야고보서
Summary This is a letter written by James, the brother of the Lord, to believers scattered in the diaspora. To believers whose faith, amid persecution and poverty, was stopping at words and knowledge and becoming worldly, it insists that ‘faith without works is dead.’ Emphasizing perseverance in suffering, the prohibition of partiality, restraint of the tongue, and love of neighbor, it is the New Testament’s book of wisdom, teaching that true faith must be proven by the fruit and practice of one’s life.
- Date written
- AD 42–50
- Historical period
- Before the Jerusalem Council
Background
After the martyrdom of the deacon Stephen, believers of the Jerusalem church scattered to various places around the Mediterranean outside Palestine to escape persecution. In unfamiliar foreign lands they were rejected both by the Gentiles of Roman society and by Jewish traditionalists, and they were going through the trials of economic exploitation, poverty, social injustice, and persecution. False faith that stops at intellectual assent: A tendency spread to misunderstand saving faith as mere assent to doctrinal knowledge without a changed life. The gap between rich and poor and partiality: Worldly values crept into the church, flattering the rich and despising poor and ill-clothed brothers and sisters. Violence of speech and division in the community: Through words (the tongue) people slandered one another, and jealousy and quarrels arose.
Content
Chapter 1: The believer’s attitude toward trials (perseverance), asking for perfect wisdom, becoming a doer of the word and not merely a hearer. Chapter 2: Not showing partiality based on appearance (wealth), the uselessness of faith not accompanied by works (the examples of Abraham and Rahab). Chapter 3: The deadly power of words (the tongue) and their restraint, the pure and peaceable wisdom from above. Chapter 4: Guarding against worldliness (adultery with the world), humility and repentance, a life that does not boast about tomorrow. Chapter 5: Warning to the rich, patience in looking to the Lord’s coming, prayer and healing in suffering, love for one another.