Jensens survey of the old testament adam 570
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principles, and works were the immediate
concerns of the first decades of the church.
As to the question of the place of writing
James, it is very probable that James was
living in Palestine when he wrote the
epistle.
D. OCCASION AND PURPOSES
Persecution of the Christians, unchristian
conduct (e.g., in speech) by many believers,
and erroneous views on such doctrines as
faith and sin were some of the circumstances
that called for this epistle.
Most of the epistle was written to correct
evils and to teach right Christian behavior.
There
is
also
encouragement
and
exhortation in things such as the coming of
the Lord (e.g., 5:7). The epistle has been
called “A Practical Guide to Christian Life
and Conduct.” More of James’s purposes will
be observed as you survey the epistle.
E. CONTENT
James
emphasizes conduct more than
creed. For this reason James has been called
the apostle of good works, an identi cation
linking him with the trio of John, apostle of
love; Paul, apostle of faith; and Peter,
apostle of hope. There is very little of
systematically-presented theology in the
book. Speci c references to Jesus and the
gospel are few, though this does not take
away from the Christian spirit that pervades
the book.9 Of this, D. A. Hayes writes,
“James says less about the Master than any
other writer in the New Testament, but his
speech is more like that of the Master than
the speech of any of them.”10
F. COMPARISON WITH OTHER BOOKS
Some interesting comparisons between
James and other parts of Scripture are
suggested below. You may want to inquire
more into this subject a later time.
1. Proverbs of the Old Testament. James and
Proverbs are both concerned primarily with
conduct.
2 . Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. There are
many extraordinary likenesses between the
book of James and Jesus’ Sermon on the
Mount.
3 . Paul’s writings (especially Galatians and
Romans). The most obvious observation to
be made here is a di erence of emphasis:
P a u l emphasizes the place of faith, and
James, the place of works. There is no
contradiction here, however, though some
theologians have concluded so.11 The
di erence between the two books is
accounted for by the two di erent vantage
points. Paul deals with “Justi cation Before
God;” James, “Demonstration Before Men.”
“Paul saw Christ in the heavens, establishing
our righteousness. James saw Him on the
earth, telling us to be perfect….”12
Refer to Chart 62, page 244, for
comparisons of the various New Testament
books. Note especially how James and
Galatians are compared:
GALATIANS: Liberation by the
gospel
JAMES: Compulsion of the gospel
A study of this chart is one good way to
survey the main content of the New
Testament.
4. Other general Epistles.
James and 1 Peter — predominantly
