me was Dan G. McCartney’s commentary on James for the Baker Exegetical Commentary, which suggests that the central theme is in 2:14–26, the exposition on faith and works. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed that James’s emphasis on faith bearing fruit in works and of thereby having a living faith undergirds and motivates all of the other teachings. I think this kind of statement articulates the central focus of theological ethics (i.e., the imperatives that are grounded in theological indicatives and the actions that are to emerge from faith/belief), whether or not the teaching is central to the structure of the letterized homily as such. At once, this scheme explains the heavy practical focus and the general lack of theological exposition while recognizing the implicit role of theology in motivating the ethics.
The other topics of the book fit in this scheme as well. The instructions to respond wisely and joyfully with perseverance in the face of temptations and trials (1:2–4, 12–16; 5:7–11) are ways of drawing out the consequences of truly believing in and remaining loyal to the One in whom the Christian has faith. Perseverance both leads to the maturation of character/faith and signifies trust in the faithfulness of the Lord to what he has promised. The trust and loyalty that bears fruit in perseverance is a properly eschatological quality for believers to have in anticipation of the day when they are vindicated and all the promises of God are fulfilled.
Another of the major themes is that true wisdom and the concomitant integrity come from above (1:5–8, 17–18; 3:13–4:10; 5:12). This too is a statement of theological ethics because it identifies the source of the power and wisdom to live the Christian life in the union with God (signified here in terms such as drawing near to God). The wisdom to live and to persevere comes from God, as do the generous acts of giving that characterize this Christian life. The rootedness is indirectly in faith in this case simply because the focus is on the rootedness in God and the union with God that constitutes Christian life. The fruits of this union include wisdom, generosity, purity, peace, gentleness, humility/yieldedness, mercy, impartiality, righteousness, and overall integrity. Though it seems that the statement of 3:18 bears more resemblance to wisdom theology without an explicit connection to Christ or Christ’s atonement, I think there is an undercurrent of imitatio Dei or imitatio Christi in the wisdom that comes from God. If so, perhaps the harvest of righteousness comes from peacemaking because it emulates God’s wisdom in making peace with people through Christ’s atonement. To receive this wisdom, humility is necessary, since humility is also required for union with God (for otherwise, there is enmity). A fruit of this union is the manifestation of integrity that James points out in 5:12, deriving from Jesus’s teaching on oaths, which is to be a person of such character that oaths are unnecessary and undesirable; one is faithful and reliable enough to let “Yes” be enough to mean “Yes,” and “No” be enough to mean “No.”
The topic of the prayer of faith (1:6–8; 5:13–18) occupies less space relative to other themes, but it also contributes to the central theme of theological ethics. The dual emphasis is clear in both passages that concern the subject. On the one hand, James emphasizes the importance of the proper disposition of faith in prayer; otherwise, the words are empty and the one who prays for the wisdom from above should only expect emptiness in return. On the other hand, prayer is to be the outworking of faith when the faithful one faces the ups and downs of life. Indeed, there is an expectation that the one who prays out of faith also has accompanying righteousness as well as the capacities for confessing sins and forgiving sins in relation with the rest of the community.
The theme with the most extensive exposition is the relative places and relationships of the rich and the poor (1:9–11; 2:1–13; 4:13–5:6, 19–20). While the central theme is about faith and works, the driving concern that raised the need to address it was this relationship of rich and poor, as one can see in 2:15–17. The first teaching listed here establishes the theological perspective on the rich and poor with the former receiving exaltation and the latter receiving humiliation (which can have a positive connotation [i.e., humbling] and/or a negative one depending on context, as there are many statements about humbling the exalted and exalting the humble; cf. 2:5). The theological background for this notion—not even taking into account the many statements to this effect in the rest of the NT—depends on God’s demonstrations of delivering and exalting power on behalf of the covenant people (1 Sam 2:1–10; Pss 9:11–14, 17–20; 10:1–4; 12:1–5; 14:6; 18:25–29; 22:26; 25:9, 16–18; 37:14; 69:30–33; 89:17, 24; 132:17–18; 140:12; 147:6; 149:4; Isa 11:4; 29:19; 61:1; Zeph 2:3) and contextualizes such declarations into a hopeful eschatology as well (cf. Isa 40–55; Ezek 36–37; Joel 2–3; Amos 9; Mic 5–7; Zeph 2–3; Zech 9–14; Mal 3–4). With this covenantal framework operative here as well, it only further confirms the theme of theological ethics, precisely because covenant is the foundational form of theological ethics (even though this first teaching does not move to the dimension of action). The second teaching is more of an explicit mix of theology and ethics and draws out the theological foundations further by appealing to showing true love in the relationship between the rich (or at least, richer) and the poor. The eschatological imagery is further reinforced with references to the kingdom and judgment, while noting that mercy overcomes judgment. As in Jesus’s Beatitudes, showing mercy is the proper anticipation of receiving mercy. The key “working” concerns throughout this exhortation are care and provision, which highlights the importance of the relationship of rich and poor to James’s overall theological ethic (1:17–18, 27; 2:13; 3:17; cf. 5:1–6). These expressions of mercy and love are extensions and provisions of God’s mercy and love, just as wisdom in this text is the extension and provision of God’s wisdom. (5:19–20 is included in this category simply because it belongs with an emphasis on true love being deliverance and restoration, and it may be an indirect reference to the primary concrete problem addressed in this exhortation). 4:13–17 concerns both proper thought and proper speech that extends from thought. The last verse draws together the importance of knowledge and action in ethics. 5:1–6 seems to be an extension of the arrogance condemned in the previous verses as well as a condemnatory contrast with what James instructs concerning the treatment of the poor in ch. 2.
The final theme to address before moving to the central one is the theme of controlling the tongue (1:19–21, 26; 3:1–12; 4:11–12). Being quick to listen and slow to speak—as well as being slow to anger—requires having a good perspective and control of one’s speech. The capacity to listen well is of one piece with the exhorted meekness to receive the implanted word that has the power to save. Indeed, James states that no one who fails to bridle his or her tongue is truly faithful. The theological implication here depends on the perspective that the only true religion and true worship is that dedicated to the true God. Thus, bridling the tongue is an outworking of the true worship of the true God. The central teaching on controlling the tongue makes similar points even as it provides a more extensive and variegated perspective on the dangers of the tongue. Perhaps the central formative notion shaping the theological perspective on the tongue here is the idea that people use the tongue for speech-acts as contradictory as praising/blessing the Lord and Father while cursing the ones made in God’s likeness. The act of speaking needs the same integrity of thought/belief and action as every other exhorted disposition and practice in this correspondence from James. The final teaching on speaking involves speaking in such a way as to demonstrate a proper perspective on one’s place relative to brothers and sisters, the law of the covenant, and the lawgiver/judge who is over all.
The central theme comes to its most explicit expressions in the first two chapters (1:22–25, 27; 2:14–26). In line with the tradition established by the OT and the teachings of Jesus (e.g., Matt 7:24–27; Luke 11:28), James emphasizes that it is necessary to be doers of the heard word; it is not enough simply to hear the word. Though Israel heard the law of the covenant, they did not follow through on the purpose of the covenant law in their obedience of it. The people of the new covenant are in a similar situation in this regard, and it is essential for them to be doers of the word to demonstrate the integrity of faith and action. Proper action in relation to God is the essence of worship, which James links here to care for widows and orphans while remaining pure in relation to the unholy world. But the central passage for expressing this theme is 2:14–26 and its outline of the relationship between faith and works. It might be helpful to think of “faith” in vv. 14, 17–18 (at least in the first part of 18), 20, 24, and 26 as being in quotation marks. It is not true faith because it is apparent belief without effect, the same kind of faith that demons possess (v. 19). That is, it is not faith proper in the sense of loyalty and allegiance. James does not contrast faith per se with works and works are not some extraneous matter that need to be added to faith. Rather, the illustrations of Abraham and Rahab—as well as the end of the passage itself—indicate that works are the proper fruit of faith, its outworking, the completion and consummation of what is properly a unity (another term for unity of faith and action is “theological ethics”). In v. 18, James directly says that he shows his faith by works, and in v. 22 he describes Abraham’s works as bringing his faith to completion (so that Gen 22 brings Gen 15:6 to fruition). The last illustration of the relation of body and spirit drives home the point that works are the vitality of living faith.
As an extension of this theme of theological ethics, I suggest that the theological substructure of this theme is that living faith is the proper function of humans as living image-bearers of the living God (cf. Deut 5:26; Josh 3:10; 1 Sam 17:26, 36; 2 Kgs 19:4, 16; Pss 42:2; 84:2; Isa 37:4, 17; Jer 10:10; 23:36; Dan 6:20, 26; Hos 1:10; Matt 16:16; 26:63; Acts 14:15; Rom 9:26 [Hos 1:10]; 2 Cor 3:3; 6:16; 1 Thess 1:9; 1 Tim 3:15; 4:10; Heb 3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22; Rev 7:2). In other words, since humans are meant to be image-bearers of God, living faith—the enacted trust in and loyalty to God—is the way of bearing the image of the living God and of radiating that divine life (as opposed to the idols who have no life and cannot give life). I suggest that this notion is at the substructure level because it never quite emerges to the superstructure, but it is a sensible and demonstrable part of the theological contexts from which James emerges. Furthermore, it seems to me that there are traces of it at several points in James’s exhortation. I identify eight such possible points.
First, 1:5 presents God as the source of wisdom for which believers are to pray. The consequent implication is that humans properly function as image-bearers when they are characterized by this wisdom from the God of wisdom (wisdom that is further described in 3:17–18). Second, 1:17 similarly presents God as the source of generosity (lit. “giving good”), with similar implications. Third, 1:18 declares that God gave birth to believers by the word of truth to be a kind of first fruits of God’s creatures. This statement fits into an eschatological framework of redeemed and new creation, and with the exalted position of humans in the creation narrative of Gen 1–2 as bearers of God’s image and likeness. Fourth, James admonishes in 1:20–21 that the audience’s anger does not produce God’s righteousness, which seems to hint to a teaching of James in another context in 3:18 that believers—as people of living faith—are to produce the fruit of God’s righteousness (befitting an image-bearing function). James’s dual instruction surrounding this admonition shows how believers are able to fulfill this function in regard to speech and teachability/formability. Fifth, 1:26–27 builds from 1:5 and 1:17 in describing true religion/worship/piety (θρησκεία) in such a way as to invoke both of those previous aspects, thereby making true worship consist of that which truly reflects the divine image and likeness. Sixth, 2:13 provides a double-edged picture in the relationship between mercy and judgment so that judgment without mercy is given to the merciless and mercy triumphs over judgment for the ones who show mercy. In light of what has appeared already in this letter, this text reinforces the point that vindication is the expected outcome for people who fulfill the purpose of the divine image-bearer who represents the merciful God by living out one’s allegiance to this God with mercy. Seventh, perhaps no text comes closer to making this connection explicit than 3:9, which condemns the disjunction in the speech-acts of blessing the Lord and Father while cursing the ones made in God’s likeness, a cognate concept of “image” in Gen 1:26–27. Believers should be people whose speech aligns with the belief in who God is and who humans are as a result. Eighth, God’s gracious exaltation of the humble in 4:6–10 (cf. 1:9) implies a point similar to 1:20–21 in that the humble are those who embody the characteristics of divine wisdom that befit the exalted position God aims to give to image-bearers, as seen in Genesis. (Furthermore, those who are humble in this sense have the capacity for further embodiment in yielding the growth of wisdom.) It is important to remember that humility involves both proper disposition (of faith) and proper exercise of that disposition (in action/works). That is to say, it involves a living faith directed to the living God.