Philip Dampier's Blog

Comments on James

Chapter 1, Verse 1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.”

You will recall that there are four men in the New Testament we know as James. They are, James the son of Alphaeus, James the son of Zebedee, James the father of Judas, and James the brother of Jesus. Which one wrote the letter? We don’t really know, but best scholarly guess is James the brother of Jesus.

The nature of the letter indicates that it was written to a Jewish audience. There is a lot of Judaism and Old Testament thoughts in the letter itself. As to the purpose of the writing, I think the best I have read is from Dr. Douglas Moo’s preface to his own commentary of James. I borrow it here: “No profound theologian, James’ genius lies in his profound moral earnestness; in his powerfully simple call for repentance, for action, for a consistent Christian lifestyle.” James would agree with our Task for Today section because it urges us to not just hear but to do.

Task for Today: Read James all the way through. Make a personal list of his calls to do. Do your own personal check-list.