James Introduction
Having finished our devotional study on Colossians, we now move to a new book. Today, we start our study on the Book of James. Also, this post will mainly be an introduction to the book of James by looking at its authorship, date, recipients, and a general summary of the book. I have provided a significance study on the book of James previously and would suggest that as a primer as well.
Few books of the Bible have been more maligned than the little Book of James. Controversy has waged over its authorship, its date, its recipients, its canonicity, and its unity.
Martin Luther famously took issue with the book of James. He didn’t think it expressed the “nature of the Gospel,” it appeared to contradict Paul’s statements about justification by faith, and it didn’t directly mention Christ. He said James “is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.” However, that “straw” is really one that sticks and pricks. James has enough strawy needles to prick the conscience of every dull, defeated, and collapsed Christian in the world. James is able to exhort and encourage, to challenge and convict, to rebuke and revive, to describe practical holiness and drive believers toward the goal of a faith that works. James is one of the most practical books in the NT because it offers instruction and exhortation to Christians who are experiencing problems, as all of us do.
Considered one of the General Epistles, James, like the epistles of Peter, John, and Jude, is an letter addressed not to individual churches or persons but to a larger sphere of believers. The teaching in these general letters complements the doctrine of Paul. Paul emphasized faith; James stressed conduct; Peter, hope; John, love; and Jude, purity.[1]
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