Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/328

 JAMES

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JAMES

intended any systematic arrangement of subject; in- deed, it is more probable that he did not, for in the Hebrew Sapiential Books of the Old Testament, Prov- erbs, Eeclesiastes, Ecclesiasticiis, to which the present Epistle may in many ways be likened, the order in which the moral sentences stand does not seem to suggest any connexion between them. It will there- fore be more expedient to give a simple enumeration of the subjects treated of in the Epistle: — Inscription (i., 1); persecutions are to be borne with patience and joy (2-4); wisdom must be asked of God with con- ficlence (5-S) ; humility is recommended (9-11); God is not the author of evil but of good (12-18) ; we must be slow to anger (19-21) ; not faith only, but also good works are necessary (22-27). Against respect of per- sons (ii, 1-13); another exhortation to good works (14-26). Against the evils of the tongue (iii, 1-12); against envy and discord, 13-18. Against wars and contentions (iv, 1-3) ; against the spirit of this world and pride (4-10); against detraction (ll-13a); against vain confidence in worldly things (1.3b-16). Against the rich that oppress the poor (v, 1-6); exhortation to patience in the time of oppression (7-11), and to avoid swearing (12); of the anointing of the sick (13-15); of prayer (16); we must have at heart the conversion of siimers (19-20). This enumeration shows that St. James inculcates especially: patience and perseverance in adversity, temptations, and per- secutions; the necessity of good works, mercy, and charity. For the question of apparent opposition between St. James and St. Paul with regard to "faith and works" see Rom.vns, Epistle to the.

IV. Occasion and Object. — A. Occasion. — St. James seems to have been moved to write his Epistle on witnessing that the first fervour of the Jewish Christians had grown cold, and that, owing to various causes, both external and internal, a certain spirit of discouragement had declared itself amongst them. (1) External Causes. — The new Christian converts found themselves at first the object of the indifference only of their fellow townsfolk, the greater number of whom still remained in unbelief; but this attitude very soon changed to one of hostility and even of persecu- tion. These early converts, belonging as they mostly did to the poorer classes, found themselves oppressed by the wealthy unbelievers; some were refused em- ployment, others were denied their wages (v, 4); at other times they were mercilessly dragged before the tribunals (ii, 6) ; they were persecuted in the syna- gogues, and were, besides, reduced to extreme want and even starvation (ii, 15-17). (2) Internal Causes. — In the midst of these trials the faith of many began to languish (ii, 14, 20, 26), and the evil ways they had abandoned at their conversion were gradually in- dulged in once more. Thus it came to pass that the poor were despised in the sacred assemblies (ii, 1-9) ; there were breaches of brotherly charity (ii, 7) ; some arrogated to themselves the office of teacher who were unfitted (iii, 1, 13); many were guilty of detraction and other sins of the tongue (iii, 1-12; iv, 11-13); there were contentions and lawsuits (iv, 1-2) ; some indulged in swearing (v, 12); others neglected assid- uous prayer (v, 13, 17-18); pride and vainglory were yielded to (iv, 6-10); even some of the sacred rites seem to have been overlooked (v, 14-16). Such were the evils that the Epistle sought to remedy. B. Ob- ject. — St. James wrote his Epistle for a moral purpose, and addressed his co-religionists as their pastor, in his quality of Bishop of Jerusalem, in order: (1) to exhort tnem to constancy in the faith in .spite of the persecu- tions and (rials they were undergoing, and to give them comfort in their trilnilations; (2) to correct the abuses and extirpate the evils amongst thc^ra, by urging them to make their conduct conformable to their faith, and by earnestly reminding them that faith alone would not save them unless they added good works.

V. To Whom Addressed. — St. James wrote his Epistle to the Jewish Christians outside Palestine, who, for the greater part, were poor and oppressed. This we gather with certitude from the inscription (i,l), and from various indications in the text. A. The words, i, 1, " to the twelve tribes " can mean the whole Jewish nation; but the words following, "which are scattered abroad", designate clearly the Jews of the Dispersion. The Jews in Palestine, surrounded by Gentiles, were not considered as "scattered abroad". That he addressed the Jewish Christians only becomes evident by the fact that the author styles himself "the servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ", and by this title he indicates clearly that he writes to the disciples of Christ only. B. That the readers were Jewish appears still more evidently from the Epistle itself. St. James takes for granted that those whom he addressed were well versed in the writings of the Old Testament. Moreover, he calls them not only his "brethren", which name taken by itself does not re- move all doulit, but he so clearly shows them to be Christians that it is incomprehensible how any critics understand unconverted Jews to be the "brethren" to whom the Epistle was written. Thus in i, IS, he writes to those whom God "of his own will hath be- gotten by the word of truth, that they might be some beginning of his creature " ; in ii, 1, he admonishes them as follows: "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with respect of persons " ; in ii, 7, he refers to them when he writes of the good name [of Christ] that is invoked upon you"; in v, 7, they are to be patient " until the coming of the Lord " ; etc. Further proof is atforded by the date of compo- sition. C. The context does not reveal who were the particular Jewish converts, to whom the Epistle was addressed. We gather, however, that St. James ap- peals to certain Christians, labouring under the stress of peculiar circumstances, in order to warn them against special perils; no one will easily admit that the vices against which lie inveighs and the errors he con- demns were to be met with in each and every commu- nity of Jewish converts. Therefore the conclusion that he addressed some particular Churches forces itself upon our minds. As, according to the most probable opinion, the Epistle was not written later than about A. D. 50, we may conclude that it was written to some of the Churches of Syria or of another country not far distant from Jerusalem.

VI. Style. — The style is sententious, figurative, often poetical, and may be compared to that of the Prophetical and Sapiential Books of the Old Testa- ment. It is rapid, betrays emotion, and is not wanting in those vehement outbursts of feeling customary with the writers of that period, and which so power- fully set the force of the argument before the reader. It has already been noticed that the different sen- tences of the Epistle may be divided into hemistichs of parallel meaning; this is quite in keeping with the distinctly Hebraic style of the whole Epistle; it is a well known fact that "the classical jicriod is not found in Hebrew, but that the short members of a proposi- tion are continually in juxtaposition.

VII. Time AND Place OF Composition. — A. Time. — The Epistle was probal)ly written aliout a. d. 47. The reference to the persecutions (ii, 6) is in the pres- ent tense, and indicates a stage of suffering which has not yet receded into the past of history. Now, in a. d. 44 the Churches of Judea were exposed to the per- secution inflicted by Herod Agripiia, in which James, the son of Zebedee, was murdered (Acts, xii, 1 sqq.). Moreover, the author could not have written after the Council of Jerusalem (a. d. 51), where James acted as president, without some allusion to his de- ci.sion unanimously accepted (Acts, xv, 4 sqq.). An- other indication, also derived from indirect internal evidence, is an .allusion to the hungry and nakeil jioor (of Jerusalem, ii, 15 sqq.); they suffered probably