His dispersed people in the face of their difficulties (see essay, p. His intimate knowledge of the readers and the authoritative nature of the letter.Īs leader of the Jerusalem church, James wrote as pastor to instruct and encourage This would account for James's references to trials and oppression, Were scattered as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Syrian Antioch (see Ac 8:1 11:19 and notes). Were believers from the early Jerusalem church who, after Stephen's death, It has been plausibly suggested that these That the recipients wereĬhristians is clear from 2:1 5:7-8. God, kyrios sabaoth, "Lord Almighty," 5:4). Obviously Jewish nature of the letter (e.g., the use of the Hebrew title for Furthermore, a Jewish audience would be more in keeping with the In general, but the term "twelve tribes" would more naturally apply to JewishĬhristians. Scattered among the nations." Some hold that this expression refers to Christians The recipients are identified explicitly only in 1:1: "the twelve tribes Writings - with the possible exception of Galatians. If this early dating is correct, this letter is the earliest of all the NT
The author of this letter could not have been the apostle James, who died tooĮarly (a.d. AuthorĪuthor identifies himself as James ( 1:1) he was probably the brother of JesusĪnd leader of the Jerusalem council ( Ac 15). Theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of James. This summary of the book of James provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme,