Epistle of James

So, we have told you a little bit about our ministry and told you about some of the happenings in our world, but I know that you crave more!!!

I have just started a personal Bible study and I am focusing on the Book of James.

This is something that I have never done. I am doing an indepth study on James. I received recommendations from various people for commentaries. I will give them credit where it is due because they have helped a lot. Jim Erwin, Patrick O'Brien and Ted Weuste were my helpers.

To start, I have 4 commentaries:
The Epistle of James, NICNT by James Adamson
Letters of James & Peter by Williams Barclay
The Epistle of James: Proven Character Through Testing by Zane Hodges
James, Crossway Classic Commentary by James Manton

Books I would like to add:
St. James, International Critical Commentary by J.H. Ropes
James, New International Biblical Commentary by Peter Davids
James, Tyndale New Testament Commentary by Douglas Moo
The Letter of James, Pillar New Testament Commentary Douglas Moo
.... I am sure I will find more as I go along!

After several weeks of study, I am on Chapter 1, verse 1.

This study began deep in the introductions of each commentary and took off! We (the authors and I, we are in this together!) started with Who, When and Why. Who wrote the book? When did he write it? Why did he write it, which also included to whom did he write. The intros were very informative, especially Adamson and Hodges. Their intros were extremely thorough and informative. If you would like to know many of the themes of James and would like answers to the questions that I put forth, get the Adamson and Hodges books and read the intros.

Where am I you ask? What have I learned? Well, without giving you my opinion, I will tell you what I have read...

Who? A man named James probably wrote it. Some still dispute this! Who is James? This is a more heated issue. There are 2 main opinions and a few that are more of a stretch. One answer is that James is Jesus' half-brother, i.e. James is the son of Joseph and Mary. The other big one is that James is Jesus' cousin. I will not go into the others but would be happy to discuss them if anyone would like!

When? Most of my commentaries agree on this question in theory, but differ on the the date somewhat. Most seem to agree that James was written very early in Church history, basically within a few years of the events of Acts 1. This is where the commentaries differ... some put this at somewhere between 30 and 35 AD, while others put it roughly 10 years later. The other timeframe mentioned but not supported by these commentaries is a late writing, meaning toward the end of James' life, somewhere around 55 to 65 AD.

Why? That is the one that I am on right now, so I am not going to go into much detail. The portion of the verse that I am working is "... to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad..." That simple statement has many different possible answers. When I have my arms around the different explanations that I am working with, I will pass on some possible answers.

Is that ok with everyone?

That is all I have for now! Check back later for progress reports!

Thad