The Book of James (Mind Map)

The Book of James

By Ed Sowden

Youthworks College

HEAD:

CONTEXT

James

Historical Context

Brother of Jesus

James, brother of Jesus, to the Jewish Diaspora.

• There is some debate about the authorship. May have been another James or pseudonym. Issues are with high level Greek and seeming conflict with Paul’s epistles are the main concerns.

• Most scholars do agree it was James, brother of Jesus. There are different reasons behind dealing with issues (Moyter p.18, Dickson p6-7).

• James: didn’t believe at first (John 5:7), seen in Jerusalem praying (Acts 1:14), saw the risen Jesus (1 Cor 15:7). In letter he calls himself “slave” of Christ (James 1:1) and is martyred in the end (Dickson p.10).

• Likely author is James, brother of Jesus, leader of church in Jerusalem, as seen in Acts 12:17 (Moo, Dickson).
• Early church. Written between AD 48 (see acts 15:13-21) and AD 62 when he was killed. (Dickson, p.10)
• Jewish Diaspora (scatterd Jews) ever since great exile of 597-586BC. More Jews living outside Palestine (5-8 million) than in it (no more than 2 million) according to John Dickson (p.12).
• Could be classified as a Parenetic Letter (Marshall, Travis, Paul p.253). Similar to Jewish synagogue sermon or homily (Moo p.38). Heavy influence of Old Testament texts and reference to sayings of Jesus (Dickson p.4).

Authors Intentions

Practical Homily to Jewish Christians.

• Intended to be widely read due to lack of specific address. Often called a general epistle (Marshall, Travis, Paul p.253 and Moo p.15).
• “12 Tribes” in 1:1 could point to various things. Most likely speaking of the renewed Israel, thus implying a Jewish Christian audience (Moo p.32).
• As the head of the Jerusalem church, James writes in a very pastoral way calling Jewish Christians to live a radical life (Moo p.38).
• Particularly after scattering and persecution mentioned in Acts 8:1, James exhorts his now dispersed flock to persevere under trial.
• “Writing to believers who were already well acquainted with the fundamental Christian teachings.” Moo, p. 40. This is a practical homily rather than a doctrinal statement.

HEART:

MESSAGE

Main Message

Putting Faith into Practice

It is hard to nail down a main theme as this is a Homily or collection of sermons, so it moves swiftly from one theme to another. But clearly James' intention is to drive his hearers into radical action. Thus, though non-specific, you could summarise the main message of James as putting faith into practice.

A summary verse would be either 1:22 or 2:17 (Moo p.44-46).

James is full of Christian ethics for the community living for Christ viewed through lens of returning judge/ last days (Moo p. 44).

Davids summary of themes in James:

1. testing, 2. wisdom/pure speech 3. poverty/wealth.

Good start but oversimplified. Doesn't give full coverage to the topics that James covers (Moo p. 39).

HIPS:

APPLICATION

Structure

Condensed Sermon

Application Then

Do the Word. Persevere under trial, favouritism of the rich and wise/pure in speech.

“Most of the book is made up of short seemingly independent, saying or short paragraphs. Moreover, it is often difficult to discern any logical relationship between one section an another.” Moo, p36

“James is best understood, then, as a brief, perhaps condensed sermon or homily, or extraction drawn from a series of sermons, sent to James’ dispersed parishioners in the form of a letter” Moo, p.38.

"Jesus was the master of the rapid-fire, aphoristic style of preaching and James, more than any other New Testament writer, has inherited his style." Dickson p. 4

• Chapter 1 is an Executive Summary (Dickson p.17).
• Summaries to introduce themes of the sermon (enduring trial v2-4,v12-18, wisdom v5-8, poverty/wealth v9-11, speech v19-21, doing the word v22-27)
• Chapter 2: Putting the Word into Practice
• V1-13 Don't show favouritism to the rich.
• V14-26 Faith without deeds is dead
• Chapter 3-4:12 Community Matters
• 3:1-12 teaching and speaking
• 3:13-18 wisdom from above
• 4:1-10 call to repent from love of the world
• 4:11-12 warning against harsh judgment.
• Chapter 4:13-5:11 Living for the Future
• 4:13-17 boasting about arrogant plans
• 5:1-6 misusing your wealth
• 5:7-11 Patiently wait for the Lords coming
• Chapter 5:12-20 Closing encouragements
• v12 Oaths
• V13-18 prayer and confession
• V19-20 call to action

Application Now

“We may see James as a letter of advice and exhortation addressed to any Jewish Christian community to whom it might be circulated. As such, it does address specific readers in a specific situation, but addresses what James perceived to be typical situations and issues faced by Jewish Christians in the Diaspora.” Marshall, Travis, Paul p.253.

• Love God not the world. ch4. Moo p.42
• Hellenism would have been a significant temptation for Diaspora Jews.
• Speech 3:1-12
• Prayer and confession 5:1-18
• Persevere under trial from Jews or rich merchants. 5:1-11
• There is multiple examples in Acts of Christians being persecuted by Jews.
• No doubt the oppression of the wealthy was common in these places.
• Turn sinners from error. 5:19-20
• This call to action at the end leaves the hearer convicted to put these things into practice in order to see others saved.

"James shoots straight from the hip." Dickson and Smart p.1

• The way we use our language. 3:3-12
• Australian culture of tall poppy syndrome, bagging people out to bring them down to our level.
• Care for the poor. 1:26-2:13
• Endure through trial. 1:2-4
• Take teaching seriously 3:1
• Significant for us at Youthworks college training to be ministers.
• Repent from materialism. 4:1-10
• Our western culture drives us to materialism and greed. Something we become blind to and something we must repent of.
• Live for the future. Not this world. 4:13-5:11
• Evangelism 5:19-20

Putting Faith into Practice