^gSW OF PRINCf^v
^OtosiCAL SE*^
PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL
ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY
PROFESSOR A. T. ROBERTSON
BY PROF. A. T. ROBERTSON
Critical Notes to Broadus* Harmony of the Gospels
Life and Letters of John A. Broadus
Teaching of Jesus Concerning God the Father
The Student's Chronological New Testament
Syllabus for New Testament Study
Keywords in the Teaching of Jesus
Epochs in the Life of Jesus
A Short Grammar of the Greek New Testament
Epochs in the Life of Paul
Commentary on Matthew
John the Loyal
The Glory of the Ministry
A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the
Light of Historical Research
Practical and Social Aspects of Christianity
Practical and Social
Aspects of Christianity
THE WISDOM OF JAMES
By
Prof. A. T. ROBERTSON, M.A., D.D., LL.D.
Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Southern Baptist
Tbeological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.
"The Wisdom that is from Above"
0^WT'-
•IVC.L
SSmigjl *9fiS
HODDER & STOUGHTON
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
Copyright, 191S, by
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
TO
W. R. MOODY
WORTHY SON OF NOBLE SIRE
PREFACE
In August, 1 91 2, it was my privilege to deliver a
course of lectures at the Northfield Bible Conference.
There were many requests for the publication of the
addresses. I shall never forget the bright faces of
the hundreds who gathered in beautiful Sage Chapel
at 8:30 on those August mornings. In August, 19 13,
the lectures were repeated at the New York Chau-
tauqua and at the Winona Bible Conference. There
were renewed appeals for publication, but it was not
possible to put the material into shape because of
my work on "A Grammar of the Greek New Testa-
ment in the Light of Historical Research." I have
expanded the lectures a good deal and have added
some introductory discussion about James himself.
I have in mind ministers, social workers, students of
the Bible, Sunday-School teachers, and all lovers of
the word of God and of Tightness of life. Technical
matters are placed in parentheses or in footnotes so
that the reader may go on without these if he cares
to do so. There is a freshness in the Greek text not
possible in the English, but those who do not know
Greek may still read this book with entire ease. I
do not claim that these addresses are a detailed
commentary on the Epistle of James. They are ex-
pository talks, based, I trust, on sober, up-to-date
scholarship and applied to modern life. It is the old
gospel in the new age that we need and must know
how to use. There is a wondrous charm in these
Vlll
PREFACE
words of the long ago from one who walked so close
by the side of the Son of Man, who misunderstood
him at first, but who came at last to rejoice in his
Brother in the flesh as the Lord Jesus Christ the
Glory. It is immensely worth while to listen to
what James has to say about Christianity and the
problems of every-day life. His words throb with
power to-day and strike a peculiarly modern note
in the emphasis upon social problems and reality in
religion. They have the breath of Heaven and the
warmth of human sympathy and love.
A. T. Robertson.
Louisville, Ky., April, 1915.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
I James, the Servant of God and of the
Lord Jesus Christ, i : ia 13
II To the Twelve Tribes Which Are of the
Dispersion, i : ib 47
III Joy in Trial. 1:2-11 53
IV The Way of Temptation, i : 12-18 72
V The Practice of the Word of God. 1:19-27 87
VI Class Prejudice. 2:1-13 107
VII The Appeal to Life. 2:14-26 127
VIII The Tongues of Teachers. 3:1-12 143
IX The True Wise Man. 3:13-18 170
X The Outer and the Inner Life. 4:1-12. 190
XI God and Business. 4:13-5:6 214
XII Perseverance and Prayer. 5 : 7-20 240
ix
PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
OF CHRISTIANITY
CHAPTER I
James, the Servant of God and op the Lord
Jesus Christ, i : ia
i. The Brother of the Lord.
It will be well to put together the bits of informa-
tion about James, or Jacob,1 as he is called in the
Greek. They are not very numerous, and yet it is
possible to form a reasonably clear picture of his
personality.
It is here assumed that the James the author of
the Epistle is the James the brother of the Lord
(Gal. 1:19). It is hardly conceivable that James
the brother of John could have written the Epistle,
since he was put to death as early as A. D. 44 by
Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:2). The matters pre-
sented in the Epistle were hardly acute in the Jew-
ish Christian world by that date, and there is no
evidence that this James had attained a special
position of leadership that justified a general appeal
to Jewish Christians.2
The Epistle belongs to the five "disputed" (dvriXe-
ybjitva) Epistles (James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter)
and circulated in the east before it did in the west.
1 'lanugos. Our "James" comes through the Italian "Giacomo."
The name is common enough in the first century A. D.
2 For careful discussion of the authenticity of the Epistle, see
Mayor, Epistle of James, pp. xlvii-lxvii; Plummer, St. James, pp.
13-24.
13
14 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
It occurs in the Peshitta Syriac Version. Origen (In
Johan. xix. 6) knows it as "the Epistle current as
that of James" (rq (pepo/xevy 'lanoifiov kmoToXy), and
Eusebius (H. E. III. xxv. 3) describes it with the
other four as "nevertheless well-known to most
people" {yvu)giji(iiv 6' ovv 6[iG)g rolg noXXoig).
There are many proofs1 that the Epistle was
written by the author of the speech in Acts 1 5 :
13-21, delicate similarities of thought and style too
subtle for mere imitation or copying. The same
likeness appears between the Epistle of James and
the Letter to Antioch, probably written also by
James (Acts 15:23-29). There are, besides, ap-
parent reminiscences of the Sermon on the Mount,
which James may have heard or; at any rate, the
substance of it. There is the same vividness of
imagery in the Epistle that is so prominent a char-
acteristic of the teaching of Jesus. If it be urged
that the author of the Epistle, if kin to Jesus, would
have said so, one may reply that a delicate sense of
propriety may have had precisely the opposite
effect. Jesus had himself laid emphasis on the
fact of his spiritual kinship with all believers as
more important (Matt. 12:48-50). The fact that
James during the ministry of Jesus was not sympa-
thetic with his work would also act as a restraining
force upon him. The brother of Jesus (cf. also
Jude 1) would naturally wish to make his appeal
on the same plane as the other teachers of the
gospel. He rejoices in the title of "servant of God
and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (deov Kai Kvpiov 'l-qoov
1 See Mayor on James, p. iv.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 15
Xpiarov dovXog) just as Paul did later (Rom. 1:1; Phil.
1:1; Tit. 1:1), and as Jude, the brother of James,
also did (Jude 1). Paul, however, added the term
"apostle" (dnooToXog) in Rom. 1 : 1 and Tit. 1:1, which
James and Jude do not employ. They were none of
them members of the Twelve, though Paul claimed
apostleship on a par with the Twelve (1 Cor. 9: if.;
15:8; 2 Cor. 12: 1 if.). And yet Paul implies (Gal.
1:19) that James also is an apostle1 in a true sense of
that term. Like Paul, he had seen the risen Lord
(1 Cor. 15: 7). But James, though one of the "pil-
lars" at Jerusalem, with Peter and John (Gal. 2:9),
is content with the humbler word "slave" (dovXog).
He is the bondsman of the Lord Jesus Christ as well
as of God, and so is a Christian in the full sense of
the term. He places Jesus on a par with God and
uses Christ (Xgiorov) as a part of the name. There
is no "Jesus or Christ" controversy for James. He
identifies his brother Jesus with the Messiah of the
Old Testament and the fulfilment of the hopes and
aspirations of true Judaism. One must perceive
that the term "Christ" in the mouth of James
carries its full content and is used deliberately. He
adds also "Lord" (nvpiov), which has here the Old
Testament atmosphere2 of worship. It is not a
mere polite term for station or courtesy. The
use of "Lord" by the side of "God" places James
unquestionably in the ranks of worshipers of Jesus
Christ as Lord and Saviour. See also James 2:1,
"faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Barnabas is also called an apostle in Acts 14:4, 14.
2 See Warfield, The Lord of Glory.
16 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
I consider it settled that James was not the
"cousin" (aveipiog) of Jesus, the son of the sister of
Mary the mother of Jesus. There is no doubt that
the Greek word for brother (&deX<p6s) is used for mem-
bers of a brotherhood in the current Greek of the
first century A. D.,1 just as we find it so frequently in
the New Testament. This usage does not apply to
the "brothers of Jesus" in the Gospels (John 2: 12;
Mark 6:3; Matt. 13:55; John 7:3). In Matt. 12:
46, 49 we find the literal and figurative use of
"brother" side by side. In this looser sense anyone
may be called "brother." To-day, in some sections
of the United States, it is a common term between
strangers who accost each other on trains. In Lev.
10:4 the first cousins of Aaron are termed "breth-
ren" (adetyoi) , but this instance does not justify the
constant use of the word in the Gospels for a definite
group of persons as "brothers" of Jesus if they were
only "cousins." Besides, they appear constantly
with Mary, the mother of Jesus, as members of her
family. The use of "sisters" (adeX<f>ai) increases the
argument for the common use of the word (Mark
6:3; Matt. 13:5-6). There are many other diffi-
culties in the way of this position of Jerome (Hie-
ronymian Theory), like the fact of two sisters with
the same name of Mary and the identification of
Alphaeus and Clopas.
The Epiphanian Theory, that James and the other
brothers and sisters are all children of Joseph by a
former marriage (step-brother theory), is free from
the difficulty about the word "brother" and is not
1 See Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, pp. 96, 107, 227.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 17
inconceivable in itself, if there were no critical ob-
jections to it. Unfortunately there are, for Jesus is
not called "only-begotten" (novoyevrjc;) of Mary, but
"first-born" (npuroTOKog) in Luke 2:7: "She brought
forth her firstborn son."
Jesus is "only-begotten" of God (John 1: 18), as
the widow of Nain had an "only -begotten" son
(Luke 7 : 12) and Jairus an "only-begotten" daughter
(Luke 8:42). But "first-born" occurs in the true
sense all through the Septuagint (cf. Gen. 27:19,
32; 43:33; Deut. 21:15), where there were other
children. The inscriptions1 show it in the true
sense. The New Testament instances of "first-
born" are all strictly correct from this stand-
point, even Col. 1:15 and Rom. 8:29.2 "First-
born" implies other children. Besides, the nat-
ural meaning of Matt. 1:25 leads to the same
conclusion.
The Helvidean Theory (brother or half-brother
theory) that Jesus and James were sons of the
same mother, Mary, may be said to hold the field
against the others. In fact, it is most likely that
both of the other theories grew out of the desire to
secure a greater imaginary sanctity for Mary under
the impression that she was more holy if she bore
only Jesus and did not live as wife with Joseph.
But this is contrary to all Jewish sentiment, and
certainly there is nothing in the Gospels to coun-
tenance this notion, but much to contradict it. We
1 Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 88.
i2Suicer, ii. p. 877, quotes from Theodoret ei 7rpwr<5ro/cof, ituq juovo.
i8 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
conclude, therefore, that James, the author of the
Epistle, is the brother of Jesus.1
2. In the Family Circle at Nazareth.
In spite of Origen's opinion (Origen on Matt.
13: 55) that the sons and daughters of Joseph were
children of a former marriage, an opinion more
than offset by the position of Tertullian {de Monog.
8, de Virg. Vel. 6), we must think of the family-
circle at Nazareth as composed of five brothers
(Jesus, James, Joses, Judas, Simon, in Mark 6:3,
but Jesus, James, Joseph, Simon, Judas in Matt.
13 : 55) and the "sisters." Every implication is that
they all passed as sons and daughters of Joseph and
Mary in the usual sense. The order implies also
that, while Jesus is the eldest, James comes next
among the brothers. Unfortunately the names of
the sisters are not given. We are to think therefore
of a large home circle in the humble carpenter's
house in Nazareth. Jesus, the eldest, followed the
trade of Joseph, the father of the family, and came to
be known as "the carpenter" (6 tektuv, Mark 6:3).
Certainly all the children must have learned to
work with their hands, though we do not know
whether James adopted that trade or some other.
He would soon be called upon to help in the sup-
port of the family, as Joseph seems to be dead
when Jesus enters upon his ministry, since he is not
mentioned with Mary and the children in Matt. 13 155
and Mark 6:3. Joseph was probably older than
1 For a very sane and clear discussion of the whole subject, see
Patrick, James the Lord's Brother, pp. 1-21.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 19
Mary. The family were not peasants and probably
had all the necessary comforts of the simple primi-
tive life of a workman in a small town in Galilee.
Jewish boys usually started to school when six
years old, but before that the education of James
had begun in the home. "James, together with his
brothers and sisters, was brought up in an atmos-
phere charged with reverence for God and love for
man, with tenderness, freedom, and joy."1 The
Jewish parents did not shirk parental responsibility
for the religious training of the children, and a large
family was regarded as a blessing from God. The
love of God was the first of all lessons taught at
home and this was followed by the simple elements
of truth, uprightness, mercy, and beneficence.2 The
Jewish mother rejoiced in her children, and James
was fortunate in having such a mother as Mary
and such a father as Joseph.
At school, while religion was the main theme and
portions of the Old Testament the text-book, there
was abundant intellectual stimulus. The quick-
witted boy would be all alive to the great problems
of faith and duty. The teacher would probably use
the Aramaic dialect of Galilee even if he had the
Old Testament in Hebrew. But the boy would soon
learn to speak the Koine also, the current Greek of
the world, the language of commerce and of com-
mon intercourse everywhere. Simon Peter, the
fisherman, knew and used Greek, as did John, the
apostle. It was common for people to know two
1 Patrick, James the Lord's Brother, p. 23.
1 Ibid., p. 25.
20 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
languages. Paul probably knew Aramaic and He-
brew, Greek and Latin. Jesus knew and spoke
both Aramaic and Greek and probably knew the
Hebrew also. James came to write Greek with a
great deal of ease and skill. He was in no sense a
litterateur. He was no Atticist in his style and did
not try to imitate the classical Greek writers, whom
he probably never read. Deissmann1 does call the
Epistle of James "a little piece of literature," but
he means "a product of popular literature." Cer-
tainly there is nothing artificial in content and style.
Is it mere fancy to think that the same poetic beauty
shown in Mary's Magnificat (Luke i : 46-55) appears
in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Epistle of
James? At least, the rich acquaintance with the
Old Testament exists in all three. The author of
the Epistle is gifted with imagination and shows
knowledge of the Apocryphal books, especially the
wisdom literature of the Jews, but he is a thorough
Jew in his outlook and literary method,2 so much so
indeed that it is contended by some that James
wrote the Epistle originally in Aramaic,3 an unlikely
supposition. The widespread diffusion of Greek in
Palestine amply accounts for the author's grasp of
the language.4 The epigrammatic and picturesque
style is due to the writer's individuality, his en-
vironment, and his reading. His vocabulary is rich
in words about fishing, husbandry, and domestic
1 Light from the Ancient East, p. 235.
2 Milligan, New Testament Documents, p. III.
* Cf. Mayor, on James, pp. ccv-ccxiii.
* Milligan, New Testament Documents, p. III.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 21
life, as one would expect.1 A man of the force and
position of James could easily broaden his ac-
quaintance with the Greek tongue as the years
went by. The Greek is pure Koine, with few He-
braisms, though the tone is distinctly that of the
Old Testament.2 He speaks like a prophet of old
in the service of Christ. There is no doubt that
James came to be a man of culture in a real sense.
He probably married early, as it was the custom
of the Jews for men to marry at the age of eighteen.3
Paul expressly states that "the brothers of the Lord"
(oi adeXcpoi rov icvpiov) were married (1 Cor. 9:5). We
do not know, of course, the age of James when Jesus
began his ministry. In all probability he had al-
ready married and had a home of his own in Naz-
areth. The sisters probably married and settled in
Nazareth also (Mark 6:3).
We have no mention of the rest of the children
going to Jerusalem when the Boy Jesus was taken
(Luke 2:41-52). Indeed, it is rather implied that
they were not in the company, but this does not
mean that James did not have his turn to go when
he was twelve years old and afterwards.
There is no reason to believe that James grew up
to be a Nazirite, as Hegesippus as quoted by Euse-
bius (H. E. ii. 23) alleges: "He is distinguished from
others of the same name by the title 'Just, ' which has
been applied to him from the first. He was holy
1 Mayor, on James, p. cxcii.
2 Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek N. T. in the Light of
Historical Research, p. 123.
3 C. Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, App. 97.
22 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
from his mother's womb, drank no wine or strong
drink, nor ate animal food; no razor came on his
head, nor did he anoint himself with oil nor use the
bath. To him only was it permitted to enter the
Holy of Holies." The evident legendary details here
deprive the statement of real value except as wit-
ness to his genuine piety and to the esteem in which
he was held by the people generally. Hegesippus
adds: "His knees became hard like a camel's, be-
cause he was always kneeling in the temple, asking
forgiveness for the people," a description of his life
in Jerusalem after he became a Christian. At any
rate, like Joseph, his father, he grew up to be a
just man and came to be known as James the Just.
3 . A Scoffer of Jesus.
We are left to conjecture what the brothers and
sisters of Jesus thought when he went down to the
Jordan to meet the Baptist. We know that "Mary
kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart"
(Luke 2: 19).1 Mary had seen the dawning Mes-
sianic consciousness when Jesus was only twelve
(Luke 2:49). The reply of Jesus to his mother's
hint about the wine at the wedding of Cana implies
that Jesus and his mother had talked over his Mes-
sianic task (John 2:4). But the brothers accom-
panied Jesus, his mother, and the small band of six
disciples to Capernaum after the miracle at Cana,
and the group remained together for some days
1 7} 6f Map/a navra awerr/pn (note imperfect tense, linear action) ra
pf/unrn mwfj&'k'kovaa (putting together, piece by piece, every won-
drous detail with a mother's brooding love) b> rij napdig ai)Tf/c
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 23
(John 2:12). They may have met at Nazareth
after the wedding at Cana and thence proceeded to
Capernaum. It is possible that the brothers, not
being at Cana, and not being in the secret between
Jesus and Mary, may not have grasped the sig-
nificance of the events connected with the baptism
of Jesus and his entrance upon his Messianic career.
The presence of the band of "disciples" (iiad^rai,
learners at the feet of the new Rabbi) argues that
the brothers must have known something about the
wonderful claims of Jesus their brother. At any
rate, it is pleasant to see them all here together in
Capernaum in fellowship and friendliness, "a proof
of the closeness of the ties uniting our Lord and
them. No shadow of estrangement had as yet
fallen upon their relations."1 Godet (on Luke 2: 12)
thinks that Mary and the brothers came on to
Capernaum eager for more miracles like the one at
Cana, and may have been keenly disappointed be-
cause Jesus wrought none. This is possible, but
hardly as probable as the idea, that it is a friendly
group in frank fellowship in Capernaum. We are
left in the dark as to the real attitude of the brothers
of Jesus when he begins his great work. They may
have looked upon him as a sort of irregular rabbi or
a mild enthusiast carried away by the new teaching-
of John the Baptist. There would be natural pride
in his work, while it succeeded, without necessary
belief in his claims. Certainly Mary must have had
at first the utmost faith, tremulous with expecta-
tion, in the Messiahship of Jesus. Perhaps the
1 Patrick, James the Lord's Brother, p. 46.
24 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
brothers were at first only mildly interested or even
sceptical of the qualifications of one out of their
own family circle. The brothers may not have been
free from the jealousy sometimes seen in home life.
It was not long before hostility toward Jesus sprang
up in Nazareth itself, according to the vivid narra-
tive in Luke 4: 16-31, probably soon after the re-
turn of Jesus from Judaea and Samaria to Galilee,
certainly after the miracle at Capernaum (Luke
4:23), as told in John 4:46-54. Probably James
shared with the rest the first wonder at the words of
grace (Luke 4: 22) and the quick flash of wrath as
the pride of the town was pricked (4: 28). Hence-
forth in Nazareth, despite his growing fame else-
where, Jesus was persona non grata. His brothers
felt this atmosphere of hostility very keenly.
The curtain falls on the family life in Nazareth
till toward the close of the Galilean ministry, after
the second general tour of Galilee by Jesus (Luke
8: 1-3). The tremendous work of Jesus had created
a wonderful impression. The multitudes in amaze-
ment asked if Jesus were not the son of David, the
Messiah (Matt. 12 : 23). The Pharisees in anger and
chagrin replied that he was in league with Beelzebub
(12:24). The excitement was intense. Jesus would
sometimes withdraw to the deserts and pray (Luke
5: 16). Sometimes Jesus and the crowds would not
eat (Mark 3:20). News of all this came to "his
friends" (Mark 3: 21), who are explained in Mark
3:31 as "his mother and his brothers." Probably
already vague rumors were afloat that Jesus was
out of his head. Once people said of Jesus that he
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 25
was "a gluttonous man, and a winebibber" (Luke
7: 34), but now he is so queer! In the inner circle
at Nazareth Mary had watched and heard it all.
What could it mean? Perhaps, Mary argued, his
reason has been temporarily dethroned by the strain
and the excitement. She will go and bring him
home, where he can have quiet and rest. It was
easier for the brothers to see it so, since they had
not accepted him as Messiah. Perhaps one may
have said, "I told you so." At any rate, "they went
to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside him-
self" (Mark 3:2i).1 Jesus is in a crowded house
in Galilee near the Lake when they come (Mark
3:19) and readily understands why they have
come when he is told that his mother and brothers
are standing without and wish to speak with him
(Mark 3:31; Matt. 12:46; Luke 8: iof.). It is a
tragedy of life, pathetic beyond words. The eccle-
siastics have long ago made issue with him and are
now violently assailing him. Many of the people
are following the lead of the Pharisees. And now
his own mother and brothers have come and wish
to take him home so as to avoid the scandal and
shame of his further public ministry. The Pharisees
say he has a demon and is in league with the devil.
The "charitable" construction therefore is that he is
a lunatic. But Jesus does not go out to meet his
own mother and brothers (James among them). He
had come to know one of the bitterest of human
sorrows, a pang to the very heart, to be misunder-
stood "among his own kin, and in his own house"
^'Efeffrj?. Cf. our "ecstasy," a "standing out" of oneself.
26 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
(Mark 6:4). It is not surprising, therefore, that
Jesus found consolation in the fact that many did
understand him. "And looking round on them
which sat round about him,"1 when the message
came, "he stretched forth his hand towards his
disciples,"2 and said: "Behold my mother and my
brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my
Father which is in heaven, he is my brother, and
sister, and mother."3 Mother and brothers had
failed in the crisis to comprehend Jesus and even
his "sisters" (note "and sister"). But the Father
in heaven had not veiled his face from Jesus. It is
not clear that James heard this pathetic rebuke
from Jesus, as he may have remained standing out-
side the house. Many have come into spiritual
fellowship with Jesus who thus have the peculiar
consolation of taking the place made empty in his
heart for the time by mother and sister and brother.
With Mary it was a temporary eclipse and she was
loyal at the end as she stood by the cross.4
Jesus made another and a last visit to Nazareth
(Matt. 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6). There was a re-
vival of interest in him which crystallized into hard
scepticism, so that Jesus did not many mighty
works there, and even "marvelled because of their
1 Mark 3 : 34, xal irepi(3fctpafievo<; rove nepl avrbv KVK?.<f> nadr/fiivovf,
with all of Mark's particularity and vividness.
2 CKTtivas ttjv xeiPa \p.vTmt\ knl tov$ /iadrjTa<; avrov (Matt. 12:48), with
expressive gesture.
* Matt. 12:49 f.
* John 19:25, irapa r<J aravpu tov 'Irjoov, close beside it, probably
means as near as was allowed. Here his mother stood with the other
women.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 27
unbelief." He was a "prophet without honor" in
Nazareth as he left for the last time the city of his
childhood and early manhood.
The tide at last turned against Jesus in Caper-
naum (John 6: 22-71) and in Galilee generally. For
six months he remains away save for a brief visit
that met with the united hostility of Pharisee and
Sadducee (Matt. 15:39 to 16:4; Mark 8:10-13).
The brothers of Jesus meanwhile seem to grow in
this spirit of dislike toward the elder brother. Six
months before the death of Jesus they ridicule him
for his being a virtual refugee from Galilee and for
his secretive methods, quite inconsistent with his
claims of Messiahship (John 7 : 2-5). James as the'
oldest of the brothers was probably the spokesman
on this occasion. The "advice" was of an extremely
irritating nature, with the implication that Jesus was
seeking to gain credit "in public" ("openly," kv napprja-
oia) while doing his work "in secret" ("in a hidden"
place, ev kpvtttw). It is not surprising therefore that
Jesus did precisely the opposite, for he went up to
Jerusalem, "not publicly, but as it were in secret"
(John 7:1c).1 John explains the motive of the
brothers (4:5), "for even his brethren did not be-
lieve on him."2 They have reached the point when
they are willing to attack Jesus. They belonged to
the world and did not understand Jesus (John
7 : 6f.)- It is not necessary to say that James was
actually a Pharisee, still less an Essene. The use
1 ov Qavcpaf (cf. (j>avspuaov in 7:4), 0AA0 wf kv Kprmrij) (cf. kv Kpwrrqi
in 7:4).
1 It is oiide eirioTcvov and expresses a long standing attitude.
28 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
made of his name by the Judaizers in the contro-
versy with Paul does not prove this to be true
(Gal. 2: 12). But certainly he was now in general
sympathy with the hostile attitude of the ecclesias-
tics from Jerusalem (both Pharisee and Sadducee).
The cup that Jesus must drink at Jerusalem has
this added bitterness in it. It is not particularly
surprising, when all things are considered, that at
his death Jesus commended his mother to John the
Beloved Disciple rather than to any of his brothers
or sisters. They were all completely out of sym-
pathy with him and with her. At such an hour
sympathy counted for far more than blood without
it. Besides, the brothers may not have been in
Jerusalem at this time, for they still lived in Naz-
areth. It is possible, of course, that James may
have been at the Passover, which was so generally
attended by the Jews. Certainly he was at Pente-
cost later (Acts 1: 14). We do not know whether
Jesus appeared to James in Jerusalem or in Galilee
(1 Cor. 15:7), though Paul mentions it after the
appearance to the more than five hundred, which was
in Galilee. Mary needed immediate attention, and
was probably taken away from the cross at once by
John "unto his own home" (elg rd idia),1 probably the
Jerusalem home of his mother, certainly not Galilee
now. John then came back to the cross and saw the
piercing of the side of Jesus by the Roman soldier
(John 19:35). But at any rate, it is clear that
Jesus died upon the cross with James and all his
1 John 19 : 27. Cf . 1 : 1 1 ; Acts 2 1 : 6. This use of ra Uia for one's
home appears in the papyri. Cf. B. U. 86 (ii A. U.), 183 (i A. D.).
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 29
brothers and sisters utterly out of touch with him.
"Doubtless their very intimacy with our Lord
blinded them to his real greatness."1
4. Seeing the Risen Christ.
It is Paul who tells us of this most interesting
event (1 Cor. 15: 7). 2 As already stated, we do not
know where James was when the Risen Jesus mani-
fested himself to him. Broadus3 locates the event
in Jerusalem after the return from Galilee and be-
fore the Ascension. As a matter of fact, it could
have been in Galilee perfectly well. James may
have come to Jerusalem (Acts 1 : 14) because he had
been converted in Galilee. At any rate, "this ap-
pearance to James is the only one not made to a
known believer."4 But Dale5 holds that James had
already been converted before his Brother appeared
to him, as a result of information from his mother
or from the apostles. This is, of course, possible, but
it cannot be insisted on as necessary on the ground
that Jesus appeared to believers only. The case of
Saul refutes that position. It is quite possible that
James may have heard of the report of the Resur-
rection of Jesus and had thus some preparation for
the great event when he saw Jesus risen from the
dead. We are told nothing of what passed between
the two brothers, but one may be sure that no hard
1 Patrick, James the Lord's Brother, p. 60.
2 eneira tydt) 'Ia/cw/Ju. The same verb occurs here as in the other
appearances of Jesus.
3 Harmony of the Gospels, p. 229.
4 Patrick, op. cit., p. 67.
5 Epistle of James, p. 5.
/
30 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
or harsh reproof came from Jesus for the indifference
and even scoffing of James. The brothers of Jesus
were children of their age, which was a Pharisaic age
in Palestine. The current expectation was for a
political Messiah, not a Saviour dying for the sins of
the world. Even the Twelve Apostles had not risen
to the conception of a spiritual Messiah, and they
had given up all hope upon the death of Jesus and
had themselves to be convinced of the fact of the
Resurrection of Jesus, a task of much difficulty,
particularly in the case of Thomas, though they all
at first scoffed at the stories of Mary Magdalene
and the other women. So, then, the path of James
toward faith was not an easy one, but he took it
and came boldly out on the side of the disciples of
Christ. It is more than likely that it was through
James that the other three brothers were . led to
faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour (Acts i : 14).
The Gospel of the Hebrews as quoted by Jerome
(de Viris Illustribus 2) gives a story to the effect
that James was already a disciple and present at
the last Passover with Jesus and took a vow "that
he would not eat bread from that hour on which he
had drunk the cup of the Lord till he saw him risen
from the dead. Again, a little afterward, the Lord
says, Bring a table and bread. Immediately it is
added: He took bread, and blessed, and brake it,
and gave it to James the Just, and said to him, My
brother, eat the bread; for the Son of Man has risen
from the dead." Mayor1 is inclined to credit this
story in part, but surely it utterly misunderstands
1 On James, p. xxxvii.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 31
Luke 22: 18, makes James one of the Twelve, and
is impossible from any point of view, since not even
the Twelve expected Jesus to rise from the dead.
There are difficulties enough connected with the proof
of the Resurrection of Jesus without burdening the
narrative with this story. But, let me add, modern
science has not made faith in the resurrection of Jesus
impossible, nor has modern research disposed of the
value of the Gospel accounts of this tremendous
event. Paul, who testifies to this experience of James,
is himself the chief witness to the reality of the fact.
This is not the place to enter upon a discussion of
this great question, but modern men may and do still
believe in the Risen Christ with all simplicity and
sincerity.1
5. In the Upper Room at Pentecost
The simple statement in Acts 1:14 is: "These all
continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women, and
Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."
So then all four2 are now disciples and are admitted
to the inmost secrets of the circle of believers in
Jerusalem, whither they have now come. Certainly,
now that they have all come to believe in their
Brother as in reality the Messiah of Israel risen from
the dead, they must come to Jerusalem to be with
their mother in her hour of triumph and joy. No
one but a mother can understand the fullness of
satisfaction in Mary's heart now. The sword had
1 Cf. Orr, The Resurrection of Jesus; Thorburn, The Resurrection
Narratives and Modern Criticism.
2 Kal avv Toli adehpoiq aii-ov.
22 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
pierced her own soul (Luke 2:35), as old Simeon
had prophesied when he saw the Babe in the temple,
but now the wound has been healed and there is a
new and richer Magnificat in her heart. It was
worth all that she had endured to wait with the
disciples in the Upper Room with her other sons
for the Promise of the Father, i The breach in her
family life had been healed. It is clear that the
heartiest of welcomes greeted the brothers of Jesus.
They were men of importance in themselves, in par-
ticular James, who from every standpoint is one of
the first men of his day. It is possible that the
coolness of James and the other brothers had in-
jured the work of Jesus with a good many who
used this fact against the claims of Jesus. Now
the accession of these brothers was of the utmost
value to the band of believers gathered in the
Upper Room, where Jesus had manifested himself
before his Ascension.
The presence of the brothers is mentioned by
Luke before the choice of Matthias to succeed
Judas. One may naturally wonder why James was
not suggested by Peter, since he undoubtedly was
equal to the Eleven in ability and all other qualities
save one. But this one defect was fatal. He had not
been with the Twelve during the ministry of Jesus,
and so could not be a first-hand witness to his words
and teachings (Acts 1 : 22). Otherwise we may infer
that James would have been a welcome addition to
the Twelve in the place of Judas.1
But the significant fact is that James is present
1 Patrick, op. cit., p. 78.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 33
during the wonderful days of this Pentecost and is
rilled, like the rest, with the Holy Spirit. He enters
upon the new task of world evangelization with the
new insight and the new influx of divine power. He
faces the new day with the light of the sun in his
face.
6. Leadership in the Jerusalem Church.
If he was disqualified from being one of the
Twelve, he was not debarred from liberty to serve.
In fact, he was a practical apostle in Jerusalem
along with the rest. The Twelve kept no secrets
from James. He gradually won his way to the love
and confidence of all the great church in Jerusalem.
His importance in Jerusalem is recognized by Paul
on the occasion of his visit to Jerusalem on his re-
turn from Damascus,1 for he says: "Other of the
apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother."
Here Paul treats him as an apostle and practically
calls him so. James had probably seen Paul before,
when he was the leader of the persecution against
the Christians. He was doubtless glad to see
this powerful addition to the forces of Christianity,
but James is probably included in Luke's statement
of the reception of Paul on this occasion. "And
they were all afraid of him, not believing that he
was a disciple" (Acts 9:26). Barnabas alone had
faith in Paul and the courage to stand by him. If
James was suspicious of the new convert, so were
all the rest, and not without reason. It is clear
from Paul's reference in Gal. 1:18 (loropijoai K7]<ptiv)
1 Gal. 1 : 19.
34 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
that Peter responded heartily to Paul's advances
after once opening his heart to him. They had a
delightful fifteen days together. It is not likely, as
Farrar1 argues, that James, being a legalist, held
aloof from Paul throughout. This is wholly gra-
tuitous.2 ,
James is not mentioned again in Acts till 12: 17,
and in a most significant manner. James, the
brother of John, has been killed by Herod Agrippa I.
Peter has been thrown into prison, but has been
released by the angel of the Lord in response to the
prayers of the church assembled in the home of
Mary, mother of John Mark (12: 12). Peter goes
to the house and tells the astonished group: "Tell
these things unto James, and to the brethren."
This is somewhere about A. D. 44. James now
clearly occupies a position of leadership in the
church. Peter himself apparently leaves the city,
for the time being (12:17). There are already
"elders" (-npeopvTepoi, 11:30) in the church at Jeru-
salem. We do not know what the position of James
is, but certainly it is one of great honor and leader-
ship. The apostles, since James could not be one of
the Twelve who were charged with the general
work of evangelization, may have been glad for
James to be in charge at Jerusalem. Certainly he
proved himself fully equal to the task.
James maintains the position of leadership in
Jerusalem throughout the narrative in Acts. He is
evidently the President of the Jerusalem Confer-
1 St. Paul, i.f p. 233.
1 Patrick, op. cit., p. 83.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 35
ence (Acts 15: 14-21). He is in charge of the
church when Paul visits Jerusalem the last time
(Acts 21:18): "Paul went in with us unto James:
and all the elders were present." He possessed the
confidence of this great Jewish church, the mother
church at Jerusalem, and had the ear of the non-
Christian Jewish world in a way hardly true of any
other disciple of Jesus. Jews would listen to James
who would not heed Simon Peter.
7. The Writing of the Epistle.
The Epistle of James was probably written shortly
before the Jerusalem Conference, most probably just
before, that is, about A. D. 48 or 49. There is no
room here for an extended discussion of the proof
of this statement. In general I agree with the argu-
ments of Mayor on this point.1 Plummer2 is unable
to decide between A. D. 49 and A. D. 59. Writers
like von Soden place it at the end of the century,
and Bruckner puts it in the second century. Spitta
admits that Paul, in Romans, alludes to the Epistle
of James, but suggests that the present epistle is a
Christian adaptation of a Jewish book. But on the
whole the weight of the argument is towards the
conclusion that James wrote the Epistle before the
Conference and without reference to the Judaizing^
controversy. Paul, in Galatians and Romans, may
very well have in mind a misuse of what James, in
1 See his Commentary on James and his article on the Epistle in
the Hastings D. B.
2 Epistle of James (Exp. Bible), p. 6if. See also Patrick, op. cit.,
chap. v.
36 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
chap. 2, says about faith and works, which misap-
prehension he seeks to correct. The Epistle must
either be placed between 40 and 50 A. D., before the
Judaizing controversy arose, or in the middle of
the second century, after it had died down.1 The
early date has the best of it in my opinion.
If this date for the writing of the Epistle be cor-
rect, we have no difficulty in seeing how James could
have written it so early. Already about A. D. 44
we saw his leadership in the Jerusalem church (Acts
12:17). No man in the apostolic circles at this
period had the ear of the Jewish Christians as did
James. This is seen further in the fact that he is
asked to preside over the Conference in Jerusalem
to settle the issues raised by the Judaizers against
the work of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles.
The Epistle, therefore, seems to come in at this
stage of the career of James and is the chief expres-
sion left of his mind and life.
8. Champion of Paul at the Conference.
I cannot enter upon a formal discussion of the
many questions in dispute concerning this great
event in the apostolic period. I can only briefly
sketch my own interpretation of the part played by
James on this occasion.2 In brief, it is here main-
tained that in Gal. 2: 1-10 Paul gives a report of
the private interview with the leaders in Jerusalem
1 Cf. M. Jones, The N. T. in the Twentieth Century, p. 321.
2 For a fuller presentation of the matter from the standpoint of
Paul, see my Epochs in the Life of Paul, chap. vii. I identify the
visit to Jerusalem in Gal. 2: 1-10 and Acts 15, in spite of the argu-
ments of Sir W. M. Ramsay to the contrary.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 37
after the first public meeting (Acts i5:3f. ; Gal.
2:2) was adjourned because of the violent opposi-
tion of the Judaizers (Acts 15: 5). In this private
conference Paul, though anxious to win the public
support of "James and Cephas and John, the re-
puted pillars" ('Ia/tw/Jof Kal Krjcpag Kal 'Jcjdvrjg, 01
doKovvreq otvXol, Gal. 2:9), yet was not willing
to compromise the great issue at stake, "our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus" (2:4) and "the
truth of the gospel" (2:5). Paul reveals a certain
amount of embarrassment in his references to the
three great leaders in Jerusalem, as is manifest in
the long and broken sentence in verses 6-10. He
roundly asserts his independence of them and affirms
that they imparted nothing to him (2:6). It seems
clear that some of the more timid brethren were
quite disposed to surrender to the Judaizers for the
sake of peace and in particular to agree that Titus,
a full-fledged Greek convert in Paul's company, should
be circumcised. But Paul gave "the pillars" to under-
stand that he would not have peace on those terms.
It is quite possible that James, here mentioned be-
fore Cephas (Peter) and John as the real leader
of the group,1 had not till now clearly understood
Paul's true position. The Judaizers had in all
probability counted on James to take their side
against Paul, "but contrariwise, when they saw2
that I had been entrusted with the gospel of the
uncircumcision as Peter with the gospel of the cir-
1 Cf. Lightfoot on Galatians, "St. Paul and the Three."
2 rovvavriov l66vTtc. A hint that they had not always seen it this
way.
38 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
cumcision — they gave to me and Barnabas the right
hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the
Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision" (2: 7-9).
It is much easier to think of James as the author of
chap. 2 in his Epistle before this event than after
this pact with Paul. Note also verse 9: "And when
they perceived the grace that was given unto me."1
Now the coast is clear and Paul is sure of victory in
the open Conference. The stipulation about the
poor (2:10) was in harmony with Paul's previous
practice (Acts 11 : 29L).
In the second meeting of the general Conference
James evidently presides and sums up the situation
in favor of Paul after Peter (Acts 15:7-12) has
shown how they had already agreed to Gentile
liberty in the case of Cornelius and his household.
James, with due deliberation (fiera to ovyr\oax avroi^,
15 : 13), concludes (15 : 14-21) with a pointed endorse-
ment of Simon (ivfie&v, verse 14, a Quaint Hebraic
touch) Peter's speech and acceptance of the work at
Caesarea and among the Gentiles generally as a visi-
tation of God (6 6sd$ eneaKe-ipaTO, verse 14). He
clinches the whole matter by showing that the
prophets (as Amos 9: nf.) agree2 with this position
that the Gentiles are to be saved. "Wherefore my
judgment is,"3 he says as the President of the Con-
ference, practically offering a resolution for the vote
of the Conference, "that we trouble4 not them that
1 Kgu yvdvrec ri}v %aptv tt/v dodeioav pot, as if a new experience for them.
2 tovtu avfi^uvovaiv (15:15), a musical word, our "symphony."
8 (ho i}(j Kpivu.
* irapevoxfciv is from napa, h, and o^u (from *jAof, a crowd). A
crowd may be a great annoyance.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 39
from among the Gentiles turn to God." He has put
the matter in a very happy form. Surely Jewish
Christians could but rejoice to see Gentiles "turn
to God." James proposes the writing of an epistle
(kmorelXeu) to the Gentile Christians to this effect
with the added warning "that they abstain from
the pollution of idols, and from fornication, and
from what is strangled, and from blood." It is at
least open to question whether "what is strangled"
(icai ttviktov) is genuine here, since it is wanting in
D (Codex Bezae), Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian,
as also in 15:28. If so, the prohibition is against
idolatry (idol-feasts), murder (blood), and immoral-
ity (fornication), the great vices of heathensim.1
But with the text as it stands, "things strangled,"
we seem to have a concession to the Jewish cere-
monial law and to Jewish prejudices on that point.
James is not uneasy about Moses, for he is read in
the synagogues every Sabbath (Acts 15: 21), a ref-
erence to the habit of the Christians still to worship
in the Jewish synagogues (cf. James 2:2). The
"wisdom" of James is manifest in this masterly ad-
dress, which carried conviction to such an extent
that the resolution of James was carried unanimously
by the body of "the apostles and the elders, with the
whole church" (15: 22), a remarkable outcome, when
the bitterness of the Judaizers is considered, and a
distinct tribute to the influence of James. We may
assume that the Judaizers were silent, since they
saw that, they were hopelessly defeated.
1 Cf . Wilson, The Origin and Aim of the Acts of the Apostles,
P- 53-
40 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
The epistle which was sent to the church at
Antioch (15:23-29) embodies the ideas of James
and was probably written by him, since the style
is like that of his speech and the Epistle that bears
his name. The letter expressly disclaims responsi-
bility for the conduct of the Judaizers at Antioch
(15:24), pointedly condemns their behavior, com-
mends "our beloved Barnabas and Paul" (25!),
refers to the messengers Judas and Silas, claims the
guidance of the Holy Spirit in the stand for Gentile
freedom (28), and repeats the stipulations in the
speech of James about the special Gentile sins (29).
There can be no question that James here entered
fully into sympathy with the contention of Paul
that the yoke of Jewish ceremonialism should not be
imposed upon the Gentile Christians. James is a
champion of the Pauline doctrine of "grace" as
opposed to "works." It is interesting to note the
phrase "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25).
It is difficult to see how, after this Conference, James
and Paul could misunderstand or oppose each other.
As we shall see, the real explanation of the apparent
conflict between James 2 and Rom. 3 is quite other
than this unnecessary hypothesis. James has now
given the great weight of his character and influence
among the Jewish Christians to the endorsement of
the work of Paul among the Gentiles. James is a
Jewish Christian, but not a Judaizer. He does not
wish to impose the burden of the Mosaic ritual upon
the Gentiles, though he still observes it himself, as
do the other Jewish Christians, including Paul him-
self.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 41
9. Misuse of the Name of James.
In Gal. 2:11 Paul speaks of a visit of Peter to
Antioch, apparently some time after the events re-
corded in 2 : 1-10. If it were before the Conference,
Peter's conduct at Antioch would be largely relieved
of the charge of cowardice. But, on the whole, we
must follow the order of time as given by Paul. We
do not, however, know whether this visit of Peter
was before the breach between Paul and Barnabas
over John Mark (Acts 15 : 36-41) or after the return
of Paul from the second tour (Acts 18: 22L). If the
latter is true, Barnabas had also come back to An-
tioch (Gal. 2:13). Patrick1 thinks that this visit
was not long after the Conference, probably before
the breach with Barnabas. At any rate, Peter at
Antioch practices social equality with the Gentiles,
just as Paul and Barnabas and the rest of the Jewish
Christians there did (Gal. 2: 13), and just as Peter
did in the house of Cornelius, though he apologized
for the act then (Acts 10: 28), and at Jerusalem
when called to account for it (n: 1-18). Evidently
the question of social equality was not raised in the
Conference at Jerusalem.
"Certain came from James" (?rpd tov yap eXdelv
rivaq and 'Iaicu)(3ov) , says Paul (Gal. 2:12). Pat-
rick2 admits that they had some connection with
James and may have borne a commission from
James, though not to Peter. It is possible, of
course, that rumors of Peter's liberty in the matter
of social intercourse may have reached Jerusalem
1 James the Lord's Brother, p. 188.
2 Ibid., p. 191.
42 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
(cf. Acts ii : iff.) where the Pharisaic element in the
church were very sensitive on this point. It is diffi-
cult, however, to believe that James would have felt
called upon to send a reprimand to Peter on the
subject, even granting that James opposed this con-
duct of Peter. The Judaizers at Antioch seem to
have claimed the sanction of James and the rest at
Jerusalem in their opposition to Paul and Barnabas
(Acts 15: i, 24L), and it is entirely possible that on
this occasion the visitors from Jerusalem claimed a
connection with James that was not true. Hort1
thinks it probable that James merely meant "to
send cautions to Peter," with no thought of a re-
buke, and that the messengers took the matter in
their own hands and proceeded to frighten Peter
with threats of a report to James about his conduct
at Antioch.
It is undoubtedly true that the horizon of Jeru-
salem was not that of Antioch, and that Paul would
have less sympathy for what Peter did under fear of
consequences at Jerusalem than for James in Jeru-
salem, who might not fully comprehend develop-
ments at Antioch. But the Epistle of James and
his speech at the Conference make me slow to
believe that he had gone over to the position of the
Judaizers, as Peter did at Antioch. Paul boldly
charged Peter, and even Barnabas, not with a
change of conviction, but with hypocrisy (Gal. 2:
i3f.). Fortunately, it was only a temporary lapse,
and both step back to the side of Paul in his cham-
pionship of a gospel of equality and freedom for all.
1 Judaistic Christianity, p. 81.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 43
Paul makes no formal charge against James, and,
under all the circumstances, I prefer to think that
James has been misrepresented at Antioch by the
visitors from Jerusalem, who dared to use his power-
ful name to whip Peter into line. At any rate,
James, not Peter, seems to be the master spirit at
Jerusalem, as Paul is at Antioch.
10. Befriending Paul on His Last Visit.
Paul came to Jerusalem for the last time in the
spring (probably 57 or 58) with a heavy heart. He
reveals his apprehensions in Rom. 15:31-33, and in
his address at Miletus (Acts 20: 18-35). He has
made a brave fight for liberty in Christ almost all
over the Roman Empire, but the Judaizers have not
ceased their attacks upon him. In particular, dur-
ing his long absence from Jerusalem, he has been
grossly misrepresented there. He has been fre-
quently warned of trouble if he came, but he is
determined to come in the hope of setting matters
right in Jerusalem and so preventing a schism in
Christianity. He had won at the Conference at
Jerusalem some seven or eight years before. Hort1
thinks that Paul entered the city "with much pre-
caution and avoidance of observation" under the
shelter of Mnason (Acts 21: 16). At any rate, the
brethren received him gladly (21: 17), and on the
next day Paul made a formal call on "James; and
all the elders were present" (21 : 18). So here James
is still at the head of the work in Jerusalem as at
the Conference. The apostles were present then as
1 Judaistic Christianity, p. 106.
44 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
they seem to be absent now. This is not a Con-
ference, but merely a friendly meeting. Paul's re-
hearsal of his work among the Gentiles meets with
the most cordial expressions of satisfaction (21: 20).
Paul is among his friends, who tell him of a gross
misrepresentation of his position that is current
among the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem to the
effect that he teaches that Jewish Christians must
forsake Moses and the customs of the law (21 : 21).1
They do not believe it themselves, and only wish to
help Paul clear the matter up without interfering
at all with the decision of the Conference about the
freedom of the Gentiles (21: 22-25). They suggest
that Paul join with four men in a Nazirite vow,
pay the charges for their purification and for his
own, and let all the Jewish Christians see him in the
act of worship and ritual observance of the cere-
monial law, and thus prove "that thou thyself
also walkest orderly, keeping the law" (21:24).
The matter seemed simple enough. Paul had not
opposed the observance of the law on the part of
Jewish Christians. Galatians was written in de-
fense of Gentile liberty. There was no effort to
commit Paul to the necessity of the law for salva-
tion. As a matter of fact, Paul had kept up his
observance of the Jewish customs save as they
affected separation from the Gentiles. So Paul
accepted the advice and made the offering, "purify-
ing himself with them" (21:26). Apparently, the
plan succeeded in setting Paul right with the mass
1 This "informing" (KaT/jxt/fo/anv, persistent talking) was done by
the Judaizers, who "dinned" it into the ears of the people.
JAMES, THE SERVANT OF GOD 45
of the church in Jerusalem. The trouble that led
to his arrest arose from the attack of some Jews
(not Christians) from Ephesus, who accused Paul of
defaming the temple while in the very act of doing
worship in the temple. We do not know whether
the plan of the elders was the plan of James. Cer-
tainly, if he had disapproved, he would have spoken
out, as the meeting was at his house. But it was
all meant in the utmost kindness to Paul, and it is
not possible to show that it was unwise. The inci-
dent shows the greatest friendliness between Paul
and James, and the frankest recognition on Paul's
part of the great worth and influence of James
himself. There is no other reference to James in
the New Testament unless it appears in Heb. 13 :
7, 17, "them that have the rule over you."
11. The Story of His Death.
Clement of Alexandria1 says that James the Just
"was thrown from the gable [of the temple], and
beaten to death by a fuller with a club." Hegesip-
pus2 gives a long and legendary account of the death
of James to the effect that the people of Jerusalem
who called James the Just were so enraged when
he bore witness to Jesus as the Son of Man that
they flung him down from the gable of the temple,
stoned him, and a fuller clubbed him." "And they
buried him on the spot by the temple, and his
monument still remains by the temple."
But Josephus3 gives an entirely different and
1 Hypotyp. vii. apud Eusebius H. E., II. I. 3.
2 Also preserved in Eusebius H. E., II. xxiii. 4-18.
3 Ant. xx. ix. I. It is interesting to note that Prof. P. C. Burkitt,
46 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
much more credible narrative of the death of James,
placing it about A. D. 62 or 63. He charges the
Sadducees through the high priest Ananus with the
death of James and adds: "Ananus, therefore, as
being a person of this character, and thinking that
he had a suitable opportunity, through Festus being
dead, and Albinus still on his journey (to Judaea),
assembles a Sanhedrin of judges; and he brought
before it the brother of Jesus who is called Christ
(his name was James) and some others, and
delivered them to be stoned, on a charge of being
transgressors of the law." So he won a martyr's
crown. He was called "the Just" (rdv diicaiov). He
had accused the wicked rich of killing "the Righteous
One" (tyovevoare tov diicaiov, James 5:6).
of Cambridge University, has boldly championed the genuineness of
Josephus's testimony to Jesus.
CHAPTER II
To the Twelve Tribes Which Are of the
Dispersion, i : ib
i. Simple Address.
The writer is wonderfully simple and direct in his
greeting as compared with Paul in Rom. i: 1-7, for
instance. There is no principal verb and the nomi-
native absolute occurs with the infinitive ('IdKOifiog —
xalpeiv), as is so common in the letters found in
the papyri.1 Originally a word like ' 'sends" (emoreX-
Xet) may have been used also. But this short ad-
dress is in perfect keeping with the businesslike
character of James and the pointed, pungent tone
of the Epistle.
2. The Readers.
They are evidently not a local church. "The
twelve tribes of the Dispersion" naturally refers to
the Jews who are scattered in the Gentile world
outside of Palestine. The technical term "Diaspora"
(dtaoTropd, from SiaoTrelpeiv, to scatter) occurs in only
two other places in the New Testament (John 7:35;
1 Pet. 1:1). In John the word has its usual sig-
nificance. The Jewish leaders scoffed at Jesus as a
failure in Palestine. Perhaps he meant to go and
teach the Jews of the Dispersion. The term "twelve
tribes" in James merely means the Jews as a whole
1 Cf. Qsuv — ^ai'pav, P. Oxy. 292, circa A. D. 25.
47
48 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
in the Dispersion, for the tribes were not preserved
in a distinctive way outside of Palestine. The "Lost
Ten Tribes" evidently had no significance for James.
As a matter of fact, they are no more "lost" than
Judah and Benjamin. The Jews of Palestine, after
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, were
once more scattered abroad as their ancestors had
been twice before to mingle as "Jews" in various
parts of the world. Doubtless modern Jews are
simply a blend of all the twelve tribes. At the time
when James wrote the Jews were very numerous in
all the great commercial centers of the world, such
as Alexandria, Antioch, Babylon, Ephesus, Miletus,
Pergamum, Rome, Thessalonica. But it is more
than probable that James has in mind chiefly the
Eastern Dispersion in Babylonia and Mesopotamia,
as Peter (i Pet. 1:1) addressed the Western Dis-
persion.
"But was James writing to Jews who were not
Christians? Was he making an appeal to the non-
Christian Jews of the Dispersion to become Chris-
tians? The idea is not without fascination in itself.
Dr. J. H. Moulton1 contends that this is precisely
what James has done, as is shown by the avoidance
of specific reference to Christ and to the cross so as
not to give offense to the Jews whom he wishes to
win. Dr. George Milligan2 replies that it is not
possible to think of "a Christian teacher of James's
position suppressing his distinctive beliefs under any
circumstances whatsoever." But the author does
1 The Expositor, VII. iv. p. 45 ff.
2 The N. T. Documents, p. 112.
TO THE TWELVE TRIBES 49
not conceal his view of Jesus. In the very first
verse he speaks of "the Lord Jesus Christ," and
these words give his human name Jesus, his title
Christ (Messiah), and his lordship (deity). Be-
sides, in 2 : 1 James speaks of Jesus as the object of
faith, and so of worship, as Moffatt1 correctly has it :
"As you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
Glory." See also 5:7, "until the coming of the
Lord" (cf. 5:8). There are no doctrinal discussions
of the Cross and the Resurrection, but all this is
distinctly implied. James also announces himself as
a Christian in 1 : 1 and could not wish to conceal the
gospel if he meant to win Jews to Christ. Moreover,
he draws a distinction between the Christians ("ye")
and their oppressors ("they," apparently rich Jews)
in 2 : 7 : "Do not they blaspheme the honorable name,
by which ye are called?" That "name" is the name
of Christ.2 Cf. also 2:6: "Do not the rich oppress
you, and themselves drag you before the judgment
seats?" Besides, James claims the readers as be- /
lievers, "my brethren," in 2:1; 5 : 7f . There are,
doubtless, passages where James pictures unbeliev-
ing Jews, as in 2:6f., just mentioned, and, in par-
ticular, 5 : 1-6, that vivid apostrophe to the rich
Jews of the time.
In 1 Peter 1:1 we find the other instance of
Diaspora or Dispersion. Here Peter seems to mean
by "the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion
in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,"
1 A New Translation of the N. T. Besides, in 3:9 James speaks
of "the Lord and Father" (God).
2 Plummer, Comm., p. 47.
5o PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
not merely Jews or Jewish Christians, but all Chris-
tians, whether Jews or Gentiles, in the spiritual
Dispersion, "sojourners" from the true Palestine or
Promised Land (Heaven). Is this the idea of James?
Zahn1 takes this position and finds the writer ad-
dressing Christians in general, whether Jews or Gen-
tiles.
But surely the author has in mind simply Chris-
tian Jews outside of Palestine. The use of the word
"synagogue" as a place of worship (2:2) on a par
with "church" (5: 14) argues for this interpretation.
He is addressing the Christian Jews, who now have
many problems, and he may have hoped by means
of these believing Jews to reach the wider circle of
unbelieving Jews. He speaks of Abraham as "our
father" (2:21). He assumes that for his readers the
Mosaic law is still binding (2: 9- 1154: 11). 2
3. The Occasion.
This we do not know. Unlike most of Paul's
Epistles, there are no personal details. We are left
to conjecture, as in the case of Jude and 1 John.
The picture drawn in the Epistle is that of Jewish
Christians of the poorer classes, with a small num-
ber of richer brethren (1: 10), struggling for life in
the midst of a social and economic environment
that was utterly unsympathetic, not to say hostile.
The process of adjustment was difficult and perilous.
There were perils to the individual and to the
church life, and James shows real mastery of the
1 Einl. i. 5, 6.
2 Plummer, Comm., p. 46.
TO THE TWELVE TRIBES 51
situation that confronted the Jewish Christians in
the middle of the first century in the scattered re-
gions where they are found. He writes to them in a
firm tone, but with manifest understanding and
sympathy.
4. Character of the Epistle.
The book, small as it is, is a little gem in concep-
tion and expression. It reminds one of portions of
the Book of Proverbs, some of the Psalms, portions
of the Prophets, the Twelve Patriarchs, the Wisdom
of Jesus the Son of Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon,
Philo, and the Sermon on the Mount. It is quite
possible that both Paul and Peter had read the
Epistle of James, at least there are several coinci-
dences between them. At any rate, there seems to
be some literary connection between some of Paul's
Epistles (Rom., 1 Cor., Gal.), 1 Peter and Hebrews,
and the Epistle of James. Some contend that the
Epistle makes use of these N. T. books. M. Jones
(N. T. in Twentieth Century, p. 316) thinks that
the author had some knowledge of the Stoic philoso-
phers, but this could have come through Hellenistic
Judaism, as, for instance, the Wisdom of Solomon
and Philo. The author, as already shown, writes in
the smooth and easy Koine of a gifted and culti-^
vated Jew of Palestine. One does not have to say
with Patrick1 that James "had a wide knowledge of
classical Greek." He may never have read a line
of "classical" Greek, but he knew well the current
Greek of his day and used it with fine skill. It is
1 Op. cit., p. 298.
52 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
not a labored production and is in no sense arti-
ficial. The author is full of the Old Testament and
writes like one of the prophets, and yet he has a
firm grip upon the essence of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The book forms a fine link between the
Old Testament and the New. James, the brother
of the Lord Jesus, understands the Old Testament
and loves Moses still. He seeks to interpret Chris-
tianity more fully on its ethical and social side to the
Jewish Christians of his time, who are in sad need
of help, beset as they are by Jew and Gentile, and
with an imperfect grasp of the new gospel. They
find in this Epistle just what they need to make
practice correspond to profession, to square life with
creed. The lesson is still needed to-day. There is a
peculiar modernity about the teaching of James that
appeals to modern men. who are nothing if not
practical.
CHAPTER III
Joy in Trial. 1:2-11
Evidently these early Jewish Christians had their
share of trial. Who, alas, does not have his por-
tion? The problem with us all is to learn how to
find the spring of joy in the midst of sorrow, to be
happy while we carry our burden. There are always
perplexities and anxieties without number. The sea
is restless even in its moments of calm beauty.
1. Variety in Trials. 1:2.
There is the tone of an elder brother in this Epis-
tle, and we see it at the start, when James says "my
brothers" (adeXcpot fiov).1 It is no perfunctory phrase
with him. It is "trials," not "temptations," that
James here has in mind, though the same word
(neipaanog) probably means temptation in 1:12.
The word in the Greek came to have either sense
though originally it meant only to try, to attempt,
just as our English word "tempt" was at first
simply "try." But it is a short step from "try" to
"make trial of" one when suspicion exists or evil
desire arises. Hence all through the Greek we find
the old Greek word (ireipdopai) used in both senses.
The New Testament usage varies. There are a half
dozen other passages where the word (neiQaafio^)
1 The papyri frequently show adetyoq for this religious community
idea. Cf. Milligan, Greek Papyri, pp. 22, 117.
53
54 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
has the idea of trial (Luke 22 : 28; Acts 20: 19; Gal.
4: 14; 1 Pet. 1:6; 4: 12; Rev. 3: 10). In 1 Pet. 1: 6
the identical expression "manifold trials" appears.
Oesterley (Expos. Gk. Test.) wrongly insists that
"temptation" is the meaning in James 1 : 2 on the
ground that "the writer's Judaism is stronger than
his Christianity," and he then uses it as an argument
against the genuineness of the book. A soldier
(Parry) does have "true joy" in victory over tempta-
tion, like Wordsworth's Happy Warrior, but that is
beside the mark here. There is no conflict here with
the avoidance of temptation urged by Jesus (Matt.
6:3; Luke 11:4; Matt. 26: 41 ; Luke 22 : 40). James
refers rather to external trials into which men fall,
trials that are not only "unwelcome," but also "un-
sought and unexpected."1 It is almost the picture
of a stumble in the dark when one finds oneself sur-
rounded (negi — TreoTjre) by hostile forces, just as the
poor man "fell among robbers" (Xx/aralg irepie-neoev,
Luke 10:30).
Besides, one may be surrounded by "all sorts of
trials" at once and not merely "any sort of trial"
(Moffatt). The word "manifold" (ttoikIao^) is really
many colored, variegated, spotted, mottled, pied,
dappled. "It never rains but it pours," we say at
such a time. The same word (noiKiXog) is applied to
the sicknesses and torments of body and mind which
Jesus healed (Matt. 4:24). It is used of the evil
desires that lead silly women astray (2 Tim. 3 : 6), of
the lusts and pleasures which once the Cretans
served (Titus 3:3), of the variety in the manifesta-
1 Plummor, op. cit., p. 63.
JOY IN TRIAL 55
tion of God's power in connection with the gospel
(Heb. 2:4), of the many sorts of strange teachings
then afloat (Heb. 13:9) of which we are now be-
ginning to learn something (incipient Gnosticism and
the early stages of Mithraism, for example), of the
many trials which brought sorrow to the Christians
(1 Pet. 1:6), and of the many sides to the grace of
God (4: 10). God has grace for every trial what- s
ever its color, whether black or blue, yellow or
green, red or crimson.
The way to face them all is with joy in the heart
and a smile on the face. We are not asked to rush,/
into trials and to make mock-martyrs of ourselves.
We are not asked to rejoice because of the trials
many or few. Much depends on how we treat
(f]yrj07]ode) the problem of trial, much of which is
beyond our control, like poverty in wisdom (1:5)
and in substance (1:9) and like persecution (2 : 6f.).
We are not to be blind to facts nor to submit tamely
to what can be cured and should not be endured.
James is not a Cynic nor a Stoic, but a victorious
Christian who has learned the lesson that thankful
joy is easier and wiser than mere dull resignation
(Plummer, in loco). Each trouble may be met by a
special kind of joy as its antidote. The common
idea about "all joy" (ndaav #apdv, omne gaudium) is
that James thereby means "pure joy," nothing but
joy. "Greet it as pure joy" (Moffatt). That is pos-
sible, though it may also mean "bring to bear all
that joy has to offer." It does not mean (Mayor)
that all of joy is contained in this view. At any
rate, it is much to know that joy in suffering is pos-
V
56 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
sible, as many saints can testify who have reached
the pure air of fellowship with Jesus in suffering
(cf. Phil. 3:10), the Brother of James, and of all
who suffer, wfyo said: "Blessed are they that have
been persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when
men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and
say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is
your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they the
prophets that were before you" (Matt. 5: 10-12).
This is part of the fellowship of Christ and of the
saints, the "Sunshine Band" of those who have
learned to smile in the midst of tears like the sun-
shine in the rain. .Paul was able to say: "But we
also rejoice in our tribulations" (Rom. 5:3). This
is not the joy of the fanatic nor of the fakir nor of
the rhapsodist. It is the joy of the soul that is at
peace with God in Christ and has also more than
earth and hell can take away, the peace that passeth
all understanding. The disciples rejoiced "that they
were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the
Name" (Acts 5:41). Even Marcus Aurelius said:
"Say not that that which hath befallen thee is bad
fortune, but that to endure it nobly is good fortune."
2 . The Product of Trial. 1:3.
The rule of Christian joy thus expounded stands
the test of experience. The word "knowing" (ytvo>-
okovtfx;) is the one used for experimental knowledge
as opposed to mere intellectual apprehension. The
tense (present participle) expresses continuous ac-
JOY IN TRIAL 57
quisition of fresh knowledge from experience. It is
the school of life where we learn most of what we ~
really know. The position of James is thus in '
thorough harmony with psychology. The command
to rejoice in the midst of manifold trials, paradoxical
though it seems, is one that the Jewish Christians
knew to be true from their experience of grace.
Johnstone1 has a fine word: ' 'Affliction lets down a
blazing torch into his own nature— and he sees
many things which he little expected to see." One
qf the marvels of modern science is the use of elec-
tric light by divers at the bottom of the sea to take
pictures of sea life.
It is the biological conception that James has in
mind. The law of life (nature and grace) works
through personal experience and not by mechanical
impartation. What do we learn by experience?
"That the proving of your faith worketh patience."
MofTatt has it: "That the sterling temper of your
faith produces endurance." The notion is plainly
that of testing (to 8oki\iiov t% moTeug).2 See the
same phrase in i Pet. 1:7. Thus James, as Paul,
regards faith as "the very foundation of religion"
(Mayor). The verb (doMpitfw) from which the ad-
jective (doKiiiioq) is derived is common enough for
1 Lectures on the Ep. of James, p. 73.
2 Deissmann, Bible Studies, pp. 259 f., makes it plain that to
6on6fiiov is just the neuter singular adjective used with the article
as an abstract substantive idea. See Prov. 27:21, font/uov apyvpu.
Other examples occur in the papyri (Moulton and Milligan, Lexical
Notes from the Papyri, Expositor, December, 1908, p. 566) and
Dittenberger, Syll., 588 96. 149, "gives us from ii/B. C. dont/xeiov, a
noun meaning crucible, which is found in the LXX."
58 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
testing a yoke of oxen (Luke 14: 19), the spirits
(1 John 4:1), work by fire (1 Cor. 3: 13), genuine-
ness of love (2 Cor. 8: 8), all things (1 Thess. 5 : 21).
Peter (1 Pet. 1:7) explains the adjective by the verb
(tested by fire). Cf. Sirach 2:5: "For gold is tried in
the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adver-
sity." One is reminded of the Sermon on the Mount.
"By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7 : 16).
Patience {vttojiovti) is patientia (patior), and is
called by Philo the queen of the virtues. The Jews
(Oesterley, in loco) had had ample need of this
virtue in their checkered history. It is just the
opposite of the "super-man" of Nietzsche, the
triumph of might over right, the will to get what
one wishes right or wrong. There is inevitable con-
flict between selfish militarism and Christianity. It
is a pity that Christians have left it to Socialists to
make the most vigorous protest against war. But,
alas, both Christians and Socialists are swept under
by the vortex of war nolens volcns. And yet by pa-
tience James does not mean inertia or lack of ambi-
tion. It is not complacent self-satisfaction, but the
triumph of regulated consideration of the welfare of
others, the victory of love over greed, the joy of
doing without that others may be happy, the happi-
ness of enduring ill for the sake of Jesus. It is very
hard to remain under (vno — jusvw) misfortune, when it
cannot be helped. James does not mean that we are
not to try to cure any of the ills of life, not to over-
come ignorance, poverty, disease, crime. There is
here no surcease for the war on the evil conditions of
modern life in home or city or state. But many
JOY IN TRIAL 59
things cannot be changed. Others will be alleviated
by and by. Meanwhile the Christian can rise to the
height of patience, of cheerful, joyful patience. It
is the practice of cheerfulness that we so much
stand in need of. We do not have to shut our eyes
to the facts of life and of the human reason and deny
the existence of sin and sickness. We can conquer
the bitter results of these evils by the joy in Christ
that drives away despair.
This patience is the product (icaTepydfrTaL) of trial.
We are not born with a supply of patience. It is not
bestowed in fulness upon us at the new birth. Like
the manna, we need a fresh supply each morning.
But the habit of mind termed patience is gradually
wrought in us by the discipline of experience. Bit-
terness is a possible fruit of sorrow and hard ex-
periences. Bitterness is written all over some sad
faces. That terrible calamity can be missed, will be
missed, if one walks in the way of him who said:.
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt.
n:28f.). It may not be easy and light at first,
but it becomes so in the presence of Jesus.
Nobly does Wordsworth interpret it for us all:
"Who, doomed to go in company with pain,
And fear and bloodshed, miserable train!
Turned his necessity to glorious gain;
In face of these doth exercise a power
Which is our human nature's highest dower;
60 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves
Of their bad influence, and their good receives."
3. Perfection by Patience. 1:4.
There is no other way than the slow way of life.
The mushroom springs up in a night and goes as
quickly away. The oak grows a few inches a year
and lasts for centuries. The finest product in God's
garden is the soul of man ripe with the long years of
toil and sorrow. Luther Burbank has learned some
of the witchery of nature by watching her ways with
plant-life. He has shown great patience and has
much to show for it. Give patience a chance to do
its work (£%er(o) and keep on giving it a fair show.
Ole Bull said that if he missed practising on his vio-
lin one day he noticed the difference in his playing.
If he missed two days, other musicians noticed it.
If he skipped three days, all the world knew it.
"Only, let your endurance be a finished product"
(Moffatt). It comes to that in all great achieve-
ments, for the test is endurance. The goal is at the
end (reXog) of the race where Jesus is the author and
finisher (dp^ydv nai reXeitoTriv) of the faith which we
possess (Heb. 12: 2). "We are become partakers of
Christ, if we hold fast the beginning (ttjv dpxvv) of
our confidence firm unto the end" (pegpi r^ovg, Heb.
3: 14). "But he that endureth to the end (6 imo-
fieivag elg rekog), the same shall be saved" (Matt.
24: 13).
So patience calls for courage. Discouragement
leads to impatience and failure. There is need of
long-suffering (iiaKpo-dv/iia) , Col. 1:11 if we get
"the finished product" (fyyov). The word for "per-
JOY IN TRIAL 61
feet" here (reXeiog) occurs also in James 1:17, 25;
3:2. The word, like the substantive (reXog), has a
double usage (cf. finis and our end), either limit or
aim. So the perfect (reXeiog) man may be regarded
in the absolute sense, the limit, as the Perfect Man
Christ Jesus (Eph. 4: 13), or as on the way to the
goal (no longer a child, vrjmog, but a developed man,1
as in 1 Cor. 2:6; Phil. 3 : 15. "The perfect" (1 Cor.
13: 10) is still to come, but there is "perfect love"
(1 John 4: 18). We are to aim after the perfection
of God himself (Matt. 5:48). Paul's ambition was
to present each one "perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col.
1 : 28). Cf. also Col. 4: 12. Here James has his eye
on the goal which is at the end of the long road.
He knows full well (3:2) that in many things we all
stumble, but we must persevere. Patience must do
its "perfect work" (reXuov epyov), that ye may be
"perfect" (riXeioi).
But James takes a latitudinal look at the work of
patience, not merely the longitudinal view, that ye
may be "entire, lacking nothing" (oXokXtjooi, tv urjdevi
Xenrofievoi) , "complete, with never a defeat" (Mof-
fatt). This word for entire (cf. integer) means com-
plete in all its parts, whole, not unsound anywhere.
At the end of the race we are to be fully developed
and sound to the core in heart and limb. The word
is used of stones untouched by a tool (Deut. 27: 6),
of a body without blemish. Epictetus (Bk. Ill,
chap, xxvi, § 25) uses the word of a vessel which one
finds "whole" or unbroken and "useful" (oicevog y,iv
1 Epictetus likewise uses releioq in contrast with fieipaniov (Ench.
Li. §l): ovk eti si fteipaKiov, aXka avf/p //<!// rt/letoc.
62 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
oXdnXripov Kal ^p?7<rt/zov) . It is used of a complete or
unbroken household in the papyri (dXoKX-qpov oltciag,
B. M. Ill, p. 30, iii/A. D.). Philo1 uses both words
together as James does here. The substantive (6X0-
kXtjpio) is used of "the perfect soundness" of the man
just healed by Peter and John (Acts 3: 16). This
adjective occurs with "righteousness" (duccuoovvjj,
Wisd. 15:13) and "worship" or "religion" (evoefieca,
4 Mace. 17).2 The adjective is used by Paul in
his prayer for the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:23),
"preserved entire {oXokX^qov) without blemish" (dne/nr-
Tog). This is what Jesus does for his glorious
church, which is to be "without spot or wrinkle or
any such thing" (Eph. 5:27). Jesus, our High
Priest, "has perfected (TereXeiuitev) forever them
that are sanctified" (roi)g ayia^o^vovg, Heb. 10: 14).
Israel, alas, Isaiah (1:6) found wholly wanting in
this "soundness." James' ideal is that we shall fall
short (Xei-ndnevoi, be left) in nothing. Our destiny
is to dwell in the family of God and to be like Jesus,
our Elder Brother (1 John 3:2). This ultimate
divine fulness is not the self-sufficiency (avTdpKeta) of
the Stoics.
4. Shortage in Wisdom. 1:5.
"Defective in wisdom," Moffatt puts it. It is the
same word (Xei-rreTai) that occurs at the end of verse
1 de Abr. 47, p. 8, o fiev yap rtleioc oMK?.ripo( ff apxvs, "der ganze
reife Mensch," Windisch, Handbuch zum N. T., p. 5.
2 "The 6%6nfa/pof is one who has persevered, or who, having once
lost, has now regained his completeness: the riXeioc is one who has
attained his moral end, that for which he was intended, namely, to
be a man in Christ" (Trench, Synonyms of the N. T., Eleventh
Ed., p. 77).
JOY IN TRIAL 63
4 and is used with the ablative case (oo<plag).1 James
is fond of catching up a preceding word and going
on with it, even if, as here, in a new sense. "If any-
one of you lacketh wisdom," James gently hints.
Who is it that does not feel his shortcoming here, at
times with painful intensity?
What does James mean by wisdom {oo<pia, sapien-
tia) ? It is more than knowledge (yvtioig, or even k-ni-
yvuxng). It is more than mere intelligent apprehen-
sion (avveoig) of acquired knowledge. Tennyson
says: "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."
James shows familiarity with the Wisdom of Jesus,
the Son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)2 and possibly also
the so-called Wisdom of Solomon. Certainly he
knows the Book of Proverbs. But he here uses
wisdom, not in a philosophical or mystical sense.
With James wisdom is the right use of one's oppor-
tunities in holy living. It is living like Christ in
accord with the will of God. In 3 : 13-17 he gives a
formal discussion of the two sorts of wisdom. Bede
suggests that we need wisdom to know how to look
at trial in the true light. Yes, and to give patience
the chance to do its perfect work. Paul uses wisdom
in the special sense of God's wisdom as shown in
the gospel as infinitely superior to the wisdom of the
world which scouted the Cross of Christ. "We speak
wisdom among the perfect" (the mature, 1 Cor.
2:7). In the Old Testament wisdom is sometimes
the Intelligence of God (Prov. 8:22-30). "Ten
measures of wisdom came down from heaven, and
1 Cf. Vulgate indiget sapientia.
* See Plummer, Comm., pp. 72f., for proof.
64 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
nine of them fell to the lot of the Holy Land"
(Kiddushim, 49b). With James the source of wis-
dom is God, not the Jews. So then, when our sup-
ply runs short, ask of God (aiTeiru) napa tov deov). It
is like a bank to which we go to get money.1 God
is the Banker whose supply of wisdom never gives
out. Unlike other bankers, he asks no security save
the name of Jesus.2 That name gives us full credit
at the Bank of Heaven. On that basis God "gives
to all men without question or reproach" (Moffatt).
"Liberally" (anXug) we have it in the standard ver-
sions. It is a rather difficult word to translate into
English. It means simple, single-fold, sincere. Com-
pare the "single" eye in Matt. 6:22; Luke 11:34-
In Rom. 12 : 8 it is not clear whether "singleness" or
"liberality" is the idea, but "liberality" is obviously
correct in 2 Cor. 8: 2, "the riches of their liberality."
So in 9: ii, 13, but "singleness of heart" in Eph.
6:5; Col. 3 : 22. Oesterley finds the notion of James
to be "singleness of aim, the aim being the impart-
ing of benefit without requiring anything in return."
Likewise Bengel interprets it by simpliciter. Either
idea makes good sense, for surely God gives to us all
with singleness of purpose and also with wealth of
liberality. Certainly it is without bargaining on
God's part, for there is no idea of reciprocity.
"Without question" (Moffatt) suggests an under-
standing with God, which is true. It is the normal,
1 Note, na/ja, by the side of, a personal plea.
2 The late Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan testified before a committee of
the U. S. Senate that he loaned money primarily on character, not
financial ability.
JOY IN TRIAL 65
natural thing for a child of God to do, to come to
God and ask of him, for he "upbraideth not" (p)
dvetdifrvTog) . A fool upbraids, the Son of Sirach
says (Ecclus. 20:15). Instead of upbraiding us for
asking, the rather we are made to wonder why we
did not ask sooner. God does not chide us for our
folly, but gives us good measure of wisdom to take
its place. This is the literal truth, as many self-
confessed fools of the world are glad to testify.
They have left the folly of a worldly, selfish, sinful
life for the rich joy of the service of God in Christ.
The change may come in a moment, for, after all,
this new view of life and the power to live it may
be had for the asking. "And it shall be given him."
It will be given on request, with no other identifica-
tion than the sinner's plea who comes in the name of
Jesus, the open sesame to the treasures of heaven,
himself the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:30) in whom
are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
hidden (Col. 2:3). God does ask of us that we use
this wisdom for his glory and for the blessing of
other lives, the enrichment of other hearts.
5. Doubting Prayer. 1 : 6-8.
Jesus (Matt. 7 : 7f.) had urged the disciples to ask
with the promise that God would answer.
There is a condition attached to the wide-open
invitation in James 1:5. It is faith. "But let him
ask in faith," James adds. By faith (ttIgtic;) James
means, not a body of doctrine, but trust in God, a
working confidence in God that leads him to ask
and to expect to receive what he asks. It is certain
66 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
that God does not answer some prayers, at least
not in the way expected. Some requests ought not
to be granted, ought, in fact, never to be made.
Prayer may be very foolish as well as very wise.
God does not offer to grant every whim of a spoilt
and petulant child. But, assuming that one is
asking for wisdom, which surely is a proper prayer
for anyone to make, even so he may miss it because
he does not exercise wisdom in the asking. He
must not chill the ardor of his desire by hesitation
and doubt. Let him ask, "nothing doubting"
(fiTjdev 6iaKgt,v6iievoq) . To doubt is to have a divided
(did) mind, that draws him two ways, like the poor
donkey that starved because he could not choose
between the two stacks of hay. Such a man is like
a wave1 of the sea (nXvduvt, daXdooqg, fluctui maris),
one of the most transitory things imaginable, driven
by the wind (dveiMfyfiivu, extritisecus, Bengel adds),
and tossed into sea foam (white-caps) as if blown
by a fan or bellows (ptm^ofxivoi, from pirn?, fan or
bellows), a veritable "brain-storm" of perplexity and
indecision.
God does answer prayer, but not the prayer of a
man like that (tKelvo^) who insults the giver of
whom he asks a favor. Timid faith is quite another
thing. That Jesus honored in the case of the father
who first said: "But if thou canst do anything"
(Mark 9:22). Jesus rebuked him for his "if thou
canst" (to el dvvq). Then the anxious father cried:
"I believe; help thou mine unbelief." There are
1 "Like a cork floating on the wave, now carried towards the shore,
now away from it" (Mayor).
JOY IN TRIAL 67
many difficulties in the way of trust in God to-day.
Science has left many minds groping in the dark
without God, feeling after him if haply they may
find him, not knowing that he is nigh to each of us.
We do not have an absentee God. He can and does^
hear the cry of his children for help. If 5 0 S can
find a response over the wind and the wave to the
call of the sinking ship, surely it is not strange that
the Father of our spirits will hear our call to him.
So it will be, "if ye have faith and doubt not"
(Mv nianv sxVT£ nal fir) diaKpidrjire) , almost the very
words used by James. Jesus had to rebuke his
disciples for their lack of faith (Matt. 8: 26) when
they thought they were perishing from wind and
wave. And Simon Peter doubted after he began to
walk on the water and began at once to sink. "O
thou of little faith (oXiyomoTs), wherefore didst thou
doubt?" (edioraoas) says Jesus to Peter (Matt. 14:
31). Peter had a divided mind. "Let not that
man think that he shall receive anything of the
Lord." He does not expect anything and he is not
disappointed. What a commentary is this sentence
upon the half-hearted praying, the lack of interest,
the worldly-minded passive worship of many mod-
ern Christians. There is no wrestling with God in
prayer for victory.
"Double-minded creature that he is, wavering at
every turn" (Moffatt). The double-minded man (dt-
ifivxog) is like the two-faced man (Mr. Facing Both
Ways). Sirach (2: 13) speaks of the sinner coming
to two paths and unable to choose. Such a man
perishes at the cross-roads. Of. James 4 : 8 for the
68 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
only other use of the word in the N. T., though com-
mon enough elsewhere. Such indecision goes into
duplicity, as Jesus shows about the evil eye and the
single eye (Matt. 6: 2 2f.). It is a miserable life, as
anyone knows who leads a double life. The double
heart leads to the double life with its pretended
double standard of morals. Clement of Rome1 says :
"Wretched are the double-minded, who doubt in
their heart." No wonder he becomes "unstable in
in all his ways" (anaTdoTarog ev -ndoaig ralg odolg avrov),
not able to stand in all his goings. He wobbles and
finally reels like a drunken man. Such inconstancy2
winds up in hypocrisy or abandonment to sin.3
6. The Democracy of Faith. 1:9-11.
James returns to the keynote of "all joy" (verse 2)
and uses the word "glory" (icavxdodcS). The positive
note of exultation is the mark of the true Christian
against the double-minded man. The pessimist is
not a representative of Christianity. The true op-
timist is not, however, blind to the facts of life. He
can glory in God in the midst of all sorts of trials
and conditions, whether in high or low estate. His
joy is independent of earthly estate. The Cotter's
Saturday Night may be as happy as the one in the
Castle near by. Class distinctions are no cause for
pride in a spiritual democracy like the church of
1 Ta?iai7vui><H naiv ol diijmxoi, ol diora^ovTet; ry KUfji)ia. Cf. Resch,
Agrapha, p. 325 (second ed.).
2 Bengel gives inconstans.
3 The faithless lover is called anaraoirig evperfc in the Erotic Frag-
ment G. 1 (ii/B. C.) A leaden tablet (Audollent, no. 4 bi2) speaks
of one, tuv rtjv o'ikiov fiov antiTaoraTov notovvra.
JOY IN TRIAL 69
Jesus Christ. We need in Christianity no "princes
of the church" in the Roman Catholic sense. Pride
of rank among the Twelve Disciples was a source of
grief to Jesus. The rich and the poor are one in
Christ Jesus and all are poor miserable sinners saved
by grace.
Johnstone (Lectures on James, p. 88) calls this
section "Rich Poor and Poor Rich"). That is true
and is the probable interpretation here. The hum-
ble (Ta-neivos)1 brother may, after all, be the richest
man in the church, rich in grace, in love, in joy, in
peace, in righteousness, in fellowship. This is "his
high estate" (tv tw vxpet) , which rises sheer above
hovel or palace. Thank God that this infinite
wealth of the spirit is still open to the poor all over
the world who find the door of competency closed
in their faces. The pious poor is more than a
phrase. It is often literal fact. The papyri dis-
coveries2 bear eloquent testimony to the words of
Paul about the membership of the church at Corinth
(1 Cor. 1:26-29). The papyri letters and other
documents are chiefly from the middle and lower
classes and reflect the actual life of the very people
from whom the gospel made most of its converts
(the fishermen, the carpenters, the publicans, the
tent-makers, etc.). There were already some wealthy
members of the early churches, men like Nicodemus,
1 There is the utmost contrast between this use of raneivdg and
that in Epictetus, with whom humility is an object of scorn and
contempt, a meanness unworthy of man. See Bk. III., chap, ii,
§ 14. Cf. Sharp, Epictetus and the N. T., p. 130, 133.
2 Cf . Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 392 ; St. Paul,
p. 47.
jo PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Joseph of Arimathea, Barnabas of Cyprus. There
were "not many mighty," but there were some.
There soon came to be large numbers of slaves in
the churches when the gospel spread among the
Gentiles. But already social problems of an acute
nature were on hand when James wrote. In fact,
we see such problems in the early chapters of Acts,
when Ananias and Sapphira wish to get credit for a
generosity that they were not willing to show and
when high feeling arose in the distribution of the
funds for the Aramaean (Palestinian) and Hellenistic
widows among the Jewish Christians. At no point
are people more sensitive than about money.
So the rich brother (nXovawg) is to be reminded of
his humiliation (Taneivuoig ) , "in that he is made
low," placed on a level with the "lowly brother."
They meet on the level in Christ. Each is as high
and as low as the other, no more, no less. The rich
man is not to glory over the poor man, nor is the
poor brother to cringe in the presence of the rich
brother. This is the democracy of faith, the univer-
sality of Christ.. '(.The rich brother is in constant
peril of pride of possession, and so James reminds
him of the fate of the beautiful flower of the grass
(dvdos x°PT0V) which springs up quickly and withers
before the burning heat (na-vow, burner, hot wind)
and falls off. It is a striking adaptation of the
language of Isaiah (40:6-8), using the imagery for
another purpose. Peter (1 : 24) says: "All flesh is as
grass and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass." Christ brings all men to their true level,
the common humanity in us all, the Sonship in him
JOY IN TRIAL 71
that makes us heirs of heaven. Moffatt changes "his
high estate" to "when he is raised" and "in that he
is made low" to "in being lowered." He seems to
understand that James refers to the possible "ups
and downs" of life. It will be easy for the lowly-
brother in that case to rejoice when he becomes
rich; but how about the rich brother when he be-
comes poor?
Plummer (in loco) refuses to see a "brother" at
all in the rich man, but only one of the rich Jews
who oppressed the early Christians, as in 5 : 1-6. But
that gives an Ebionitic tone to the Epistle. James
does indulge in irony, but he is apparently sincere
in his picture here. The rich brother will fade away
in his goings (nopeiais) as if James has in mind a
drummer whose business dries up like a flower.
Riches in sooth have wings and fly away. They are
sweet like the rose, but soon vanish from us forever.
CHAPTER IV
The Way of Temptation, i: 12-18
James powerfully sketches the natural history of
temptation if yielded to and the glory of victory if
overcome. The other sense (temptation) of the
word {-neiQaoiioq) used for trial in 1 : 2 occurs here.
Moffatt indeed takes "trial" as the idea in 1:12
also (so does Hort in loco), but certainly in verse
13 we have to say "temptation." It is most likely
that the idea of temptation is present in 1:12.
Here James returns to the discussion of the other
side of the blessing of trials, namely, the blessing
of temptation endured. As a matter of fact, he has
"not really digressed from the subject. He merely
discussed one aspect of the subject.
1 . Standing the Test. 1:12.
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation."
We must never forget that Jesus warned us against
rushing into temptation, not merely in the Lord's
Prayer (Matt. 6:13; Luke 11:4), but also in the
Agony of Gethsemane, when Satan had come upon
him with renewed energy in spite of repeated de-
feats by Jesus since the wilderness temptations (Matt.
26:41; Luke 22:40). Jesus urged the disciples to
pray to be spared temptation. No one knew so well
as he the power of the evil one. He had wrestled
with him to the end and had conquered where
others failed. Temptation is not to be courted, not
even for the sake of the experience and the possible
72
THE WAY OF TEMPTATION j$
victory. Too many go down in the struggle for any
to rush into it lightly. "Fools rush in where angels
fear to tread."
But, if temptation is thrust upon one, then he
must fight and he must win as Jesus did. There is
always a way of escape (i Cor. 10: 13). We must
find the way out (en(3aoLg). Cf. Job 5: 17: "Behold,
happy is the man whom the Lord correcteth" (JjXsy-
|ev). He only is happy (fiatcdpiog, the same word
used in the Beatitudes in Matt. 5:3-11) who en-
dures (vnofievet. Cf. v-noiiovq) . That is true patience.
It is only "when he hath been' approved" (doKifiog)
after standing the test that "he shall receive the
crown of life," the victor's crown. The word for
"approved" suggests the furnace that removes the
dross and leaves the . pure metal. The refiner of
silver watches, we are told, till he sees his own
image in the metal. Then it is pure. The metal is
tested and approved.
"The crown of life" (tov ortyavov rrjg £*%)• Cf.
Rev. 2:10) is probably the wreath of victory in the
games (cf. 1 Cor. 9:2552 Tim. 2:5), for Greek games
were common in Palestine in the days of Herod the
Great, and were practised even in Jerusalem itself
(Josephus, Ant. 15, 8, if.). It is a crown of kingly
glory, but it is bestowed as reward of merit to those
who love the Lord Jesus. We may have a reference
to a Logion of Jesus not preserved in which he makes
this promise. "Blessed is he who hath his raiment
white, for he it is who receiveth the crown of joy
upon his head."1 In Prov. 1 : 9 we read that the
1 Acta Philippi, Apocal. Apocr. Cf. Resch, Agrapha, 1889, p. 254.
74 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
instruction of father and mother "shall be a chap-
let of grace unto thy head" (cf. also 4:9). In Sir.
15: 6 we read of "a crown of gladness," and in the
Testimony of the Twelve Patriarchs (Levi iv. 1) we
find "crowns of glory." Love is the way to win
this crown, love and the proof of it in enduring
temptation and leading "the white life."
2. Blaming God. 1 : 13.
Whatever doubt exists in verse 12 about trial or
temptation vanishes in verse 13. Here it is clearly
temptation to evil. Hort (in loco) suggests "tempted
by trial," and Moffatt puts it "tried by temptation."
Certainly trial becomes a temptation to some men
who use it as the excuse for doing wrong. "Though
trial in itself is ordered by God for our good, yet the
inner solicitation to evil which is aroused by the
outer trial is from ourselves" (Mayor). Any trial,
wrongly used, may become a temptation, whereas it
was meant for our development and perfection.
Temptation is merely one aspect of trial, and not a
necessary one. But the word is used of the great
tempter (1 Thess. 3: 5, 6 neipdfav) . So Jesus was
tempted (neipa^dfievog) by Satan in the wilderness
(Mark 1: 13). Satan desired to sift the apostles as
wheat, to ruin them if possible (Luke 22:31). The
Pharisees and the Sadducees sought to tempt Jesus
(Matt. 15: 1). It is the devil's business to seek to
lure another into wrong.
When a man is tempted, and yields to the tempta-
tion, he is eager to blame some one else for his sin.
If he cannot do otherwise, he will blame God for
■ THE WAY OF TEMPTATION 75
having made him as he is with evil possibilities.
In particular is this true of sexual sin, which Oesterley
(in loco) thinks James has specifically in mind here.
Cf. Matt. 5:28; 1 Pet. a: 11. Adam blamed Eve
and Eve the Serpent. And even Adam blamed God,
for he said: "The woman whom thou gavest to be
with me" (Gen. 3:12). Some dare to say in so
many words: "I am tempted of God." They hold
God responsible for their appetites and passions and
seek to quiet the conscience thus while they give
way to sin. Others hide behind heredity or en-
vironment or evil companions. Even Agamemnon
excused himself for his wrong to Achilles by holding
Zeus and fate responsible (Horn. Iliad, xix. 86).
Sirach (15: nf.) says: "Say not thou, It is through
the Lord that I fell away." The origin of sin is a
dark problem, but it is a lazy philosophy or a blind
one that shirks human responsibility or tries to do
it. It matters not whether sin is the remnant of the
beast in us (surely some men act at times like the
tiger) or the response to evil environment or both,
we are merely cowardly when we blame God for our
own wrongdoing.
There is no response to evil in God. He is not
"man's giant shadow skyward thrown." The abso-
lute holiness and ethical purity of God should at
least protect him from the charge of leading us into
sin. The worst of men, in their darkest moments of
loneliness, sometimes come face to face with God.
Then they do not flippantly blame God, but confess
their sins with broken heart. Two things are true
about evil and God. One is that God himself (avrog)
76 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
tempts no man to sin. He does send trial, but not
temptation. We may not understand all the ways
of God's Providence, but we may rest secure in this:
The devil does tempt us. That is his business.
And yet James does not refer to Satan by name
here, for, after all, we ourselves are responsible, as he
proceeds to show. It does not help matters with us
any more than it did with Eve to lay our sin upon
the devil. The other thing that is true is that "God
cannot be tempted with evil" (aneipaoToc- ianv Kaitibv).
He cannot be tempted to do evil himself nor be led
to tempt others with evil. The phrase does not
occur elsewhere in the New Testament nor in the
Septuagint, but it is a paraphrase of a common
proverb in the early Christian writings.1 God does
chastise us (Heb. 12: 4L, -ncudtvu), but he does not
tempt us.
All this is in strong contrast to the Greek and
Roman notions of duty, for the heathen gods were
credited with all human and even inhuman vices.
The gods upon Olympus revel in lust and cruelty,
jealousy and hate. They furnish fit ideals for the
philosophy of Nietzsche, but do not accord with
the God of the New Testament, the God of con-
solation and of peace, of purity and love.
3. Snared by One's Own Bait. 1 : 14.
The man himself is responsible for his sin, and he
need not seek to place the blame elsewhere. The
1 Cf. Mayor on James (3rd ed., p. 541.)- The Acts of John (Zahn,
p. 113. 5) has fit/ Keifin^e tov aneipacrTov, and p. IQX>. 18, o yap at netpd-
fwv tov aneipacTov netpa&i. The devil tried to tempt even Christ,
the Son of God.
THE WAY OF TEMPTATION 77
temptation is not a temptation to him if the man
refuses to listen to the siren's voice. The man is not
responsible for the efforts of others to allure him to
sin, but only in case he listens and yields. Then he is
really "tempted, when he is drawn away by his own
lust and enticed." The figure is very bold and im-
pressive. The word for "drawn away" (k^ekicofievog)
is used in Oppian for drawing the fish out from its
original retreat, beguiled from under the rock. Then
the fish is ready to be snared by the bait (detea&nevog,
from dikeap, bait). The fish bites at the bait and is
caught on the hook. So with a man. He is drawn
out by his own lust for the sin placed before him. In
the case of sexual sin the impulse is not in itself
sinful any more than the fish's hunger for food. The
sexual nature is from God and is meant only for
blessing for high and holy ends. But the misuse of
this impulse is very easy and very dreadful in its
results. Satan sets many kinds of bait for unwary
boys and girls, men and women, who at first are
taken off their guard and then are drawn away by
desire stirred within them toward evil. The evil
suggestion is entertained and sin is the outcome.
This very word "entice" (3eXed^a>) is used of hunting
(trapping with bait), and then it is used of the
harlot who entices to sin. "My son, if sinners en-
tice thee, consent thou not" (Prov. 1:10). Philo
speaks of our being "driven by passion or enticed by
pleasure." The pitfalls are many in modern life, in
the country, in the village, and in the city. The
modern demons of drink, drug, and the brothel are
busy in finding victims. But the point made by
78 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
James is that the one who yields does so because of
the sin within one's own heart. One's own evil
desire plays the part of temptress (Plummer) and one
is drawn away by it and enticed. "If thou doest not
well, sin coucheth at the door" (Gen. 4:7) like a
panther ready to spring upon the intended victim
caught for the moment off guard. One is reminded
afresh of the opening chapters of Proverbs, which
cannot be excelled by any of the modern books on
sex-instruction, some of which stimulate more im-
morality than they prevent. Wise warning is needed
and plain talk is demanded, but not pruriency any
more than prudery. Alas, and alas, that the paw
of the modern Moloch draws into the fire so many
thousands of young men and young women from
the homes of our land. The best capital of America
is the children, and we lose too much of it in the
worst of gambles, the traffic in souls.
4. The Abortion. 1:15.
The natural history of sin as the result of tempta-
tion to which one yields is given with scientific ac-
curacy and graphic power: "Then the lust, when it
hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is
full-grown, bringeth forth death."1 Moffatt renders
it thus: "Then Desire conceives and breeds Sin,
while Sin matures and gives birth to Death." It is
a gruesome picture surely. But who can say that
it is overdrawn? The Positivist tries to shut God
out of the world and so to banish human responsi-
ble full text is worth giving: elra /'/ cntdvfiia ovllafiovoa riicrei
djtapTtav, y 6i duupria dnoreXeodeioa anonvel ddvarov.
THE WAY OF TEMPTATION 79
bility; but, alas, he cannot banish human woe and
anguish of heart. The Agnostic flings up his hands
in despair and says he does not know and has noth-
ing to say in the presence of nature "red in tooth
and claw." The brutal Militarist adopts the rule
of physical might wrongly claimed by Nietzsche to
be the mark of the superman. Spiritual and moral ^/
prowess should dominate brute force in man, else he
becomes only a brute himself. He drops back to the
law of the jungle and rejects the law of love in the
kingdom of heaven. The "Christian Scientist"
blandly shuts his eyes to such errors of mortal mind
as sin and sickness and sorrow, and, ostrich-like,
cheerfully denies their reality and seeks to blow
them away with a puff. But sin is not to be brushed
aside in such an "old-maidish" way. The startling
revelations of city life in the midst of Christian
civilization have led to protest and revolt against
existing conditions. One proof of it is seen in a book
like Miss Jane Addams's "A New Conscience and
an Ancient Evil." Another is seen in the rooting
out of houses of prostitution from many of our large
cities, the throttling of gambling, the growth of
prohibition of the liquor traffic. One good result has
come from the Great War — the prohibition of vodka
in Russia and the coming of that mighty empire to
the side of prohibition. It is not enough to lift up
hands in holy horror at the power of sin to-day.
Something must be done to stop real race-suicide
that stalks through modern life in the shape of fear-
ful venereal diseases that threaten the very life of
the race.
8o PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
But the words of the verse call for particular re-
mark. "Then" (elra) is here the historical order
following the temptation to which one yields. His
lust (kmdvfiia) drew him forth to the temptation.
He yields and the result is the conception, which
embryo develops into sin. This is the first birth,
and sin is the child of desire (tiktsl apaqriav) . De-
sire is not in itself sinful, but it easily falls into sin.
Thus in a true sense desire makes sin where there
was no sin, and so gives birth to sin. But this is not
all. Sin in its turn matures (dnoTeXeadeloa, consumma-
tum, Bengel) and gives birth to death.1 This second
child is like a child born dead. When sin is born
death is involved like an embryonic parasite that
feeds on sin. Desire, sin, death form the biological
line or pedigree. The line is short, for "the wages
of sin is death," as Paul puts it (Rom. 6: 23). 2 The
picture in James is that of an abnormal birth like a
misshapen animal. I have seen a five-legged cow,
the fifth leg on the top of the back standing up
straight. When sin is born death begins (conception)
and grows in fascinating power till a new birth comes,
and, lo, this child is death itself. "The birth of death
follows of necessity when once sin is fully formed,
for sin from its first beginnings carried death within"
(Hort, in loco).
The law of death in sin applies to other sins be-
sides the so-called sexual sins which write their his-
1 Bengel puts it thus: Peccatum morte gravidum nascitur. The
Targum of Jonathan on Isaiah 62: 10 says that imagination of sin is
sinful.
2 ra ui)/6viat the rations of a soldier. The pay of sin is death and it
is always paid.
THE WAY OF TEMPTATION 81
tory so plainly in the body and the mind and bring a
heritage of woe through all the family history.
There is here no sowing of wild oats to raise a crop
of wheat. The fearful fidelity of modern scientific
knowledge throws a lurid light on this passage in
James. The sinner makes his bed and lies down
in it and drags down with him the helpless ones
who are thrown in his care. As I am writing I re-
ceive a copy of "Light," a magazine published by
the World's Purity Federation. This issue for No-
vember, 1 9 14, contains an article by a woman who
has lived "Twenty-five Years in the Underworld."
Her story reads like a commentary on the words of
James. She claims to have had the best of that
sordid life, but she concludes: "No matter what
humiliation a girl has to endure, it is better to endure
it than to get into this life. There is nothing in it for
any of them. The very best of us get it hard before
we die. And, at the best, it is Hell." The issue of
death is seen, not merely in the diseases of the body,
but "also in the deterioration of mind and character
which accompanies every kind of sin" (Mayor, in
loco). Death and hell then claim their own.
5. God the Source of Good. 1 : i6f.
The contrast is sharp. "Be not deceived" Qirj
■nXavaode) ; do not wander so in your minds as to
think that temptation and sin and death come from
God. He is not the source of evil. Rabbi Chaninah
says: "No evil thing cometh down from above."
Cf. Jesus in John 8:23 on "above" and "below."
James is tenderly affectionate in his appeal on this
82 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
point (My beloved brethren). On the contrary, only
good comes from God. God is good, and he alone
is absolutely good (Mark 10: 18).1 In the Greek
the next sentence runs like a hexameter line if one
short syllable is considered long by stress of the
meter.2 We need not tarry over a fanciful straining
after poetical lines in prose. Oesterley agrees with
Ewald in seeing here a quotation from a Hellenistic
poem. It is far more likely just accidental rhythm
common enough in good prose. The scholars differ
also as to how to translate the sentence. Moffatt
hits it off thus: "All we are given is good, and all our
endowments are faultless."3
"The Father of lights" sets God over against the
worship of the sun so common among the ancients.
Plato (Repub. vi. sosff.) compares the sun to the
idea of the good. Modern science powerfully illus-
trates this comparison of James in bringing out
what we owe to the sun in the way of light, heat,
and life itself. Philo calls God "the Father of the
all," the lights (the moon and the stars) and all else
in the universe. "When I consider thy heavens, the
work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which
thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art
mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou
visitest him?" (Psa. 8: 3I). Cf. Phil. 2: 16. God is
1 'Aya^c is here used in the sense of absolute, not relative,
goodness.
inaoa 66aig ayadt) ml nav 66pr)/xa rfheiov. But see Robertson,
Grammar of the Greek N. T. in the Light of Historical Research,
p. 1200.
3 He thus preserves the distinction between M<*i( and Mptf*",
ayabi) and reXeioc.
THE WAY OF TEMPTATION 83
not only light (1 John 1:5), but all true light comes
from him, all the light that lighteth every man
coming into the world (John 1:9).
But the sun appears to move rapidly. Watch the
sun drop like a ball of fire at sunset and thus cast a
deepening shadow over the earth. The sundial is one
of the oldest ways to mark "the shadow that is cast
by turning" (Tponrjg dnooKiaofia) . Mayor quotes Plu-
tarch (Percl. 7) for the use of this figure for shadows
cast on the dial (yvojfxdvuv aTrooniaofioc;) . James is
here, of course, using popular language, as we still
do when we say that the sun rises and sets. But
with our Father of lights there is "no change of
rising and setting" (Moffatt, -nagaXXayfi) . He "casts
no shadow on the earth." Even the pole-star, we
now know, whirls on in space, carrying the worlds
along with it. But our God is not changeable nor
whimsical. He does not send now good, now ill.
He knows how to give good gifts to those that ask
him, yea, the best of all gifts, the Holy Spirit (Luke
11: 13). What seems ill is really good if it comes
from God. If one takes his stand by God's side
(nap ay) and looks at his life, he sees God's plan as a
whole for his own life and for God's glory.
6. The New Birth. 1:18.
"So far from God tempting us to evil, his will is
the cause of our regeneration" (Mayor). He is our
Father in a double sense. We owe our original birth
to God, in whose image we are made (Gen. 2:7).
We owe our spiritual birth likewise to God, who
begat us again to a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3). The
84 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Mishnah (Surenh., iv. 116) says: "A man's father
only brought him forth into this world: his teacher,
who taught him wisdom, brings him into the life of
the world to come." Happy is the father who leads
his child also to Christ. But, while the word of
truth (Aoycj akTjdeiag) is the instrument used in the
instruction (a pointed lesson for parents, teachers,
preachers), the actual work of regeneration is due to
God as Father, yes, and as Mother also, for the
word "brought forth" (dneicv^aev) is the one used of
the mother (see by contrast verse 15 above). The
doctrine of grace here set forth is of a piece with
that in Paul's writings (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 1:5), those
of Peter (1 Pet. 1:3), and of John (1: 13). Indeed,
Jesus himself is quoted as saying : "You did not choose
me, but I chose you" (John 15: 16). As the seed of
sin produces death, so the seed of God produces life
(1 John 3:9). It is interesting to note this piece of
fundamental theology in so practical a writer as
James, who lays special emphasis on works as proof
of life. But James has no such idea as some careless
and shallow theologians who think that a man can
galvanize himself into spiritual life by imitative
ethics. The man must be born again, as Jesus said
so impressively to Nicodemus (John 3:3). Birth
precedes growth and development.
We are not to puzzle ourselves too much over the
mysteries of spiritual biology. We know that the
impulse and purpose (fiovX^dtig)1 comes from God
(John 1 : 13). What we do know is that God honors
1 Bengel says: voluntate amantissima, Uberrima, purissima, foecun-
dissima. Cf. (3ov?.f/ for set purpose, not mere will or wish (i)i?.u).
THE WAY OF TEMPTATION 85
and uses the word of truth, both spoken and written.
If this is true, what a responsibility for diligence and
urgency in the use of the word of truth. By the
truth we are set free from sin and error (John 8:
3 if.). The word of truth is the gospel of salvation
(Eph. 1 : 13 ; Col. 1:5), the word of life (1 John 1 : 1).
God's word is truth (John 17: 17) and the words of
Jesus are spirit and life (John 6: 63). The word of
truth, when combined with the power of God (2 Cor.
6:7), quickens into life. So James emphasizes the
importance of the human element in the new birth
while rightly making God supreme in the act of
regeneration. We must reach men with the word
of God. We must pass it on to the thirsty, the
hungry, the dying. Every church is or ought to be
a life-saving station, a rescue mission, a teaching
center, a power house, a lighthouse radiating knowl-
edge of God in Christ.
The purpose (el$ rd elvai) of God in renewing us
by the word of truth is that we in turn should win
others. We are not an end in ourselves, though
God does save us. He saves us that we may serve.
We are to be a sort of first-fruits {a-nagxvv rtva),1 not
the full harvest. There are fields upon fields beyond
us ready for the reaper. We are just a beginning,
just a foretaste. We whet the appetite for larger,
richer blessings. "The trees that are a fortnight to
the fore are the talk and delight of the town" (J.
1 The inscriptions (Ditt., Syll, 587 263) use the word for the first-
fruits to Demeter and Kore, but Moulton and Milligan (Vocabulary,
p. 54) give many examples from the papyri and the inscriptions,
where "gift" or "sacrifice" seems sufficient.
86 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Rendel Harris, Present Day Papers, 1901, May, The
Elements of a Progressive Church). One spring my
baby boy noticed a tree without leaves when all the
rest were in leaf. "What is the matter with this
tree?" he said. Christ has introduced a new order
into the world. He himself is the real first-fruits
(1 Cor. 15:20). But there are others through all
the ages, those that ripen first and fast, show the
way, give promise of the future. So Epainetus was
a first-fruit of Asia for Christ (Rom. 16:5), the
household of Stephanas in Corinth (1 Cor. 16: 15).
Blessings on the first-fruits for salvation in any
church, any town, any family (2 Thess. 2 : 13). They
are the chosen of God, like the 144,000 in the Book
of Revelation (14:3), the Church of the Firstborn
(Heb. 12:23). The Jews consecrated their first-
fruits to God as his in a special sense. All Christians
are meant to be first-fruits, the promise and earnest
of better work (Rom. 8: 23). God has in store great
things for his people. The least that we can do is to
bring our first and our best, our all, and lay it at
the feet of Jesus. The new heaven and the new
earth may not come while we live on earth, but we
may help heaven to come upon earth by living the
life of God.
CHAPTER V
The Practice of the Word of God. i: 19-27
Nowhere is James richer than in this wonderful
paragraph. He has in mind "the word of truth"
(Adyw aXrideiag) of verse 18, and follows that idea with
pungent and powerful words that remind one of the
Sermon on the Mount. It is not clear whether the first
part of verse 19 belongs in idea to what goes before or
what follows. "Ye know this, my beloved brethren."
It makes perfectly good sense either way. It is also
uncertain whether we have a statement or a com-
mand, for the form (iots)1 may be either indicative '
or imperative. If you "know it, act on your knowl-
edge. Let us listen to what the Word has to say,
since we are renewed by the use of it and be less
captious in our criticism of its teachings (Mayor).
Moffatt puts it: "Be sure of that, my beloved
brothers," and connects it with verse 18.
1. Brilliant Listening. 1:19a.
By "swift_ to hear" (raxvg «? rd dKovaai) James
brings a vivid picture before us. Moffatt has it
"quick to listen." Sirach (5:11) has a like com-
mand: "Be swift in thy listening" (raxvg ev atcpodoet
oov). One thinks of swift feet, fleet of foot, yes, and
of ear. The Vulgate has velox here. The wild ani-
mals (and the Indians) of necessity have keen ears
1 In 4:4 James has oldare as indicative so that lore is probably {/"
imperative. Cf. also Eph. 5:5; Heb. 12:17.
87
«
88 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
and can hear the slightest rustle of a leaf or crackling
of a twig. The rabbit, so often hunted by man and
dog, pricks up his ears at the sound of a pin dropping.
The use of the telephone and wireless telegraphy
have given added importance to the value of the ear.
The ancients relied very much on the ear, for the
reader of books had a wide-awake audience who
depended on the ear rather than the eye for infor-
mation. The mechanism of listening is very won-
derful, the contact between brain and brain through
the sound waves of speech and the reception of the
spoken words by the ear. Jesus often said: "He that
hath ears to hear let him hear." The ear with many
was, and is, the sole avenue of acquiring knowledge.
It is no disparagement of books to say that the art
of conversation is one of the greatest refinements.
But the very essence of a good conversationalist is
that he be also a good listener, else he is a consum-
mate bore. Sydney Smith said of Macaulay that his
occasional flashes of silence made his conversation
delightful. In Qoheleth Rabba we read: "Speech for a
shekel, silence for two; it is like a precious stone."
Broadus had a great lecture on "The Art of Listen-
ing." It is a really rare art and one of the most use-
ful. Poor listening will make poor preaching of a
really good sermon. Good listening will come near
to making a good sermon out of a poor one. The
writer of Hebrews complains that his readers have
"become dull of hearing" (voOpoi yty6vart ralq d/roaZf).
The word for "dull" (vwOqoi, from vq and w0ew) means
no push." They had no push in their ears, no
energy in listening, already half -asleep. In par-
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 89
ticular do we need to listen when God speaks to us
in his Word of truth, "a quick and attentive ear to
catch what God has spoken" (Hort). Inattention is
irritating and may be deadly. Sirach says: "The
mind of a sagacious person will meditate on a prov-
erb; and an attentive ear is the desire of a wise man"
(3:29). God is constantly speaking to those with
ears to hear. It is good for the young to learn the
habit of attention, a help in meeting temptation.
2. Eloquent Silence. 1 : 19b.
Another "life-rule" (Lebensregel) of James (Win-
disch) is "slow to speak" (Ppadvg elg to kakfjoai). The
Vulgate has tardus. One must not forget Homer's
"winged words" {-nTegoevra e-nea), for words can be
laden with messages of joy and life and peace and
love. Eloquence has its place, real eloquence of the
soul, words on fire that blaze and burn, words that
thrill and electrify, words that make life and death
noble and high, words like those of Jesus that are
spirit and life (John 6: 63). But, when all is said,
there is something deeper than mere speech, higher
than just words, nobler than talk. If speech is
silvern, silence is often golden. Sorrow may be too
unutterable for words. Joy may pass beyond all
speech. The proverb also has it that "many a man
has had to repent of speaking, but never one of
holding his peace," unless silence is guilty or cow-
ardly. But it is easy to be voluble with the tongue
and slack in life. Sirach says: "Be not violent
(raxvc;) with thy tongue, and in thy deeds slack
(vwflpdf) and remiss." Volubility is certainly not a
oo PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
sign of power. The silent man, like Moses, is more
likely to be a man of power and performance. The
parrot and the owl form good examples of the weak-
ness of chatter and the wisdom of silence. Zeno
calls attention to the obvious fact that we have
two ears and one mouth and should therefore listen
twice as much as we talk.
James does not, of course, mean that men should
be slow and dull talkers after we begin or when we
should talk. He means slow to talk (elg to), not
slow in talking (ev tu). Often the least interesting
men are the very ones who talk most frequently and
at the greatest length. We are to think twice before
we speak. Sometimes, if we do that, we shall not
speak at all. At any rate, we shall be more likely
to have sense in our speech. We shall speak to more
purpose if we speak after silence and out of the re-
flection from silence. McLaren has a good phrase,
"Spread out our souls to the truth." "Be still and
know that I am God." Mary "kept (ower^pet) all
these sayings, pondering (ovvfiaXXovoa) them in her
heart" (Luke 2: 19). She could only listen to God.
The Quakers have some ground for their plea for
meditation in the Christian life. Introspection can,
of course, be overdone, but the present age is not
given to reflection and contemplation. Practical
mysticism is the best type of Christianity. Indeed,
a Christianity without mysticism is empty and
formal.
It is quite possible (Johnstone) that the free con-
versational style employed in the early Christian
meetings was taken advantage of by contentious
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 91
persons, with the result of serious wranglings, as in
the church at Corinth (cf. 1 Cor. 14). "In the multi-
tude of words there wanteth not transgression; but
he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely" (Prov. 10:
19). Such violent talkers break up the spiritual life
of a church. The less they know the more they talk.
They have positive opinions on every subject of
politics or religion. They know how their neighbors
should act in the smallest details and criticize every-
body and everything. They are happiest when all is
agog with talk of some sort, and the more gossipy it
is the better they like it. "They cannot think, and \
it is a relief to them to hear their own voices" (Dale).
Epictetus (Ench. xxxiii, §5) has the same idea as
James: "Let there be silence for the most part or
let that which is necessary be said in few words."
3. Dull Anger. 1 : igicf.
The third "life rule" of James is "slow to wrath"
(fipadvg eig 6py?/v). There is a clear connection be-
tween speech and anger. Anger inflames one to hasty
and unguarded talk. In turn the words act as fuel to
the flames. The talk inflames the anger and the anger
inflames the talk. The more one talks the angrier
he becomes, like a spit-fire. If one stops talking, his
anger will cool down for lack of fuel. Men who are
dull enough in listening, who will sleep through any
sermon, are quick to resent a personal reflection or an
imagined wrong. There is profound wisdom in the
plan of Secretary W. J. Bryan for having a period for
deliberation before war is possible after a casus belli
arises between nations. Often one's manhood is
92 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
gauged by his quickness to avenge a personal affront
with murder as the outcome. This is a fine place
to be dull, when one is tempted to be angry. Anger
is sometimes justifiable, even necessary. There is
such a thing as righteous indignation against wrong.
Jesus "looked round about on them with anger"
(Mark 3:5), but it was compassionate anger. It is
possible to be angry and sin not (Eph. 4: 26), but
we must not cherish anger, must not "let the sun
go down upon our wrath." Unlike God, we do not
know all the circumstances in the case. Just getting
mad is not promoting the kingdom of God. "The
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God." Cf. Matt. 5 : 2 if. The euphemistic phrase of
James is emphatic by its very mildness. Man's
wrath is set over against God's righteousness. The
growth of religion and of civilization is marked by
the self-restraint of the individual and of the state.
Vengeance is a boomerang in most instances. The
taking of vengeance into one's own hands brings
down the house on one's own head.
At any rate it pays every man and every nation to
be slow to anger.
"Boys, flying kites, haul in their white- winged birds;
You can't do that way, when you're flying words.
Thoughts, unexpressed, may sometimes fall back dead,
But God himself can't kill them once they're said."
Sometimes unpalatable truth has to be spoken,
hard words have to be said. "Am I become your
enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal. 4: 16). But
the preacher needs to temper rebuke with love and
anguish of soul.
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 93
4. The Rooted Word. 1:21.
"The implanted word" (tov ty<f>vTov Xoyov) is prob-
ably a mistranslation.1 The common idea of the
word is "inborn" or "innate" (cf. Wisd. 12:10,
"their wickedness is inborn"). The word is occa-
sionally used for second nature or secondary in-
growth (Hort). The word is sown, not grafted, and
so "rooted" seems to be the meaning here (Mayor).2
See also Rom. 6:5, "united (avfKpvroi) with him in
the likeness of his death." The figure is that of the
seed sown in the heart and taking root and growing
there. So Jesus spoke of the man who hath not root
in himself (Matt. 13: 21). 3
Receive the rooted word ; but before doing so one
must cleanse the heart like a garden of all noxious
weeds. The imagery is doubtless a mixed metaphor,
but never mind that, for the thought is clear. The
"putting away" (dnodi^ievoi) suggests the laying aside
of a garment, as in Heb. 12:1 one strips for the race.
In Eph. 4:21 Paul contrasts putting off the old man
with putting on (kvdvoaodai) the new (cf. also Col.
3 : 8ff.). Mayor notes the comparison between dress
and character in the wedding garment (Matt. 22 : 11),
the white robe of purity (Rev. 3:4, 18). In 1 Pet.
2:1 we have language similar to that of James,
"putting away therefore all wickedness." But prob-
ably James means to carry the figure of the garden
all through the verse, as Moffatt has it: "So clear
away all the foul rank growth," the weeds of "filthi-
1 This translation calls for e/KpvTevrov, not e/Mpvrov.
2 The Latin insitus likewise has a double use, innate or implanted.
* oiiK t%ei 6e pi^ai' iv eavrti.
94 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
ness" (pvirapiav) and "overflowing of wickedness"
(negioaeiav Kaitias). The "filthiness" may mean im-
purity. Compare Paul's phrase "corrupt speech,"
literally "rotten speech" {Myog oanpdg) in Eph. 4: 29.
But in Rev. 22 : 11, "And he that is filthy (6 pvnap6$)
let him be made filthy still," the notion is more gen-
eral. Another noxious weed that must be gotten out
of the way is "wickedness" (icaicias), which here may
have the narrower sense of malice. ' 'What was called
holy anger was nothing better than spite" (Hort).
It is even suggested that the "overflowing" (nepia-
oeiav) is a sort of overgrowth or "excrescence" (Hort),
but with no idea of admitting that a small amount
of wickedness or malice is not evil. The precise
figure is an "ebullition" or "effervescence" of malice.
Surely one too often sees this picture in actual life.
Malice bubbles up and runs over into word and
deed. "The evil man out of the evil treasure in his
heart bringeth forth that which is evil" (Luke 6: 45).
He speaks out of the "abundance" (irepiooeviAaTog) of
his heart. Surely evil runs riot unless it is
checked and taken out root and branch. Per contra
one loves to think of the "abundance of grace"
(Rom. 5:17, 21) and the "abundance of joy" (2
Cor. 8:2).
When once the weeds are out of the way "make a
soil of modesty for the Word which roots itself in-
wardly" (Moffatt's Translation). Surely the re-
pentant sinner can only "receive with meekness"
(ev npavTTjTi) . Hort notes that the temper full of
harshness and pride destroys the faculty of per-
ceiving the voice of God. Jesus urged men to come
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 95
to school to him because he is meek and lowly in
heart (Matt. 11 : 29). Meekness is not a virtue that
ranks high with all men. Many of the ancients
counted it a vice, as Nietzsche has taught in our
generation. But the spirit of Nietzsche's superman is
not the spirit of Jesus nor of the true gentleman.
There can be no true culture without gentleness and
the grace of meekness.
If the seed of the Word gets root and is allowed to
grow (compare the wayside, stony-ground, thorny-
ground hearers in Christ's parable in Matt. 13), the
tree of life will flourish in the garden of the soul.
This word is "able to save your souls." It brings a
present salvation here and now (John 5:34), a new
life of purity. It helps in the progressive salvation
of the whole man in his battle with sin and growth
in grace (2 Tim. 3:15). It leads to final salvation in
heaven with Christ in God (1 Pet. 1:9). The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1 : 16), the
very power of God pulses in it. See Heb. 4: i2f. for
a wonderful picture of the vital force of the word of
God, quick and powerful, all electric with the energy
of the Spirit of God. Men may scoff at and scout
the message of God, but it saves men's souls. What
else does that?
5. Hearers Only. 1:22-24.
James keeps the balance well. He has shown the
wisdom of good listening. Now he proves the fu-
tility of mere listening with no effort to put into
practice what one hears. There is life in the word
of God if it is lived. It is quick with life-giving
96 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
energy for those who put it to the test of life. One
may hear and not heed. The Greek used the same
word (anovu) for both ideas. One is reminded of the
Parable of the Sower again, for only one of the four
classes of hearers brought forth fruit. That is the
test. "By their fruits ye shall know them." The
reception of the word will only bring final salvation
in case the fruit is borne. James knew only too well
the empty ceremonialism of the Jews who said and
did not. Jesus (see Matt. 23) arraigned the hy-
pocrisy of the Pharisees in the most scathing de-
nunciation of all time. "But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deluding your own selves."
Show yourselves (yiveode) "word-doers" (Hort, 71-0*7/-
ral Xoyov). One is reminded of Emerson's The
Thinker, The Sayer, The Doer. By "word" it is not
clear whether is meant the Torah (Oesterley) or any
word of authority (Hort) or the rooted word just
mentioned (Plummer). The latter is most likely,
though the partial personification of word (Aoyo^)
here reminds one of the opening verses of the Fourth
Gospel and of Philo and the Targums.
The "hearers only" (firf aKQoarui fiovov) did nothing
else but listen. They were true "sermon-tasters"
who fed upon the ministry of the word or the written
word, only to fatten into sloth and spiritual inertia.
They got the hook-worm disease in religion and be-
longed to the "shirkers," not the "workers." Rabbi
Chananiah used to say: "Whosesoever works are in
excess of his wisdom, his wisdom stands; and whose-
soever wisdom is in excess of his works, his wisdom
stands not" (Taylor's Jewish Fathers, p. 63). The
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 97
rabbis said yiere were two crowns, one for doing and
one for hearing, based on Exod. 24: 7, "we will do,
and we will hear" ("be obedient," Rev. V.). The
word for hearers (d/cpoara/) appears nowhere else in
the New Testament and was used for attendants at
the lectures of philosophers and other public speakers
rather than learners or disciples (fiadrjTai). One thinks
of the public reading of the word in the synagogues.
But even so, "Act on the Word" Moffatt has it.
Else it is like pouring water into a sieve. It is in
one ear and out of the other.
Some people have a sort of religious dissipation in
attending revival services and imagine that they
have accomplished a great deal if they simply go.
People easily acquire itching ears that love to be
tickled with some sensation. The word takes no
root in the hearts of such men. They run from
church to church to get a new word, a sort of soda-
water habit. They deceive themselves (napaXoyi^ofie-
vot), but nobody else. These spiritual "gad-abouts"
are shallow and skim the surface only. They make a
sort of moving-picture show, but accomplish nothing
substantial in their own lives nor in the work of the
kingdom. They are guilty of a logical fallacy (napa-
Xoytofiog) and are the victims of their own delusions
(cf. Col. 2:4). One has thus a case of auto- intoxica-
tion. He has inoculated himself with the virus of
his own error.
And now James draws a wonderfully vivid pic-
ture of the idle hearers, the hangers-on in revival
meetings, like the scum that comes first to the sur-
face, light-hearted, impulsive, nonchalant, without
98 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
depth of purpose or seriousness in life. Such a
frivolous listener glances at (Karavoovvrt) his face in
a mirror, taking note to see that he looked natural
'and proper. A quick look suffices for that, for "his
natural face" (to Trpoooonov tt\<; yeveaecjg avrov), the face
of his birth, the only one that he has. If nothing is
awry about his appearance reflected in the mirror
(kv eloon-po)), he is satisfied (or dissatisfied) with the
momentary glance.1 The mirror was probably of
metal and the word is often used by the poets
(Mayor). Here the mirror is the Word of God
(spoken or written), in which one takes a look at
himself, and the quick and superficial view brings
satisfaction or a passing pang. See i Cor. 13: 12
for the use of mirror for the imperfect knowledge of
Christ through reflection in the Word of God and
in life contrasted with the blessed reality when face
to face with him (Mayor). But here in James the
man tarries by the mirror for a moment and is soon
off for good (anehrjkvdev) .
All that he saw in the Word of God is now out of
sight and out of mind, like the wayside hearers in
Christ's parable. If it was a sermon that he heard,
the impulses for good quickly die away. He is back
at his business or at his club or even in his home.
He straightway forgot (kneXddeTo) what he was like
(bnolog -qv), what sort of man he was in the mirror.
In particular, any unpleasant features are forgotten.
The momentary trembling of the conscience no
longer bothers him. Alas, alas, how easily the
1 Karev6^aev punctiliar action (aorist). The aorists here are gno-
mic, and the perfect anMfivdiv adds also a touch of life.
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 99
burning heat of the day withers the tender shoots
in the stony ground, the weeds and thorns choke
to death the pious aspirations of the better
hours.
6. Real Students of the Word. 1:25.
The image of the mirror is carried on into the
picture of the doer of the word, the "doer that
worketh," a doer of work (rro^-nfc epyov), "an active
agent" (Moffatt). The phrase is tautological, but
very emphatic. He is not only a doer of word
(Xoyov), but a doer of deeds (sgyov). He has put the
word into practice and has brought practical result.
He has transmuted word into deed. This is what
counts, the practice of the Word of God, not mere
glancing at the mirror nor chatter about what one
saw or picked up, not a hearer of forgetfulness
(aicpoaTT)g kmXrjofiovrjg). It is astonishing what poor
memories men have for what God says. The Doc-
trine of Addai gives as an uncanonical saying of
Jesus this: "That which we preach before the people
by word we should practise by deed in the sight of
all."
The sincere listener pauses long enough to become
interested in the real meaning of the word of God,
which is now law (vopov) to him, for he wishes to obey
this word of the Master. These listeners are the joy
of the preacher's heart, those who turn to the
Scriptures, like the Bereans, to see if there things
are so (Acts 17: 11). The word (napaicvxpas) in James
suggests curiosity and eagerness, as in Sir. 14: 23, of
the one who looks through the door of wisdom and
ioo PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
in i Pet. i : 12 of the desire of the angels to peer into
the problems of the mission of Christ to earth.1
The law of God is attractive to the doer of work as
perfect (riXetov), as the Psalmist has it: "The law of
the Lord is perfect" (Psa. 19: 7). But it is not a law
of compulsion, but of freedom (eXevdepiag) . One is
free to accept or to reject it. Certainly James does
not have the view of the Judaizers who made the law
a yoke of bondage even for Gentiles, but rather that
of Paul, who accented the freedom in Christ (Gal.
5:1). Jesus held out freedom as the great blessing
of truth (John 8:32), freedom to exercise one's
highest functions and faculties held in bondage by
sin and mere legalism.
Perhaps the chief emphasis in this verse lies in
the word "continueth" (irapaneivag) . The man re-
mains by the side of the roll of the law spread out
before him and unrolls page after page with the
keenest interest and zest till he rightly grasps the
meaning of God. Thus he puts the word into
practice. He has it stamped on his mind and heart.
He is a Christian Pragmatist. He, like Brother Law-
rance, practises the presence of God. He translates
the word of truth into his own life, and becomes a
living epistle. This is the Bible that the Twentieth
Century loves to read. The man who does this is
"happy in his doing," "blessed in his activity"
(Moffatt).2 He is happy in the doing even if it falls
far short of the ideal in the word of truth. He has
1 Epictetus (Bk. I, chap, i, § 16) has this: Ko%t#o onb/xevot nai
irapaaijirTo/iev ai/ve^oc, rig avefiot; nvel.
2 [ta.Ka.pioi; h> tij KotT/ati avrou.
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 101
tried and he will keep on trying. He can sing the
song of the shirt, the song of the plow, the song of
the desk.
7. Complacent Religiosity. 1 : 26.
Mere listening may be idle. Mere work may be
perfunctory. One may be a worker only as well as a
hearer only. The hearer only deceives himself by an
error of reason (rrapaXoyt^6fj,evog, 1:22). The worker
only deceives his own heart (anaruv tcapdiav kavrov) by
an error of conduct. He leads himself astray, out of
the path (airarcbv) by the delusion that religion
(6p7}oiceia) consisted in the performance of religious
duties (dprjoKeia) ,l not in the attitude toward God in
the heart nor the ethical conduct. Josephus uses it
also of the attendance of the priests on public wor-
ship.2 Paul uses the term for Pharisaism (Acts
26:5), and in Col. 2:18 for the worship of the
angels. It is the external aspect of public worship.
Originally it had the meaning of reverence for the
gods (Hort), but it soon came to be used for the
ceremonial rites of worship. In 4 Mace. 5 : 6 the
word is used for the refusal of the Jews to eat
pork.
In a word, it is applied to one who does faithfully
the religious chores. The Pharisees form a striking
1 In P. Rain, 107 (ii/A. D.) we have al dpqaKEiat in the sense of
religious duties. Dittenberger (Syll., 656) gives Optione'ia from an
inscription where it means "the keeping of the month Artemision as
sacred to the tutelary goddess" (Moulton and Milligan, Lexical Notes,
Expositor, May, 1909, p. 473).
2 Ant. ix. 13. 3, Iva ael rrj dprioneia napafieivuci. Philo distinguishes
between evuefieca, dprjenccia, and 6ci6t7jc (M. I. 195).
102 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
illustration of this emphasis on the ceremonial side
of public worship. The regular attendance at the
hours of prayer, faithful observance of the rules of
ritual purification, payment of the tithes, these things
constituted worship. Finally, these alone constituted
worship. Religion came to consist in the ceremony
alone, the letter and not the spirit, the hull and not
the kernel. Most of the things done were good
enough. It is best to have the outside of the cup
clean, but not so important as the inside nor as
clean water in the cup. Jesus exposed this failing of
the Pharisees with great incisiveness and power. It
is easy to mistake form for reality. So men have
come to count their beads as prayer, to pray
with prayer wheels. One may attend church regu-
larly, contribute liberally, come to prayer meeting,
have family prayers, be a member of the church,
and yet not be religious. He may have religiosity
and not religion. One may mistake performance of
religious functions for the possession of the spirit of
religion. In the very act of working out the religious
impulse men often fall into traps. A deacon once
asked his boy if he had put sand in the sugar and
rocks in the coffee. If so, he could come on to pray-
ers. So here the man considers (doicel) that he is a
religious man (dprjonog, religiosus in Vulgate). He is
content with his religious status and yet he does not
control his tongue. He does not bridle (xaXivayuryuv)
his own tongue, the earliest known use of this strik-
ing figure, though Aristophanes (Ran. 862) speaks of
an unbridled mouth (dxdXivov oTOfia). The tongue is
regarded as an unruly horse that needs bit and
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 103
bridle held fast by the master to control it. The
tongue is allowed to say whatever a spiteful heart
prompts. The bitterest words are not felt to be
inconsistent with personal piety. Such a man con-
siders himself a pillar of the church in spite of his
loose tongue and loose living. He performs religious
duties on Sunday and is a shyster on Monday. He
deceives himself, but no one else is deceived. Such
a man's religious service is empty of any value
with God or man. It is vain {(idTatog) and hollow
mockery. His own complacency makes the mat-
ter worse. He is a stumbling-block to those who
judge religion by him, for he has divorced religion
from life.
8. Unspotted from the World. 1:27.
James does not give a definition of religion in this
verse, but an illustration of the right sort of reli-
gious exercise in contrast with the futile religiosity
already noted. The absence of the article (dprjcnteia)
shows that he does not mean an inclusive descrip-
tion. "A religious exercise pure and undefiled"
(6p7jOKeia Kadapa teal dulavrog)1 is here given quite the
opposite of the professional performances of the
Pharisaic pietists. There is pure religion and the
counterfeit is a tribute to it. This religion is free
from pollution. There is in it no alloy of selfishness
nor other sin. Moffatt renders it "unsoiled," but it
may have the notion of genuine metal. This stand-
1 This use of afiiavroq comes from the LXX, not from the Mystery-
Religions when the initiate came from the Taurobolium in the blood-
stained robe.
104 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
ard of purity and piety seems impossible, but God
knows how to estimate the relation between listen-
ing and doing, between doing and loving, between
loving and purity of life. The life must pass
muster with God (wapd tu 8t& nai naryi). At first
sight one is perhaps depressed by the reflection
that God's standard of piety is so much higher
than is ours. What some men consider holy
worship is to God hollow mockery. But then
God is our Father. He planted the word of truth
in our hearts. He has watched it grow. He
knows the limitations of environment in which the
tree of life has grown.
James gives two very practical tests of genuine
religion. One is mercy toward the suffering. The
widow and the orphan appeal to the hardest hearts.
And yet men have been known to spend thousands
of dollars upon palaces of worship while the poor
perished in the alley behind the church. The social
side of practical religion is receiving more attention
these days than it once did. The very hospitals and
asylums are an expression of that love for our com-
mon humanity taught by Jesus. James has no
sympathy with that cold orthodoxy that is satis-
fied with singing psalms to Jehovah while the widow
and the orphan suffer, with no help from the blind
worshipers nearby. Christianity is inward and spirit-
ual, not mere perfunctory ritual. But it is not mere
mystical brooding nor abstract contemplation. The
cry of the child was heard by Jesus and the cry of the
mother for the child. To-day the children cry aloud
in our streets and in our factories for school and play,
THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD 105
for love and sympathy, for better homes and better
food, for care of the body and of the soul. Jesus still
loves the children. Christ discovered the child. The
modern world at last has begun to find out the child
that Jesus has placed in the midst of us. There are
many other forms of social service which the true
Christian may find right by his door. The neighbor
in need may even lie at his gate.
The other test of pure religion offered by James is
more distinctly personal and more difficult, though
the first test is met none too well. It is "to keep
oneself unspotted from the world" (damXov kavrdv
ripely and tov Koa/xov). Moffatt has it "from the
stain of the world." It is a high calling surely if one
is to walk in a world like this free from the stain of
sin, with no spot (cmiXog) upon garments, body, or
soul. The Lamb of God was offered as a sacrifice
without spot. Christ will present his church at last
without spot (p) l%ovaav o-niXov).1 James had just
spoken of the use of the tongue. That also can
leave a spot or stain (cf . 3:6). There is dirt and
much of all kinds all about us. The germs of sin
infest and infect us all. And yet it is not hopeless
to make a fight for purity in life. We do not give
up the battle for cleanliness of body, for healthful-
ness of body, for victory over the germs of disease
all about us and in us. It is worth while to lead the
clean, white life of purity. One -has his reward in
one's own life, in fresh power, in new joy, in richer
1 Cf. I. G. II. V. 1054 c.4 (Eleusis c. B. C. 300), tyms %evicovg aoni-
Xovc, "applied to stones" (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary of the
N. T., p. 86).
106 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
fruitage. He has his reward also in the inspiration
given to others who are cheered to strive likewise
against sin, to fight for personal purity, for social
purity, for better homes and better cities, for a better
world in which to serve God, for a bit of heaven here
on earth, for the reign of God in human hearts, for
likeness to Jesus, the Son of God.
CHAPTER VI
Class Prejudice. 2 : 1-13
In this paragraph James recurs to the discussion
of the "Democracy of Faith" found in 1: 9-1 1. In
fact, it had never been very far in the background.
The use of "my brethren" is eminently appropriate
here, since he is urging the readers to brotherly
kindness (Mayor).
1. Face Value in Religion. 2:1/
This is a very hard verse to translate at once, for
we must decide three disputed questions. One is
whether the verb (firj exETf) is imperative or interrog-
ative. It is usually taken as imperative in the
versions, and so most interpreters hold, but Hort
urges that it is a tame conception compared with
the indignant query expecting the answer no (firj).
There is force in this point, as thus James would be
expressing vehement surprise that such partiality
could exist among the Jewish Christians. Still, the
prohibition against such partiality makes perfectly
good sense. There is little doubt that "the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ" (ttjv ttIotiv tov kvq'cov %wv
'Irjoov Xpiorov) should be rendered "faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ." It is objective, not subjective, geni-
tive. For a similar use of the objective genitive with
faith (maris) one may note Mark 11: 22 (exere moTiv
deov) , Acts 3:16 (t^I TriareC tov ovofiarog avrov) . It is
not the faith of Jesus that is under discussion, but
107
io8 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
the faith of the readers in Jesus Christ Our Lord.
This interpretation commits James to the worship
of Jesus as Lord and Messiah, but that is surely
what would be expected in one who claimed to be
a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ"
(i: i). It is true that the standpoint of James is
nearer to that of the Old Testament than is true of
Peter, John, and Paul, but after the great Pentecost
there seems to be no wavering on the great funda-
mentals of Christianity, though there is rich de-
velopment and enlargement. The essence of the
Christology of James is precisely that of Paul,
though James does not amplify his implications as
Paul does. James, though so Jewish in background,
is thoroughly Christian. The heart of Christianity,
the worship of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, is here,
though chronologically the Epistle of James pre-
cedes the teaching of Paul and John in their writ-
ings. It is like the child and the man (Plummer)
and not a retrograde movement. It is the outlook
of Jerusalem, not that of Antioch. What James is
discussing is not the personal religion of Jesus, but
the reader's faith in Jesus.
The third disputed point in the verse is the word
"glory" (i% dofyg). The English versions generally
insert the words "the Lord" and make it "the Lord
of glory," but Bengel makes "the glory" ipse Chris-
tus. In this he is followed by Mayor, Hort, Oesterley,
and it is almost certainly true that by "glory"
{gloria, Vulgate) James has in mind the Shekinah.
In the Septuagint for Lev. 26: 11 the word for
Shekinah (<jkt]v^) is just that used in Rev. 21:3:
CLASS PREJUDICE 109
"Behold, the tabernacle (oktjvtj) of God is with men."
In John 1 : 14 we read: "And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt {eoKr\vwoev) among us (and we beheld his
glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the
Father)." Add to this Heb. 1:3, "who, being the
effulgence of his glory," and the case seems made
out.1 In Pirke Aboth iii. 3 we note: "Two that sit
together and are occupied in words of Thorah have
the Shekinah among them." Jesus claimed (Matt.
18:20): "For where two or three are gathered in
my name, there am I in the midst of them." Jesus
is thus not only the Way, the Truth, the Life, the
Resurrection, but also the Glory. James may have
in mind the Resurrection Glory of Jesus as he ap-
peared to him. Note in Luke 2:32 what Simeon
says: "The glory of thy people Israel."
But all this is by way of emphasis for the main
point. One who has faith in such a Lord as Jesus is
should not be guilty of "acts of partiality" (Hort,
kv Trpoou)7ToX7][i^)iat.g) . The meaning of the phrase is
clear, though the origin is obscure.2 The Greek use
of the word (ttqoctotcov) for mask is illustrated by the
word for hypocrite (imonpiTijg) . In Lev. 19: 15 we
1 It is interesting to note that Epictetus (Bk. Ill, chap, xxii, § 29)
uses ^6^a (riyv dot-av /cat tt)v imtyavetav) in the sense of "glory" (cf.
Titus 2:13), not the classic sense of "opinion."
1 The Hebrew n&sa panim (cf . Psa. 82 : 2) originally had the idea
of lifting the face with a view to comfort. Partiality was a subor-
dinate development. Cf. Thackeray, Grammar of the O. T. in
Greek, pp. 43 ff. The Greek idiom (jrpdounov lafifiavetv) has only
the bad meaning and comes from taking off the mask (npdounov).
See Luke 20:21; Gal. 2 : 6 f . for the full idiom. See Epictetus, Ench.
xvii vTconpiTriq el dpafxaroc . . . abv yap tovt' eon, to dodev vnonpiveafiai
irpdouirov nafa'jf. Here np6ounov means "character" or "part."
no PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
see the full force of the idiom: "Thou shalt not
respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person
of the mighty" (ov X^/xrpy Trpoounov tttojxov ovde fiij 6av-
\ida^q ttqoocjttov dwaorov). See Acts 10: 34, where Peter
learns that "God is no respecter of persons" (ovk
zotiv npooijTToXriiiiTTTrjg 6 deog). God does not accept the
outside appearance for the inner reality, nor should
we. God is the God of reality. Cf. Heb. 4: i2f.
A just judge must not be influenced by the bias of
personal preference, prejudice, rank, power, money
(Mayor). He must decide the case on its merits.
There is no room for class prejudice nor for the caste-
system in Christianity, as there is none in the heart
of God. Christianity is democratic to the core, that
is, real Christianity. Organized Christianity has
sometimes been just the very thing that James here
condemns. Even in the single church little rifts and
cliques easily come.
2. Partiality in Church. 2: 2-4.
Already the Jewish Christians were in peril from
this evil. It is in particular a sin of ushers who show
respect of persons in seating strangers. But pastors
are in constant danger of the same sin in general
church relations. The word here for synagogue
(awaycjyTj) may mean place of worship or the assembly
itself, as in Heb. 10: 25, "the assembling (kmowa-
yoyyri) of yourselves together." The word for church
(eKK^Tjaia) does not occur in the apostolic period
(Hort) for place of meeting, but synagogue was
already in common use in both senses. But it is
not necessary to suppose that James has in mind
CLASS PREJUDICE in
simply a Jewish synagogue, though it is quite pos-
sible that the Jewish Christians still attended wor-
ship and heard Moses read in the synagogue (Acts
15: 2 1), as Christians belonged to the synagogue of
the Libertines (Acts 6 : 9) and the early Christians
worshiped still in the temple. The use of "your"
seems to mean that it is at least a Christian gath-
ering that James refers to whether meeting in
the Jewish synagogue or elsewhere. "The growth
of the Gentile element in the church excited the
active hostility of the Jews against the whole body
of Christians, as it troubled the Jewish converts
themselves" (Westcott on Hebrews, p. xxxviii).
Finally the Christians had to set up for themselves
as in Corinth (Acts 18:7) and in Ephesus (Acts
19: 8f.). We do not know the precise stage reached
by the Jewish Christians here. James may mean
some particular instance of trouble in the Disper-
sion that has come to his notice or he may have
in mind any Christian gathering in the Dispersion.
The Gentiles often attended the worship of the
Jews in the synagogues (Acts 13: 16, 43). The use
of synagogue for Christian worship occurs rarely, as
in Hermas, Mand. xi. 9. The time came when
synagogue was used only for Jews or heretics.
Epiphanius (Haer. xxx. 18) says that the Ebionites
call their meeting synagogue, not church (eicicJiTjota).
One may note also John's use of the term synagogue
of Satan (Rev. 2 : 9; 3 : 9).
The picture of the two strangers at church is
drawn with bold lines and in few words by James,
yet it is remarkably clear and picturesque. The
112 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
man with a -gold ring or gold-fingered (xpvoodaKTv-
Xtog) probably makes a display of his ring. If he
preached he would make most of his gestures with
that hand. The word occurs nowhere else in the
New Testament.1 Mayor quotes Epictetus (Diss.
i. 22) as speaking of an "old man with gold fingers"
(yepwv X9va°v(; <5<iktvXiov<; ex(jiV)- The "fine clothing"
(kv kadJjrt. Xafx-nga) is literally "brilliant clothing,"
"new glossy clothes" (Hort), "the fine white gar-
ment worn by wealthy Jews" (Oesterley), like that
in which Herod Antipas clad Jesus when he sent
him back to Pilate (nEpifiaX&v eadrjra Xafinpdv). One
can easily see the distinguished looking stranger as
he steps in at the same time (icai, also) as "a poor
man in vile clothing" (tctuxos ev pvnapa lodrjTt), ^in
dirty clothes" (Moffat), "old shabby clothes" (Hort).
See Rev. 22: 11 for the same adjective for "filthy"
(6 pv-rrapog). In James 1 : 21 we had "filthiness" (pvna-
giav). We have no means of knowing whether these
two men who suddenly enter church are Chris-
tians or mere Jews. Both seem to be strangers. The
courtesies extended are based purely on the appear-
ance of these two as to dress, not on race or ecclesi-
astical standing. The poor man (tttuxos) may be one
reduced to beggary, a tramp or hobo. He may be
merely a poor working man. He stands in marked
contrast with the rich man (nXovotog), as in 1: 9-1 1.
Probably the poor man had on the best clothes
that he had. Should a man like that come to our
churches? Would he be welcome in our pews? To
be sure, cases occur when a bath would help matters
1 Lucian (Trin. 20) has xPva&XeiP-
CLASS PREJUDICE 113
and when plain, but clean, clothes could be provided -
by Christian people so as to make attendance at
church free from embarrassment. But there are
people, especially children, who stay away from both
Sunday school and church because they do not
possess decent clothes in which to come. They fear
the critical eyes and comments of the people at
church. It is easy to say that people should rise
above such unfavorable circumstances and come on
to church to worship God, who reads the heart and
does not judge men by . their clothes. Yes, but a
man may conclude that he can worship God just
as acceptably and more comfortably in some other
church where the usher does not seem ashamed of
his coming nor embarrassed by his presence, so that,
in spite of plenty of empty pews in the grand temple
of worship, he finds a back seat for him under the
gallery or in the gallery on a footstool (literally,
vnd to vTTonodiov fiov is "under my footstool," prob-
ably on the floor by my footstool) in a corner or a
place to stand against the wall. Meanwhile the
poor man has seen the attentions paid the man in
fine clothes because of his clothes, who is ushered to
a good seat (naXtig) with the air of a prince. The
soul of the poor man is all the more embittered
since he came in perhaps in a sort of desperation
from the hardness of the world outside, a world
that has economic and social laws that make the
battle a difficult one. And now in the temple of
God the worshipers of Jesus show the same pride of
wealth and station as at a social function. The
preacher preaches forgiveness of sins and the com-
ii4 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
fort of the Holy Ghost, but he and the usher keep
a sharp eye (eiri(l/i6if>TjTe) upon the man who wears
the fine clothes, pompous and self-conscious as that
man probably feels. The soul of the poor man is
made more bitter still as he leaves the church of the
rich and the proud to see if he can find God at
home or the devil in the saloon or other den of
iniquity. One pity of it all is that so many churches
have fine, empty, cushioned seats, while the strangers
who could fill them are not sought for or not properly
welcomed if they come. It is a pathetic picture that
James here gives us, that of the stranger at the door
of the church. Most strangers pass the door of the
church by with indifference or disgust. The church
must win the strangers outside unless it is to degene-
rate into a social club of a few select families. A
church that only holds its own will soon lose that
standing. The task of the church is to win the world
to Christ. And then, when the poor of earth enter,
it is worse than folly to push them to one side and
out of doors back into the street.
This touch of life is one of many modern notes in
the Epistle of James. The embarrassment of the
usher in the presence of two such incongruous
strangers at once is probably due to the fact that he
knows full well the atmosphere or tone of the church.
It is aristocratic or select; evangelical and orthodox,
not evangelistic or missionary; a haven of rest for
the stately pious, not a rescue station for the lost.
The officers of the church thus make distinctions
(6teicpidi]Te) between the attendants at church and
sort out the congregation according to worldly
CLASS PREJUDICE 115
standards. They are "judges of evil thoughts"
(npirai 6caXoyiafio)v Trovrjqoiv) and act with partiality
in bestowing courtesies on strangers in the house
of God. All this is in such marked contrast to the
spirit and conduct of Jesus that one can hardly
credit his eyes when he sees it happen in church. It
is increasingly difficult to get the poor to come to
some of the churches. The churches themselves may
sometimes become suspicious that the very poor
come to church to receive financial help. So the
breach widens.
3. Prejudice Against the Poor. 2 : 5-7.
James now has fewer maxims and a more argu-
mentative style, like that of Paul. He makes a
passionate appeal for attention: "Hearken, my be-
loved brethren." He writes as an impassioned
speaker speaks (cf. 1:16; 4:13). God's choice of
the people of Israel seems to be in the background
(Deut. 14: if.)1 The Jews had come in many cases
to look on earthly prosperity as a mark of divine
favor and poverty as a sign of God's disfavor (cf . Psa.
73). The Pharisees were lovers of money (<piXdpyv-
poi, Luke 16:14). But the troubles of the Jews,
in spite of many wealthy Pharisees and Sadducees,
had led many of them to see a blessing in poverty.
See Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Gad.
vii. 6: "For the poor man, if, free from envy, he
pleaseth the Lord in all things, is blessed beyond
all men." Oesterley (in loco) quotes Chag. 9b as
saying that poverty is the quality that above all
1 There the same word e^eM^aro occurs of God with Aadv nepiovaiov.
Ii6 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
befits Israel as the chosen people. Epictetus (Bk.
IV, chap, i, § 43) says: "Another (thinks the cause
of his evils to be) that he is poor" (6 6' on nrooxog eonv,
using nroxog in the sense of "poor," not "beggar").
Epictetus (Stob. 10) says further: "Riches (nXovrog)
are not among the things that are good." Luke
6:20 has "Blessed are ye poor" (ol nnoxoi) where
Matt. 5:3 has "poor in spirit." Certain it is that
the gospel made a powerful appeal to the poorer
classes of society among Jews and Gentiles. Jesus
claimed it as part of his Messianic mission "to
preach good tidings to the poor" (Luke 4: 18), as
Isaiah (60: if.) had foretold. He asked the mes-
sengers of John the Baptist to take back to Machae-
rus the news that "the poor have the gospel preached
to them" (Luke 7: 22) as one proof of his Messiah-
ship. Paul enlarges on the choice1 by God of the
foolish, the weak, the despised classes to add to his
own glory. The early churches were largely gath-
ered from the proletariat. Slaves and masters, rich
and poor, mingled together in fellowship and broth-
erly love. The papyri discoveries have shown us the
world of Jesus and of Paul "in the workaday clothes
of their calling" (Deissmann, St. Paul, p. 47). Deiss-
mann adds: "We should be sorry indeed not to have
been told that Jesus came from an artisan's home in
country surroundings." The fact that Jesus was a
carpenter, a workingman in the modern sense of
that term, should enlist the sympathy and the in-
terest of all workingmen, all labor men. They
1 1 Cor. 1 : 27 f . Three times he has here the very word, efetefaTo,
used by James.
CLASS PREJUDICE 117
should heed the Call of the Carpenter. Here James
boldly champions the cause of the poor as against
certain rich Jews, probably not members of the
church, who have oppressed {KaradwaaTtvovaiv)1 the
Christians and dragged {eXkovolv) them before courts
of justice (/cpirripia) . With their own hand (avroi)
these rich Jews had dragged Christians before tri-
bunals. Rich Sadducees had done this with Peter
and John (Acts 4:1). As one of these potentates
(dvvaorevu)) , yea, as a tyrant (/caTaSwaoTevo)) , Paul
had once dragged (ovgo)) men and women before the
Sanhedrin (Acts 8:3; 22:4). He had even tried to
make them blaspheme (Acts 26: 11). It was not
necessary to have special laws against the Chris-
tians. As objects of dislike it was easy enough, as
Paul found out, to hale them into court. Paul
came to know only too well how the tables could
be turned on him when he became a Christian. He
had to take his own medicine (Acts 13:5°; 16: 19).
Jesus had indeed foretold that just this fate would
befall his disciples before the courts of Jews and
Gentiles (Matt. 10: 17!; John 16: 2). The anger of
these rich Jews against Jesus and Christians leads
them actually to blaspheme the name of Christ.
The Sadducees will not even call the name of Jesus
when they discuss the case of Peter and John. They
refer with contempt to "this name" (Acts 4:17),
though in the threat they have to name Jesus
(verse 18). The disciples rejoiced "that they were
counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name"
(Acts 5: 41). So "the honorable name," "the beau-
1 In Acts 10:38 we have KaraSwaoTEvofiivovg vnb tov chaftohov.
n8 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
tiful name" (to icaXdv ovo/ia), "the noble Name" (Mof-
fatt) came to be the shibboleth of the believers in
Jesus. His name was to be "the name above every
name" (Phil 2: of.). It was already the only name
with power to save (Acts 4:12), as Peter boldly
informed the Sanhedrim That was the meaning of
the name Jesus (Matt. 1 : 21). Here one sees afresh
the Christology of James. The honorable name is
the name of Jesus, with a possible reference to the
use of it at baptism in the baptismal formula, "by
which ye are called," "which is called upon you"
(to kmKXTjdsv £0' vfidg) . At any rate, they bear the
name of Christian, given probably as a reproach
(Acts 11: 26; 26: 28; 1 Pet. 4: 14, 16). This name is
now their badge of honor and glory. When called
upon to say: "Anathema be Jesus" (avddepa 'Itjoovs)
they reply: "Jesus is Lord" (Kvpio$ Irjoovg).1 Cer-
tainly the early Jewish Christians had everything to
make them fear the powerful rich who had frowned
upon Jesus and his cause.
And yet James dares to say to the Jewish Chris-
tians: "But ye have dishonored the poor man"
(v/xelg 6s TjrifidfTare tov tttuxov). "Now you insult the
poor" (Moffatt). They had done it out of cringing
fear of the rich Jews with all their power or out of
anxiety to please the rich so as to win them with
fawning flattery. We are not to think that all the
Jewish Christians had shown such narrowness or
such cowardice, but some instances had come to the
notice of James. Per contra note the case of Ananias
and Sapphira, who wished to gain credit for great
1 1 Cor. 12:3.
CLASS PREJUDICE 119
liberality to the poor by the use of part of the
wealth, keeping back half though pretending to
give all. All the early Christians were not poor.
The cases of Barnabas, Joseph of Arimathea, Laz-
arus and his sisters Martha and Mary, occur to one
at once. Jesus did not denounce rich men per se,
though he did point out with great power the peril
of wealth. So James is not to be understood as
denouncing the rich in a wholesale fashion. Con-
secration is what sanctifies riches, the use of the
money for the glory of God and the blessing of
mankind. A man is not a child of the devil just
because he is rich or poor. God deals with men in
the raw manhood. "A man's a man for a' that."
The distinction between the upper and the lower
classes is partly fictitious and is not a stable con-
dition. The slums are a dreadful fact and a disgrace
to modern civilization. People should have decent
homes, good food, fresh air, and cleanliness in
clothing. Extreme poverty is a peril to a man's
soul, as is great wealth. It is not a sin to be rich, but
dangerous, though most of us are willing to take the
risk. Epictetus (Stob. 10) says: "It is difficult for a
rich person to be right-minded or a right-minded
person rich." Riches and poverty are not essential'
criteria of character. Over against the slums in our
cities one may place the pious poor of Scotland, as
seen in "The Cotter's Saturday Night." Over
against the wild and reckless nouveaux riches one
may note the generous givers of millions to missions
and to education. One must learn to be just to all
classes and to do justice to all. One needs full
IS
120 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
knowledge of the social conditions about him and the
courage to apply the gospel of Christ to these con-
ditions. But let no one imagine that sociology can
take the place of the gospel of Jesus. Christianity
is sociological, but sociology is not necessarily Chris-
tian. We need intelligent sympathy, but most of
all the love and grace of God in the heart. But
minister and man must be independent of bondage
to either rich or poor and stand in the freedom
of Christ. Professor H. C. Vedder makes a very
serious charge against modern ministers in his book,
The Gospel of Jesus and the Problems of Democracy,
p. 46: "This attitude of the clergy can be explained
only on the ground of their economic dependence
upon the privileged classes. They are the hirelings
of capitalism, and, to do them justice, they earn
their wages." This is a bitter attack upon the
ministry, for always championing the cause of
capital whenever labor has a clash with capital.
The charge is not always true, as anyone who ob-
serves should know. Organized labor is sometimes
in the wrong. Corporations that are unjust to
labor are often denounced in the pulpit. Let every
case be met on its merits. Certainly the minister of
Christ should be on the side of manhood against
mere money. A man's life is more than money.
James reminds his readers that God is not ashamed
of the poor. In fact, he often calls the poor, as the
world regards them (ra Koofiu), ethical dative), to be
rich in faith (nXovaiovg kv niorei). After all, this is
the true riches, that of the spirit, that of fellowship
with God. So often a turn in the wheel of life
CLASS PREJUDICE 121
leaves a man poor to-day who was rich yesterday.
And death will separate one from all his wealth
save what he has given away. That is all that he can
really keep. The wicked rich man may scout the
poor saint here, but Lazarus will rest in Abraham's
bosom while the wicked rich man is in torment in
Hades. But even here the pious poor stand high
with God, while the wicked rich are despised. The
poor may be heirs of the kingdom {KXr]gov6^ovq -n??
paotXeiag). Think of that — heirs of the Kingdom of
God, the glorious Messianic Kingdom promised of
old and now begun, the fulness of which is in the
future with God, the heavenly kingdom. But even
here and now the poor saint is a child of the King
and has riches untold. He has love and joy in his
heart, a superiority to adversity, an elevation of
spirit, the peace of God that passes all understand-
ing, and that is worth more than all the gold of
Ophir. It is not mere pious platitude on the part of
James when he writes thus. He is but interpreting
the soul of mystic Christianity, real Christianity, as
set forth by Jesus in the "Beatitudes," where those
only are felicitated dmitdpiot,) who have the joy of
the spirit independent of outward condition or cir-
cumstance. After all the piety of the poor is a :
nation's best asset. The poor will some day, many
of them, be rich. May they still be pious! The
upper classes run down and run out, alas, and have
to be constantly recruited from the lower classes.
It is the law of life. If we save the masses we may
save the classes. At any rate, it is a pitiful business
to see a church of Jesus Christ ashamed of the poor,
w/
122 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
as the world regards them, for Jesus, our Lord, was
himself poor for our sakes, voluntarily poor: "Though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that
ye through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor.
8:9), rich in God's mercy and grace, rich in char-
acter, in likeness to Jesus.
4. The Royal Law. 2 : 8f .
The poise of James appears again. He has no
wish to stir the passions and prejudices of the poor
against the rich. Surely it is not a sin to love rich
people. They are entitled to the same love as other
people, many far more because of the noble use
made of their wealth. If you really {yAvroL, original
usage) fulfil {teXute, cf. 2:27) the royal law (vdfiov
fiaoiXiKov), a law fit for kings or such as a king will
be sure to follow (cf . Psa. 72 ; Zech. 9 : 9) and supreme
over other laws (Matt. 22:40), you do well (icaXug
TroieiTe). They should love both rich and poor
alike. This "royal law" was in the Old Testament
(Lev. 19: 18) and is here quoted. It was sanctioned
by Jesus- (Matt. 19: i8f.) as one of the two chief
commandments on which hang the whole law and
the prophets (Matt. 22:38-40). Love of God and
man covers all else. One may compare also the
Golden Rule as given by Jesus in Matt. 7:12, which
is just another way of stating the "royal law" of
loving one's neighbor (rdv ttXtjoiov gov, one near in
need whether in space or not) as oneself, a very
high standard for most people.
The royal law forbids the partiality in church of
which James has been speaking, this respect of per-
CLASS PREJUDICE 123
sons (nqootorroXTffnTTelTe) . It is more than an error of
judgment or a breach of etiquette. It is an act of
sin (dfxagriav) , a slip in ethics, a missing of the mark
that is fraught with grave consequences. It is bad
enough to be convicted (eheyxofievoi) by the law as
transgressors (napa-ftdTai, stepping aside) by this
servile regard for the rich. It is worse to note the
evil effect on the church and the community. A
church of a clique is doomed. A church is only of
use when it is open to the people who need the help
of the gospel. The church opens its doors to let
people in; does not put up bars to keep them out.
5. Stumbling in One Point. 2 : iof.
At first blush it seems that James has Draconian
severity in these verses, but it is not the severe
punishment of small crimes or venial offenses. The
long list of capital crimes in ancient England shows
how slowly men have learned to temper justice with
mercy. Some of the Stoics said that the theft of a
penny was as bad as parricide. The "Blue Laws"
of Connecticut come to mind also. James does not
say that all sins are equal, that one sin is as bad as
another. As a matter of fact, each man discounts
his own sins. The rake looks with scorn on the
grafter. The man guilty of spiritual pride scouts
the drunkard. It is a hard task to convince a man
that he is guilty of his own sin. The burden of the
law was very heavy. The curse of the law (Gal.
3:13) was more than violation of particular pre-
cepts, though that was true to the last detail (Deut.
11: 26, 28, 32; 27: 26), as Jesus explained (Matt. 5:
124 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
i8f.). The Jewish fathers put a hedge or fence
about the law (Pirke Aboth i. i) and made it very-
difficult to keep all the law (oXov rdv vojxov, the law
as a whole, hard enough as it was) plus the tradi-
tions of the elders, which often contradicted and set
at naught the commandment of God (Mark 7: 8f.).
Cf. Sirach 27: 12. Rabbi Hunnah, in a Midrash on
Num. 5:14, taught that he who committed adultery
broke all commandments, and some of the rabbis
placed the Sabbath above all else and held that, if
one profaned it, he had broken all the command-
ments. Mayor, per contra, quotes some of the
rabbis as saying that to keep the law about fringes
and phylacteries was to keep the whole law. There
was a constant tendency to make the ceremonial
cover up moral and spiritual lapses. Augustine
(Epistle to Jerome, 167) compares this teaching of
James with the Stoic doctrine of the solidarity of
virtues and vices alluded to above. But certainly
James has a higher view than these hairsplitting
punctilios. Paul saw that the essence of sin lay.
in the motive (Rom. 14:23), and that desire to
glorify God should pervade all our acts (1 Cor. 10:
31). It seems hard to hold one to strict account
who makes one slip {Txraio-q kv kvi) and hold him
guilty of all {ttclvtwv lvo%og, held liable [see use of
ivoxoc, in P. Oxy. 275. A. D. 66] for all). That is
true only in the sense that James proceeds to explain
that any violation of law makes one a law breaker
{■naQafiaT7]<; vdfiov).1 One does not have to break all
1 Codex D adds to Luke 6:4: tq avrij rjidpa ftraaa/itvdc riva rpyat.6-
fiivov T(5 aaPP&T(f> elnev airy, 'Avdpune el /iiv ol6ac ri nouic fianapioc el,
CLASS PREJUDICE 125
the laws to become a lawbreaker. One offence
places one in that category. The matter is put
with this sharp emphasis because of the com-
placent self-satisfaction of the perfunctory cere-
monialist (James 1:26) who may yet commit
the sin of partiality in church. James is seeking
to convict such "pious" sinners of their guilt, to
rouse them out of their smug self-satisfaction. It
is quite possible that those who were guilty of
spiritual pride and other sins of the spirit, boasted
of their freedom from adultery and murder (Hort).
At any rate, we must not forget that out of the
heart are the issues of life, that murder springs out
of hate, and that all of God's laws come from the
same Will (Mayor). It is disobedience to the Will
of God that constitutes the essence of sin. It is not
a light matter to be guilty of any sin. Our only hope
is in the grace and forgiveness of God. There is no
room for pride on the part of sinners, setting up
one sin against another sin.
6. A Law of Liberty. 2 : i2f.
But James is not a Pharisaic legalist nor a Judaizer.
He adds these verses to make it plain that he does
not have in mind the painful observance of separate
rules and details. The spirit is greater than the
letter. Our words {XaXtire) and deeds {-noielre) are
to be judged by "a law of liberty" (<5ta vdfiov kkevde-
gia<;. Cf. 1:25), not of bondage. We are under
el 6e fir) oldaq intKaTaparoQ nal TrapafiaTW el tov vdfiov. But this logion
does not compare Sabbath breaking with other sins, though it does
emphasize insight into the motive of the act.
126 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
grace, not the old law. We live in an atmosphere
of love and of liberty, not of repression and of
slavery. God watches the real motive in our con-
duct toward the rich and the poor as in all things.
"Mercy glorieth against judgment" (KaraKavxarai
tAeof Kpioewg), mercy triumphs over judgment. God
shows mercy to us in spite of our shortcomings, for
Jesus is the pledge of our fidelity and our hope. We
make so many mistakes that we should have no
heart to go on if we had to be held to strict account
every time we stumble in one point. Still, we must
not overlook the fact that we did stumble. It is
our duty not to stumble at that point again. So we
go on our stumbling way toward that goal of per-
fection which is ever before us. It was Jesus who
said: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matt.
7:1). James seems to know this saying, as he lays
emphasis on the spirit and motive in holy living.
"I will sing of mercy and judgment" (Psa. 101: 1).
CHAPTER VII
The Appeal to Life. 2 : 14-26
We now come to the famous passage that is sup-
posed by some scholars to be an attack on Paul's
doctrine of salvation by faith instead of works.
James is interpreted by many to be a champion of
works as against Paul's theory of grace. It is an old
controversy and is the occasion of Martin Luther's
slighting allusion to the Epistle of James as "a
veritable epistle of straw." He thought it contra-
dicted the Epistle of Galatians, which he dearly
loved as his "wife" (Weib). It is necessary, there-
fore, to clear the atmosphere a bit before proceeding
to the exposition.
1. The Standpoint of James.
This depends on the date of the Epistle, for the
discussion of which question see Chapter I. 7. It
is here assumed that James wrote before the Jeru-
salem Conference, before 50 A. D.
(1) Without the Judaizing Controversy in Mind.
Paul wrote Galatians and Romans, as well as 1 and
2 Corinthians, in the heat of that controversy to
answer the contention of the Judaizers that circum-
cision was essential to the salvation of the Gentiles,
that Christianity alone was not sufficient, but must
be supplemented by Judaism. No issue ever stirred
Paul's nature like this. It is possible that Paul may
127
128 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
have had in mind a misuse of James 2: 14-26 by
the Judaizers when he wrote, knowing that James
in reality agreed with him in the matter (Acts 15:
14-21; Gal. 2: 1-10). But James clearly is not at-
tacking Paul nor Paul's theory of grace. He rather
has in view a perversion of the Christian em-
phasis on the spiritual side as opposed to the cere-
monial ritualism of the Pharisees. The pendulum
swings from one extreme to the other. The Jews
had laid too much emphasis on religious duties
(cf. James 1: 26), and some of the Christians went
to the extreme of thinking that no works at all
were needed in the Christian life. Some of the
Jews, on the other hand, had already gone so far as
to consider creed alone essential. "As soon as a
man has mastered the thirteen heads of the faith,
firmly believing therein . . . though he may have
sinned in every possible way . . . still he inherits
eternal life."1 This Jewish unconcern of real piety
in life is reflected in the lives of some of the Jewish
Christians and is the occasion of the remarks of
James.
(2) James's Use of Righteousness or Justification
(idiKai(l)67j, 2: 21). It is the sense of actual goodness
as Jesus uses it in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.
6:1) and like sanctification as Paul has it in Rom.
6 to 8. It is not the "imputed righteousness" of
Paul in Rom. 3 and 4 (Gal. 3). James has a
practical purpose, not a theological one. He is
not discussing the question as to how Abraham
was set right with God, how faith was "reck-
1 Maim, on Mishnah, Sanhedrin xi. I.
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 129
oned" (eXoyiadrj) as righteousness (dg ScKatoavvrjv) ,
the point seized on by Paul in the verse. James
quotes the whole verse (Gen. 15:6), as Paul does,
but he is concerned with it as proof that, when put
to the test, Abraham lived up to his faith in that he
actually "offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar"
(James 2:21). It is the deed as proof of faith that
James emphasizes, though both points are in the
narrative.
(3) James's Use of Works (epya). He looks upon
works as proof of faith, not as means of salvation.
John the Baptist had demanded "fruits worthy of
repentance" (Luke 3: 8). Jesus had said: "By their
fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7: 20). Paul will
discuss death to sin on the part of the believer (Rom.
6: 1-11). Peter will show how the life will make
the calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10). The
whole Epistle to the Hebrews is a clarion call to
hold fast the confession of faith to the end. John
will insist that those who say they are in the light do
not walk in darkness (1 John 1:6; 2:9). Certainly
then James is in harmony with the full drift of the
gospel message in his insistence on works as proof
of the new life. Paul, in his contrast between faith
and works, has in mind the Jewish doctrine of works
as means of salvation. See 2 Esdras 9: jf. : "Who-
ever shall be able to escape either by his works or
by his faith shall see my salvation." And even here
"by faith" does not mean what Paul has in mind,
but rather creed, not saving trust. The Pharisees
taught the value of works of supererogation, the
"merit" of the fathers, in particular, the merit of
i3o PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Abraham whose faith and works were a storehouse
for the Jews. "We have Abraham to our father."
That was enough. So the Roman Catholics hold
that the saints may help us out of purgatory if we
pay enough for their intercession. Prayer itself be-
comes an opus operatum, a credit in the balance
sheet with God. Most Jews held works alone to be
the means of salvation. The point was keenly dis-
cussed in the Jewish schools in Jerusalem and
Alexandria.
(4) James's Use of Faith. In this passage he is
thinking of mere intellectual assent to the unity of
God or other theological tenets. This was the use
of "faith" by many of the Jews. After some of
them became Christians they still got no further.
It is this idle and empty faith that James is con-
demning. James does have the other sense of
trust for the word (ttIotis), as in 2:1, "faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ," the sense in which Paul uses
the term when he contrasts it with works (Rom.
3:20-30). It is quite important to note this dis-
tinction.
(5) The Antithesis in James. It is not in reality
between faith and works, but between live faith and
dead faith, the two uses of the term just mentioned.
In verse 18 the point is made absolutely clear. It is
not personal trust in Christ that James ridicules, but
an empty theological tenet that does not stand the
test of actual life. So then James and Paul go off
at tangents when the same words occur, for they
are talking about different things.
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 131
2. Not Pious Pretence. 2 : 14-17.
Once more James corrects a possible misappre-
hension. He properly places mercy above justice,
but no one need think for a moment that good deeds
do not matter. God is full of mercy, but there is a
limit even with God. He demands some perform-
ance, not mere profession. "What doth it profit?"
(T* d<pehog{) James pointedly asks. Cui bono? What
is the use? What good is it? What boots it for a
man to say (teyq) he has faith (ntOTiv), but for him
to have no works (epya) to prove his faithf How
can men know that he has any faith? The mere
assertion is all that men have at first. In the be-
ginning the claim to faith is accepted, but the life
must confirm the claim if men are to continue to be-
lieve the claim. God can read the heart, but even
God demands that the life show the change of heart.
James asks again: "Can that faith (?] niarig)1 save
(otioai) him?" He does not scoff at faith, but at
such hollow "faith" as this. James here speaks for
the practical man of the present day who wishes to
see some real difference in the life of a man who
becomes a Christian. It is an old demand, as we
see in 1 John 1 and 2. There is no escape from this
appeal to life, nor ought there to be. Men are
judged by their conduct in business during the week
as much as by their attendance at church on Sun-
day. James does not say that a Christian has no
faults, and never sins, or is a hypocrite if he sins
1 The article here has almost the original demonstrative force.
James means the kind of faith that rests on mere assertion without
works to prove it.
132 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
once. He does say that he should have some fruit.
His illustration in verses 15 and 16 is very forcible
and shows that he was probably a striking and
popular preacher (Oesterley). It is a problem that
is constantly presented to our modern Christians and
churches. A brother or sister is in need of food and
clothing. They are out of work because of the
economic conditions beyond their control. They
are unable to obtain work. They are not pro-
fessional beggars. One may pause to admit the
serious difficulty of knowing how to render real
assistance to those who come to our doors for help.
The modern social workers tell us not to give money
and clothing, but to investigate the case or to have
the charity organization or some of the rescue
workers do it for us. The great number of tramps
and professional beggars with false stories tends to
harden our hearts to the many cases of real need
all about us. Some of these are too proud to make
their real condition known and actually starve to
death or perish from disease and cold. James here
assumes that the case is one of real need that de-
serves sympathy and help. The man who prides
himself upon the correctness of his professional creed
and pious standing bestows kind words of sympathy
and nothing else, sending the suffering brother or
sister, "ill-clad and short of daily food" (Moffatt),
out into the bitter cold and shuts the door with a
sense of satisfaction after such pious platitudes as:
"Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled" (vndyere
kv elpr/v-q, depnaiveode tcai xoprd^eade) . He calls his cheap
words Christian sympathy. It is to make demons
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 133
laugh. The irony of James is very keen. "The
things needful to the body" (to, kniTr/deia rov oufia-
tos), the ordinary necessities of life, now become rare
luxuries to the poor brother or sister. So James
repeats his query: "What doth it profit?" It is
pertinent per contra to quote Paul on the necessity
of love even in beneficence: "And if I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be
burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing"
(ovdev dxpeXovfiai, 1 Cor. 13:3). What, indeed! One
recalls the compassion of Jesus for the hungry mul-
titudes whom he fed. His heart was not hardened.
He did not ask them to be satisfied with honeyed
words and the aroma of dinner. The funny part of
it all is that such pious pretenders actually think
that the needy should be grateful for the kind advice
when sent away without a mouthful to eat. James
applies his illustration to the point under discussion
(verse 17). Mere professional faith that talks and
does not "is dead in itself" (vetcpd eanv icad' kavr'qv).
There is no life in it and no reality. It is dead on the
inside and is a mere empty shell of pious pretence.
There are people who to-day turn to our churches
for help in the hour of need and get only empty
words. It will be in vain then to speak about the
grace of God.
3. Not Mere Intellectual Assent. 2 : 18, 19.
It is extremely difficult in verse 18 to follow the
thought of James. He is usually wonderfully per-
spicuous, but here we are in doubt as to the punc-
tuation and the reference in "a man" (rig). Some
134 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
scholars think that it is a delicate way that James
has of referring to himself, but then James is em-
phasizing works, not mere faith. Is the sentence a
question or an assertion? Shall we say "But" or
"Yea" (for <UAd)? Hort has shown a way out that
is partly followed by Moffatt. Take the "man" as
an objector, but let his objection cover only the
first sentence, the point being to challenge the faith
of James, since he has put such accent on works.
"Thou, James, hast thou faith? I also (as well as
thou) have works" {ov Trior lv !%«?; /cayw epya e%w).
The objector thus claims to have both faith and
works, but implies that James has only works and
no faith. The rest of the verse is then the reply of
James to the objector.1 James bursts in with the
answer to the challenge and rests his claim to faith
on works as proof. "Show me thy faith apart from
thy works" (Seli-ov fiot ttjv tt'mjtiv gov x^Pk ™v epywv),
"and I by my works will show thee my faith" («dyo>
ooi deii-G) ek Tcbv epywv fiov rr)v nianv).2 Here James
pits over against each other the two sorts of faith —
the true faith which James claims to possess and
which is proved by works, and the false faith which
is mere profession and entirely apart from (%<•>?<'?)
works. The antithesis is complete. The dispute
turns on how one knows that he has "faith." James
rests his case on his "works" and in turn challenges
the objector to prove his "faith" apart from works.
1 One may compare Paul's habit of answering an imaginary objec-
tor in the development of his argument. Cf . Rom. 2 : 1 ; o. : 20.
2 Note the sharp contrast in iriortc by the position at the be-
ginning and the end of the sentence.
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 135
Now James is ready to drive the point home. He
proceeds to show that such an empty faith as his
objector has is mere intellectual assent to proposi-
tions and is not saving trust that bears fruit in the
life. "Thou believest that God is one" (ov morsvetg
ore el$ Oedg eanv). This is one of the statements of
the unity of God. The usual formula occurs in
Deut. 6:4 and in Mark 12:29 ("The Lord our
God, the Lord is one"). The recitation of this
phrase was not merely the orthodox creed, but was
supposed to have saving efficacy (cf. the Moslem
repetition of "Allah"). From the time of the exile
the repetition of the Shema (Deut. 6 : 4ff .) every
morning and evening was the duty of every pious
Israelite. "Whoever reads the Shema upon his
couch is as one that defends himself with a two-
edged sword" (Meg. 3a). "They cool the flames of
Gehinnom for him who reads the Shema" (Ber.
15b.). Oesterley (in loco) adds that "the very
parchment on which the Shema is written is effica-
cious in keeping demons at a distance." These
statements will help us to understand the atmos-
phere from which James draws his illustration. And
yet James does not ridicule this mental assent to
the oneness of God. "Thou doest well" (mXa?
noielg). Orthodoxy is better than heresy. Ortho-
doxy is thinking straight (6pdo6o^ia) and that is
what we all need to do. Every man is right in his
own eyes and the rest are a bit "off." But, good as
monotheism is, it is not enough (cf. Mohamme-
danism again). What James criticizes is mere in-
tellectual assent with no vital union with God.
136 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
"The demons also believe" {mi to, dai/iovta morevov-
olv), also as well as you. The demons know only
too well that God is and that he is one. They are
monotheists, not polytheists. They recognized
Jesus: "What have we to do with thee, Jesus of
Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? We
know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God"
(Mark 1:24). Cf. Matt. 8:29; Luke 4:41. The
demons are thoroughly orthodox on this point, have
intellectual assent ("faith"), but they are still
demons. They even shudder {(pgiaaovaLv) at the
fact and the power of God as they feared Jesus
(Mark 1:24; Luke 8:29). The word means to
"bristle," like the Latin horreo, with the hair stand-
ing on end. "Then a spirit passed before my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up" (Job 4: 15). So
Daniel (7: 15) says: "My spirit was grieved" (typ fr
to iTvevfid fiov). The argument is as complete as it
can be.
4. The Obedient Trust of Abraham. 2: 20-24.
But James applies his illustration again. He
hammers the objector while he has him. "But wilt
thou know, O vain man?" (deXetc, tie yv&vai, w dv8pu>-
ne ksvs), "you senseless fellow" (Moffatt). The
word (itevog) is used like the Latin vanus (the Vul-
gate has inanis, Corbey MS. vacue) of boasters or
impostors, men whose word cannot be depended
upon. You can know, if you wish to know1 "that
1 yvuvai, aorist tense and so punctiliar, know once for all, with
almost a touch of impatience in the tense.
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 137
faith apart from works is barren" (<5t* 77 -rriari^ x^Q^
ribv spycjv apyrj kanv), "faith without deeds is dead"
(Moffatt), according to some manuscripts (venqd,
mortua, not apy6<;, otiosa). One may note 2 Pet. 1:8,
"not idle nor unfruitful" (ovk dgyovg ovde dtcdpnovg) .
Faith without^works is like a barren woman, without
children to comfort her. "Children" and "works"
are sometimes used as parallel. "Wisdom is justified
by her works" (Matt. 11: 20); "Wisdom is justified
of all her children" (Luke 7: 35).
James thus shows irritation at the dulness of his
objector, but he hopes to make even such a man
see the point by appealing to the axiomatic case of
Abraham. The faith of Abraham was one of the
commonplaces of theological discussion in the rab-
binical schools (Oesterley). See Sirach 44: 2 off. ;
Wisd. 10: 5. It is no wonder that Paul (Rom. 4;
Gal. 3:7) makes use of the case of Abraham. He
considers it so important that in Romans he devotes
a whole chapter to the subject. Paul lays chief
emphasis (Rom. 4: 17-21) on Abraham's faith in
the promise of a son. Paul also proves that Abra-
ham had the justifying faith before he was circum-
cised. James shows that Abraham lived up to his
faith when put to the test. Both points are true.
There was abuse of the faith of Abraham. Thus
Rabbi Nehemiah (Mechilta on Exod. 14:31) says:
"So Abraham, solely for the merit of his faith,
whereby he believed in the Lord, inherited this
world and the other." The Jews came to rely so
much on the "merit" of Abraham's faith that they
felt that all they had to do was to say: "We have
138 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Abraham to our father" (Matt. 3:9). They leaned1
on "Father Abraham." In 1 Mace. 2: 52 the same
use is made of the case of Abraham that we have in
James: "Was not Abraham found faithful (evpedr)
morog) in trial, and it was reckoned to him for
righteousness?" In Heb. 11 the same exposition of
faith is set forth by the glorious list of heroes who
exemplified faith. Among these is Abraham, who
"obeyed to go out" (11:8) to a distant land and
who offered up his only-begotten son (11:17).
James appeals confidently therefore to the example
of Abraham in offering up (dveveyKag) Isaac upon
the altar (cf. Gen. 22:9). He had shown that he
served God from love and not merely from fear.
His faith had stood the severest of all tests, be-
lieving that God would go with him down into the
darkness of death and make plain his command
that was so hard to obey.
James interprets the case of Abraham with his
usual pungency. "Thou seest" (flteneu;) or, at least,
thou oughtest to see. The deduction is inevitable.
"Faith wrought with his works" {r\ -niong avvqgyei
rolg epyoig avrov),2 "faith cooperated with deeds"
(Moffatt), just the opposite of "apart from works."
It is thus clear that James did not mean to say that
Abraham had only works and not faith. It is faith
and works with Abraham, as he had contended in
verse 18. It is like Paul's "faith working through
love," energetic faith (nioTig 61 dydiTTjg evepyovjiivr)) .
'See Lightfoot's Appendix on "The Faith of Abraham," in his
Comm. on Galatians.
2 Note the tense of ovvypytt, imperfect, kept on cooperating.
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 139
So James adds: "by works was faith made perfect"
(e/c twv «pyo)v 77 Ttlariq kTtXei&drj) , "completed by
deeds" (Moffatt). Thus with Abraham faith was
shown to be alive, not dead; fruitful, not barren;
brought to a good result or end (teXos), not cut
short with mere profession or promise. So the
Scripture was fulfilled (enXijoudT), made full or com-
plete) in the case of Abraham: "And Abraham be-
lieved (e-rrioTsvoev) God and it (the faith, -neons) was
reckoned (iXoyiodr], set down to his credit) to him
for righteousness" (e*? SiKaioovvijv) . Paul, in Rom.
4, lays emphasis on the verb "believed," and James
stresses the obedience which proves the reality of
the trust. Both points are justly made. In each
instance faith precedes the works. We are set
right with God by trust, but the life must correspond
to the new relation with God. It was so with Abra-
ham. He was called "the friend of God" (<piXo$
deov ekXtjOtj). Cf. 2 Chron. 20: 7. "Shall I hide
from Abraham that thing which I do?" (Gen.
18:17). With the Arabs the term Khalil Allah
(Friend of God) is the current name for Abraham.
Epictetus (Bk. II, chap, xvii, § 29) speaks of looking
"up into heaven as the friend of God "(<piXov rov deov).
Plato calls the righteous man "on terms of friend-
ship with God" (6eo(piX'qg) . Jesus calls his disciples
"friends" (<f>iXovg), no longer "servants" {dovXovq), in
John I5:i4f. There cannot be such friendship
without trust (rriarig) of the most absolute kind, a
trust that means loyalty to the end.
One must not think that James discredits faith.
He does not. He assumes the need of it. In verse
2>t^
140 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
24 James uses "justified" (dinaiovTai) more in the
sense of final approval (set right at last) than of the
initial restoration of peace with God. And even so
"the faith as a ground of justification is assumed as
a starting point" (Hort). "Ye see" (opdre), says
James, leaving his imaginary opponent and turning
again to his readers. They can see the point whether
the empty-headed disputant does or not. It is hard
for a controversialist to see anything but his own
side of the question. It is "not only by faith" (ovk
tic niareiog fiovov) that a man is justified. The case
of Abraham shows that works must follow faith in
the natural order of grace. James has administered
a severe rebuke to the antinomians who deny any
responsibility for holy living and disclaim the force
of the moral law. There has always been a curious
type of pietism that ran easily into immorality
with no compunctions of conscience, a sort of emo-
tionalism without ethical tone or flavor. Abraham
was not simply the father of the Jewish people, but
the father of all the spiritual Israel, the believing
children of God in all the ages since, who form the
elect of God and of the earth.
5. The Case of Rahab. 2:25.
One wonders why James selects a case like this
after speaking of Abraham, the father of the faithful
and God's friend. Oesterley doubts how this verse
could come from the pen of a Christian. But James
may have wished to select another example at the
furthest possible remove from Abraham, a heathen
and a proselyte, "the first of all the proselytes" in
THE APPEAL TO LIFE 141
the land of Canaan (Hort). Certainly, if a woman
like Rahab could be saved, no one else need despair.
She expressed her faith in God: "I know that the
Lord God hath given you the land . . . the Lord
your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth
beneath" (Josh. 2:9, 11). Besides, she showed her
courage by avowing the cause of Jehovah and of
Israel, by protecting the messengers (dyyeXovg, spies
in reality), and by a life of uprightness thereafter.
It was a crisis in the history of Israel as they came
to Jericho and Rahab took her stand for God at
the start. Hence the high honor accorded her.
She is mentioned in Heb. 11:31 in the famous list
of heroes of faith. In Matt. 1 : 5 she appears in the
genealogy of Christ. She was counted one of the
four chief beauties of Israel along with Sarah, Abi-
gail, Esther (Mayor). "Eight prophets who were
also priests are descended from the harlot Rahab"
(Megilla 14b). Certainly, there is no desire in
James nor in Hebrews to dignify her infamous
trade which she renounced, but only to single her
out as a brand snatched from the burning by the
power of God.
6. The Union of Faith and Works. 2:26.
This is what James pleads for, not the divorce
between creed and conduct, which is, alas, only too
prevalent even to-day. There should be an indis-
soluble marriage between faith and works, a union
as close as that between spirit and body. "For as
the body apart from the spirit is dead (rd au\ia %^pk
Trvevfiarog veicpov tonv), even so faith apart from
142 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
works is dead" (ovrcjg mi t\ rriarig x^Pk epyw veicpd
toTiv). By "spirit" here James means simply the
breath of life without which the body is dead.
"False faith is virtually a corpse" (Hort). By this
striking paradox James strikes at the root of the
whole matter and has his last word on the subject.
Hort remarks that James by the use of the phrase
"justified by works" (e£ epywv edimiudr)) seems to be
answering Paul in Rom. 4: i or a misuse of Paul's
"justified by faith" (Rom. 5: 1), though he does not
see how James could have seen Paul. I have already
expressed my own conviction that James and Paul
are not really answering one another. They are
discussing different aspects of the subject and touch
only at points and go off along other lines. In all
probability each would agree to the statements of
the other if the language of each were put in the
proper perspective. Certainly, they agreed when
they were together in Jerusalem (Acts 15; Gal. 2:1-
10). But it is important for us that our faith shall
be real and vital and not hollow and dead.
CHAPTER VIII
The Tongues of Teachers. 3:1-12
James carries on the discussion of "slow to speak"
(1: 17). He has just been writing about idle faith
(nioTig agyfi) in 2 : 14-26, and now he proceeds
(Plummer) to expound the peril of the idle word
(pfj^a dpyov), "wrong speech after wrong action"
(Hort). Indeed, in 1: 26 he had already mentioned
the failure to bridle the tongue as a sure sign of vain
religion. Now he expands the matter in a remark-
able paragraph. The transition is thus not so
abrupt as at first seems to be the case, and ap-
parently from the first he planned this discussion
of the tongue. Probably it comes here (Plummer)
because controversies about faith and works were
already rife. Here James speaks "against those who
substitute words for works" (Plummer), a rather
large class, alas! "In noble uprightness, he values
only the strict practice of concrete duties, and
hates talk" (Reuss), if it is only talk. James has the
gift of condensation. He can write on talk without
taking twenty volumes, like Carlyle, to prove that
if speech is silvern, silence is golden (Plummer). The
"overvaluation of theory as compared with prac-
tice" (Mayor) condemned in chapter 2 is still
present with James as he discusses the tongue.
1. An Over supply of Teachers. 3: ia.
We are not here to think simply of official teachers
like Paul's apostles, prophets, teachers (1 Cor. 12:
143
144 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
28f. ; Eph. 4: 11). In the Didache (xiii. 2, xv. 1, 2)
teachers (SiddoKaXot) are placed on a par with
prophets (npoffirai) and higher than bishops (kirlcnco-
■noi) and deacons (SidKovot). There is no doubt
that teaching received tremendous emphasis in the
work of the early Christians. Jesus is the great
Teacher of the ages and is usually presented as
teaching (tiidao/cu). In the Jewish "Houses of
Learning" (synagogues) teaching was as prominent
an element as worship. The official teachers passed
away and the modern Sunday school movement is
an effort to restore the teaching function in the
churches. The true preacher should be a teacher
also, but many preachers are more evangelistic and
hortatory than didactic. The best preachers com-
bine all these elements and build up (oUodofxicS) the
saints in the faith to which they have been won.
Even the mission work of modern Christianity has
had to lay new emphasis on the educational side of
Christian effort. There is no reason why the morn-
ing service in public worship should not be a teach-
ing service and the evening service more evangelistic.
Teachers are necessary. People ' 'having itching ears
will heap up to themselves (tniaojpevaovoiv eavrolg)
teachers after their own lusts" (2 Tim. 4: 3).1 Epic-
tetus (Bk. Ill, chap, xxiii, §29) says: Rufus "used
to speak in such a way that each of us as we sat
thought that someone had accused us to him."
But James here is thinking of the unofficial
teachers (diddonaXoi) in the churches. In the Jew-
1 In Hernias (Sim. 9:22) we read of teachers who OiAovoiv kdeXodi.
d&oitaXot rival u<f>puvt:<; Svref. Sadly true.
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 145
ish synagogues there was wide latitude allowed for
strangers and others to speak. Jesus took advan-
tage of this opportunity and taught freely in the
synagogues (Matt. 12: off.; Mark 1:39; Luke 6:
i4ff.). There would be interruption and violent
opposition at times (cf. John 6: 59-66). Paul used
the courtesy to strangers to speak in the Jewish
synagogues and met with open opposition at times
(cf. Acts 13: 15, 45; 18:6). In Corinth we have a
striking instance of the evil of promiscuous teaching,
unrestrained and unregulated (1 Cor. 14). It be-
came necessary for Paul to rebuke the church for
unseemly disorder. There were many who were
only too ready to be carried away by any new-
fangled doctrine. There is safety in free discussion,
which acts as a safety-valve and also leaves a de-
posit of truth. But the acrimonious spirit had a
fine opportunity to display itself. Men of arrogant
convictions and little knowledge felt that they "had
no need to learn anything from their brethren, but
were fully equipped as teachers" (Johnstone), "de-
siring to be teachers of the law, though they under-
stand neither what they say, nor whereof they
confidently affirm" (1 Tim. 1:7). Some men with a
certain fluency of speech really had no message and
only spoke out of vanity and really "thought more
of the admiration which they might excite by a
display of their powers than of the light and strength
which through God's grace they might give their
brethren" (Dale). Evidently James is here con-
cerned with these promiscuous, officious, irrespon-
sible, self-appointed teachers, men with a cock-sure
146 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
explanation of all difficulties, not afraid to rush
in where angels fear to tread. The world was full
of roving teachers with every sort of patent "ism"
to dispense to the public. Both Jews and Athenians
were eager for something newer than the last stale
theory (the very latest fad). The synagogues of the
Jews and the churches of the Christians offered a
fine platform for these cranks to air their notions.
Besides, some of the best of men, earnest Christians,
have a "Lust for Talk" (Sir W. Robertson Nicoll)
that leads them into all sorts of excesses.
James, therefore, is pleading for restraint and
moderation when he says: "Be not many of you
teachers" (p) noXXoi diddanaXot. ylveade).1 "Do not
swell the ranks of the teachers" (Moffatt). Teachers
are absolutely necessary, but the thing can be
overdone. Some learners {\ia6i\rai, disciples) are
needed. Liberty within reasonable limits must be
allowed, but not rank license. Men must not be
too eager to teach what they do not know. There
is no danger of an oversupply of well-equipped
teachers who are masters of the message of Christ.
There are still too many who are incompetent, and
therefore the accent on "teacher- training" in the
vSunday schools is most timely. The caution of
James is pertinent to-day, but we must not dis-
courage timid souls who can learn to teach and
who ought to undertake it. The greatness of the
teacher's task must not be overlooked. James
warns us against its abuse. There is a mental sloth
that is as bad as this eagerness to be teachers, a
1 Cf . Vulgate Nvlile plures magistri fieri, not doctores.
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 147
lazy satisfaction with the elements of Christianity
and failure to grow into the position of teachers of
the doctrines of grace, continuing as babes unable
to digest solid food (Heb. 5: 12).
2. The Peril of Teachers. 3 : ib.
Teaching has to be done. There is no escape
from that, but those who teach must understand
their responsibility. They are doctors (from doceo,
to teach) of the mind and heart. They cannot
escape their responsibility, as spiritual surgeons,
for they deal with the issues of life and death,
"knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment"
(eidorsg on fiel^ov KQi\ia Xrjfiijjofieda) . In seasons of re-
ligious excitement it is particularly desirable that
men shall bear this fact in mind. There is danger
for the teacher and for those that hear and are led
astray by foolish talk. Feeling was probably run-
ning high in some of the churches, and there was
occasion for the sobering words of James. "The
penalty of untruth is untruth, to imbibe which is
death" (Taylor). One has only to recall the words
of Jesus: "And I say unto you, that every idle
word (pri^a dgyov) that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment. For
by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. 12:36^).
It is easy to be overconfident, like the complacency
of the Jews of whom Paul said that each was con-
fident that he was "a corrector of the foolish, a
teacher of babes" (Rom. 2:20). "Blind leaders of
the blind" (Matt. 15 : 14) are they. It is bad enough
148 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
to break one of the least commandments, but who-
ever does, "and shall teach men so, shall be called
least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:19).
There is no escaping the fact that a heavier penalty
rests on preachers and teachers who leave a trail of
error behind them. This point of view explains
Paul's anxiety in the Pastoral Epistles for the future
of Christianity, as it had to confront Pharisaism,
Gnosticism, Mithraism, the Emperor-Cult, and the
hundred and one vagaries of the age. Certainly, a
teacher must speak his mind. He must be intel-
lectually honest and tell what he sees, only he is not
called upon to give his guesses at truth as truth.
There is no harm in a teacher's being interesting.
He ought to be if he can, but not at the expense of
truth. Freedom of teaching is, moreover, quite con-
sonant with fidelity to truth. Surely one does not
have to be a mere traditionalist in order to escape
wild speculation. He must bring forth things new
and old if they are true. The severest words that
fell from the lips of Jesus are against the Pharisees
who filled the place of teachers for the Jews, but
who "say and do not," who "sit on Moses' seat" as
authoritative teachers and yet "strain out the gnat,
and swallow the camel" (Matt. 23). "Woe unto you
lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge:
ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were
entering in ye hindered" (Luke 11: 52). The trag-
edy of that situation beggars description. The child
was kept in the dark while at school because the
teacher did not let in the light. "The hungry sheep
look up and are not fed."
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 149
3. The Test of Perfection. 3 : 2a.
Others besides teachers have pitfalls, for teachers
are not the only errant men. "For in many things
we all Stumble" {-rroXXd ydg TXTaioyiEv dnavreg). James
includes himself in this category. The Vulgate reads
"ye" in verse 1 (swmitis), not willing to admit that
James ran any risk about the heavier judgment, but
that is not the correct text. James shows no dispo-
sition to exempt himself. One and all (anavreg) we
make many slips, stumble over (7rra/oju£v) something
in the path. Our falls are only too frequent (noXXd).
Who is the perfect man ? Seneca (Clem. 1 : 6) says :
"We all sin" (peccamus omnes). But Epictetus (Bk.
IV, chap, iv, § 7) uses the word for "sin" (d^aprdvw)
for merely "commit a fault." He has a weak con-
ception of sin. Epictetus also (Bk. I, chap, xxviii,
§ 23) says: "No man stumbles on account of another's
action." But surely he is in error here.
Teachers are particularly liable to stumble in
speech, for precisely in that sphere their activity lies
(Plummer). This point is common to all {d rig).
Most assuredly, all men are guilty of sins of speech.
Each one is sure to stumble there sooner or later.
This is a very easy test of one's perfection. He can
be prodded by the tongue. "The scribes and the
Pharisees began to press upon him vehemently
(Setvibg kvex^iv), and to provoke him to speak
(dnooTOfidfriv) of many things; laying wait (evedpev-
ovreg, ambush) for him, to catch (drjpevoat, as if
wild game) something out of his mouth" (Luke 11:
53f.). Yes, but they were all the more angry when
the one Perfect Man kept control of his tongue.
150 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Smart lawyers often try to trip a witness in his
talk. It is hard to be consistent in talk, true in
talk, clean in speech. "If any stumbleth not in
word, the same is a perfect (riXeiog) man." "Who-
ever avoids slips of speech is a perfect man" (Mof-
fatt). "Thou art snared with the words of thy
mouth" (-rrayig loxvpa avdgi to, Idia xei^V> Prov. 6:2.
Note avdpi, man, not woman). Cf. Sirach 28: 12-26
for pungent remarks on speech. "That which pro-
ceedeth out of the man, this defileth the man"
(Matt. 15: 11). The chemical reaction to talk is a
test that we cannot refuse. It is open to the least
expert to apply to us. Teachers cannot escape this
inevitable test. The rest of this paragraph consists
of a series of remarkable illustrations of the power
of the tongue.
4. The Bridle and the Horse. 3 : 2b, 3.
The man who does control his tongue is able to
bridle the whole body also (cf. 1 : 26), for the body
goes with the tongue. In fact, nothing is com-
moner than for one to make a rash statement and
then to feel compelled to stand by it for the sake of
imaginary consistency. Hort keenly observes that the
force of "also" (mi) after "the whole body" is that
a man who can bridle his tongue can bridle his
whole body. The tongue is a real Bucephalus and it
takes an Alexander to master him. It is really won-
derful how a spirited, impetuous horse can be sub-
dued by bit and bridle. The spirit does not go out
of the horse, but his restless energy is under control
and guidance. James does not mean that a man
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 151
should be dumb and lifeless, without ambition and
power, but simply that his tongue, like all the rest
of the body, should be kept in control. This figure
of bridling the tongue (xa^lva70)7Vaai) , as already
noted (1:26), is one of the most vivid figures in
all languages. David said: "I will take heed to
my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will
keep my mouth with a bridle" (Psa. 39: 1). It
is not merely that the tongue is so hard to put a
bridle on (cf. the mouths of some horses), but also
that the tongue has such an influence on the whole
body (okov to oojfia), able thus to lead the body by
the bridle (xaXivayuyrioai) } The horse has to follow
his mouth, in which the bridle is placed. The pur-
pose of the bridle is that the horses may obey us
(elg rd neideodai avrovg rjfilv), and it is thoroughly suc-
cessful as a rule. "We turn about their whole body
also" (|U£Tdyo|uev) along with the mouth. So we
should place bridles in our mouths for the deliberate
purpose of controlling the tongue. It will not
happen by accident. The very finest people, like
blooded horses, are hardest to control. We are
to repress the impulsive and petulant word. Thus
we train our own tongues and make it easier to sub-
due the other members of the body. One member
cannot be allowed to lead the whole body into sin.
Pluck it out, if it be the right eye or the right hand
(Matt. 5: 29). The members of the body are all so
related as to be affected by what the others ex-
perience. "The eye cannot say to the hand, I
have no need of thee" (1 Cor. 12:21). Without
1 Cf . Hernias, Mand, 12. I.
152 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
this bridle on the tongue there is no true self-control.
A tongue loose at both ends means a man whom
everyone shuns as a nuisance. If the bridle is good
for the horse, it is far more so for the man. The
difference is that the man has to put (fidXXa) the
bridle into his own mouth and in his dual capacity
as rider and horse master himself, the most un-
manageable of steeds. A garrulous man is a bore
at best, while a woman with a sharp tongue is a
terror to the community. Tell no secrets to a talka-
tive man, and few to anyone save your wife. A man
who talks to hear himself talk will be sure to tell
what he ought not to say. The writer of Hebrews
refuses to go on with too many details about his
heroes of faith, "for the time will fail me if I tell"
(Heb. ii : 32), "time will leave me telling" (kmXetyei
fie yap dt7)yovfievov) . If the audience held the bridle
the preacher might stop sooner. The phonograph
can be turned off at will, only so much "canned"
talk at a time. And yet talk is one of the most
delightful things in all the world. But there can be
too much of a good thing, if, forsooth, it is good.
There are few greater nuisances than the interrupter
who breaks into a conversation with no regard for
the courtesies of the occasion. He is as bad as the
man who monopolizes the conversation and allows
no one else to talk at all. He needs a stopper, not
a bridle, in his mouth.
5. The Rudder and the Ship. 3 : 4.
With great wealth of imagination James proceeds
to illustrate still further the power of the tongue
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 153
over the rest of the body. The point is clear from
the illustration of the bridle and the horse, but it is
made still clearer by the other figures. The im-
portance of the subject justifies this piling up of
metaphors. "This combination of the horse's bridle
and the ship's rudder as illustrative of the tongue is
found" (Hort) in Philo and Plutarch. "The argu-
ment is a fortiori from the horse to the man, and
still more from the ship to the man, so that the
whole forms a climax, the point being throughout
the same, namely, the smallness of the part to be
controlled in order to have control over the whole"
(Plummer). The horse is an irrational creature and
yet can be managed by the bridle. The ship has no
mind at all and yet is moved "by a very small rudder"
(vtto kXaxlorov TTi)daXiov) ,l "turned about" (nerdyerai.
Cf. fierdyofiev, verse 3), "whither the impulse of the
steersman willeth" (onov 7/ opju?) rov evdevvovrog [iovXe-
rot). The "impulse" may be like "the rush of
water" (op^ vdarog) in Prov. 21:1 (LXX), which
is there compared to the king's heart, for God
"turneth it whithersoever he will," or like the rush
or onset of the Gentiles and Jews to injure Paul in
Iconium (Acts 14: 5). Here it is the gentle pressure
or touch of the hand of the steersman (evdevvovrog,
dirigentis, Vg.) who guides the ship on its course
straight ahead, as he decides (jSovAerat, intention,
purpose rather than mere will, diXei).2
1 Only here and Acts 27:40 in the N. T. It is from m/Mc, blade of
an oar, perhaps kin to jrffa, ttovc. 'EIo.x'otov is the elative superla-
tive (cf. Wisd. 14. 5). The Vulgate has a modico gubernaculo.
2 Cf., however, the use of dfto in John 2:8 and 1 Pet. 3: 17.
154 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
The complete mastery of the steersman over the
ship is accented by the size of the ancient boats in
comparison with horses. "Behold even the ships"
(Idov icai rd TrXola), so probably we are to translate
rather than by "also," which, "though they are so
great" (rrj^iKavra ovra. Cf. 2 Cor. i : 10), are yet
turned about by the impulse of the steersman,
"even when they are being driven by rough winds"
(«ot vtto avefiGiv oKXrjpibv eXawoneva), if here again we
translate "even" instead of "also." One is re-
minded of the boat in which Jesus and the disciples
were crossing the Sea of Galilee "now in the midst
of the sea, distressed by the waves" ((3aoavit;6fievov
vnd Tuv Ki'udrov, Matt. 14:24). The "rough winds"
{dvtfioi OKXqpoL Cf. Prov. 27:16, LXX), "stiff
winds" (Moffatt), were particularly dangerous for
the small (from our standpoint) ships of the an-
cients. But the steersman could hold to his course
even over a rough sea. The point of James about
the size of the ships would apply with far more
force to-day when modern leviathans of the deep,
like the Lusitania and the Vaterland, plough the
waters. There is now less peril from the stiff winds,
but there is all the more ground for wonder that
the tiny rudder can control at will the giant of the
ocean. The steersman can drive the mighty mon-
ster straight upon an iceberg and sink it in a few
minutes, as in the crash of the Titanic. Great as
the ship is, the silent forces of nature are still greater.
Man has not yet mastered all the powers of nature.
But the ship, blind to its fate, responded to the will
of the steersman, who dashed against the iceberg.
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 155
The lesson is only too obvious. One must watch
the tongue if he is to avoid shipwreck. The tongue
may dash the whole life in blind rage against God.
The ship is one of the most beautiful of objects as it
rides the waves in proud majesty. But more beau-
tiful still is a life that is not marred by bad or bitter
words. Plutarch (De Garrulitate, 10) says that
speech beyond control is like a ship out at sea
broken loose from its moorings.
6. The Fire and the Forest. 3 : 5f.
The power of the tongue over the body in general
is shown by the bridle and the rudder. Now the
power of the tongue for evil is specifically illustrated
by the metaphor of fire. True, the tongue is a little
member (plkqov fieXoc;), and yet (mi) it "boasteth
great things" (fiey&Xa avx^l),1 "can boast of great
exploits" (Moffatt). It is not a mere empty boast
that the tongue can make. It is hard to exaggerate
the power of the tongue which is able to sway
great multitudes for good or ill, to stir the wildest
passions of man to uncontrollable fury or to exalt
men to the highest emotions of their natures. The
tongue can soothe the dying or damn the living.
The tongue can sing like a songbird or growl like a
lion. The tongue can speak words of tenderest love
or of venomous hate. It can speak like a megaphone
in trumpet tones or in a whisper almost inaudible
1 A Theban epitaph (Kaibel, Epigrammata Graeca, 4891) of the
4th c. A. D. "has the very phrase" (Moulton and Milligan, Vo-
cabulary of the N. T., 1914, p. 94) of James 3:5 bv fieyal' av]xfoaoa
iraiyuf Qr)[P]n. Note the alliteration of /« in James.
156 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
save to an eager ear. Plummer tells the story of
Amasis, king of Egypt, who sent a sacrifice to Bias
the sage with the request that he send back the
best part and the worst. He sent back the tongue.
James adds: "Behold, how much wood is kindled
by how small a fire" (Idov tjXIkov nip 7\kiKt\v vXtjv avdn-
rei), "what a forest (vXtjv, silvan, Vg.) is set ablaze
by a little spark of fire" (Moffatt).1 The figure is
that of timber or woodland rather than a pile of
wood. Mayor quotes Milton: "Into what pit thou
seest from what height fallen." The inflammatory
Oriental audience with the high pitch of voice,
confusion of tongues, and wild gesticulation is aptly
compared to a forest fire (Oesterley).2 There is
pathos in the dreadful forest fires that annually dev-
astate our country. The damage each year amounts
to several hundred millions of dollars, besides the
injury to future generations in the loss of the bless-
ings from the forests in many ways. In most
instances these forest fires, which rage with un-
controllable fury when the wind gets up, are due
to accident or mischief. A spark from an engine, a
cigarette thrown in the leaves or a burning match
cast to one side by a hunter, a smouldering camp-
fire, a shot from a gun — these and other like causes
1 Note the double use of yhinoq for how little (quantillus) or how
large (quantus). The context makes it clear. For the double ques-
tion, see Mark 15:24. Jesus, in Luke 12:49, uses the word avanru
about lighting the torch for his own sacrificial death. Cf. P. Giss. I.
3. 8 (A. D. 117), dvovreg rag kariag avairrufxev (Moulton and Milligan,
Vocabulary, p. 37).
2 The Midr. Rabb. on Levit. (xiv. 2) xvi has quanta incendia
lingua excitat (Mayor).
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 157
explain most of these conflagrations. The situation
is so serious that the national government has a
fire patrol to guard the forest reserves. Once a
prairie fire starts there is hardly any stopping it
till it burns out. Mice and matches cause over
twelve hundred fires each year in New York City.
Only a start is needed, a start long enough to get
beyond control, and we have the horrible holo-
causts of Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, San Francisco.
"A burning fire kindles many heaps of corn" (Sirach
11:32). The scholiast on this verse adds: "There
is nothing which more devastates the world than an
evil tongue." Nero set fire to Rome to see the
grandeur of the spectacle and he fiddled while the
city burned. Similar irresponsibility is often seen in
the reckless use of the tongue.
So James adds: "And the tongue is a fire" (icai fj
yXiboaa Trvp). See Prov. 16:27, "And in his lips
there is a scorching fire." Cf. Sirach 28:21-23.
"The effect is that of an underground flame, con-
cealed for a while, then breaking out afresh" (Carr).
Indeed, "the world of iniquity among our members
is the tongue" (6 koo\io<; r-qq dSiKtag 7\ yX&ooa Kadiora-
rai kv rolq \iz\eow t/juwv), "the tongue proves a very
world of mischief among our members" (Moffatt).
The tongue was made for good use, and in itself is
good, but it has been prostituted to evil. So here
the very word for "is" {Kadiararai. Cf. 4:4, "mak-
eth himself") brings out this distinction. The tongue
"is constituted" so, not is so by nature. So now we
say that a man's tongue has run away with him.
The tongue has made a career for itself, "the world
158 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
(realm) of iniquity," "the unrighteous world" (Hort).
It was made the best of members, but has run riot
till it has become the personification of injustice
(adaciag) and all sorts of wrong. The Vulgate has
it here Universitas iniquitatis rather than mundus.
One thinks of our use of "university" a world in
itself for good or ill. Jesus spoke of "the mammon
of unrighteousness," "the judge of unrighteousness."
So the tongue represents the world of iniquity and
has become "the chief channel of temptation from
man to man" (Mayor). "They have set their
mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walk-
eth through the earth" (Psa. 73 : 9). This microcosm
epitomizes the macrocosm of evil. Bengel has it a
macrocosmo ad microcosmum. The evil wrought by
the tongue ramifies through the whole of society
and goes on and on in its deadly influence.
It "defiles the whole body" (^ omXovaa oXov rd ooj^ia),
"staining the whole of the body" (Moffatt).1 The
Vulgate has maculat. Jesus had said: "That which
proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man"
(Matt. 15:11). At first James seems to overstate
the matter, but modern science reenforces his point.
It is now known that angry words cause the glands
of the body to discharge a dangerous poison that
affects the stomach, the heart, the brain. The effect
is usually temporary, but sometimes fatal. It is
literally true that such choler defiles the whole
body. Hate has the same effect. The chameleon
1 Cf. Jude 23, iorrtfajfitvov. Cf. also James 1 :2J, iomtov, and 2 Pet.
2: 13, (nriXot nal fiu/uoi.. One thinks of the smoke and soot of slander
besmirching all that it touches.
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 159
changes color according to its emotions and en-
vironment. The tongue not only commits evil by
lying, by defending sin, and by leading to sin, but
it leaves a deadly stain in the very body and soul
of the one who misuses it. "It is the palmary in-
stance of the principle that the best when perverted
becomes the worst — corruptio optimi fit pessima"
(Plummer) .
The tongue "setteth on fire the wheel of nature"
(<pXoy'i£ovoa tov rgoxov r% yeveoeog) , "setting fire to
the round circle of existence" (Moffatt), "the whole
circle of innate passions" (Oesterley), "the wheel of
man's creation" (Hort, who adds "one of the hardest
phrases in the Bible"), "the wheel of birth" like
the Orphic mysteries (P. Gardner), "sets the whole
creation in flames" (Johnstone). Perhaps the idea
is that the tongue at the center (hub) of the wheel
of nature sets on fire the rest of the wheel. One
sees just this thing happen in a pyrotechnic display
where a wheel is set on fire in the center. The more
it burns the faster it revolves, till the whole wheel
whirls in a blaze of fire, spitting fire as it whirls,
regular spit-fire. Certainly, the tongue can set fire
to all the baser passions in the wheel of life, such as
envy, jealousy, faction, anger, avarice, lust, murder.
This fire spreads, not simply through the whole man,
but may infect "various channels and classes till the
whole cycle of human life is in flames" (Plummer).
It is not surprising that James adds: "and is set on
fire by hell" {^>Xoyi^o\ikvi] vrrd rye; yeevvyg), "with a flame
fed by hell" (Moffatt), inflammata a gehenna (Vul-
gate). It is the devil, the slanderer (6 dedfiokos) par
160 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
excellence, who sets on fire "the chariot-wheel of man
as he advances on the way of life" (Hort). It is first
inflamed by hell {yeewa, not adr^g ; place of the wicked,
not the unseen world for all) and then inflames all
the wheel of nature. The torch is lighted in hell,
and the hellish flame kindles the tongue, which in
turn sets fire to the whole nature. Thus the fire
was started and is habitually replenished (note tense
of 4>X(yyi^ofiev7j) . The Valley of Hinnom (</>dpayf 'Evvop)
or Tophet was first just the type of the abode of the
wicked, and then the continual fires there kept
burning were transferred to the next world. Cf. "the
fire of Gehenna" (Matt. 5: 22). But one must not
forget that, while the tongue can be set on fire of
hell, it can also be touched by a live coal from God's
altar. "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am
a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the
King, Jehovah of hosts. Then flew one of the
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with the tongs from off the
altar; and he touched my mouth with it, and said,
Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is
taken away, and thy sin forgiven" (Isa. 6:5-7).
Let us gain comfort from the experience of Isaiah
in the contemplation of the solemn warning of
James. One may note also that tongues as of fire
sat on the heads of those who were filled with the
Holy Spirit on the great Day of Pentecost. The
tongue can be set on fire of heaven and can pass
on the holy fire of God from soul to soul, thus light-
ing the light of God in the human life.
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 161
7. Taming of Wild Beasts. 3 : 7L
James recurs to the beasts (cf. horse and bridle)
for a broader discussion. The tongue is unbridled
all too often and is the most unmanageable of wild
animals. He had just said that the tongue is set
on fire of hell. "The fact that the tongue is the one
thing that defies man's power to control it is a sign
that there is something satanic in its bitterness"
(Mayor). He uses the language of Oriental exag-
geration in giving further proof of his strong state-
ment, a justifiable hyperbole: "For every kind of
beasts and birds (naoa yap (j>vaig dyp'Mv re icai Trereivtiv) ,x
of creeping things and things in the sea (epneribv re
ml kvaXiojv),2 is tamed, and hath been tamed (6a[j,d^-
erat, icai deddfiaoTat)3 by mankind (ry (pvoet ry dvdpcj.
Trivq."4 "The art of taming is no new thing, but has
belonged to the human race from the first" (Mayor).
It is perhaps not strictly true that every conceivable
animal has been subjected by man, but no one in the
light of the past and the present can say that any
animal is untamable. It is now a common enough
thing to see in a wild animal show, performing
tigers, leopards, lions, elephants, monkeys, dogs,
horses, parrots, seals, bears, and even serpents. It
is not merely that wild animals may be domesti-
1 Note the pleonastic force of tyvciq like natura. Note also the
pairs (re /cat). The word dr/pia may include insects like bees.
2 Cf . Vulgate ser pentium et ceterorum. Note the list in Gen. 1:26;
9:2; 1 Kings 4:33.
3 Note change of tense, first durative or linear, then state of
completion.
4 Note use of tyvoiq again and repetition of the article to single
out the adjective in contrast with the tyvuq of beasts.
1 62 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
cated (cf. the wolf and the dog), like the zebra and
the wild turkey (America's contribution to the
world's barnyard), but they may be taught to do
acts and tricks that show rudimentary reasoning
powers. The eye of man can subdue the lion, the
tiger, the serpent as Jesus subdued the untamable
demoniac (Mark 5:4), "and no man had strength
to tame him" (/cat ovdeig loxvaev avrdv dan&oai), Man
has proved his kingship over the other creatures as
God gave him dominion (Gen. 1:26). In many
cases animals have become so domesticated that
they feel no longer at home elsewhere. Man is
proud of his lordship over beast and bird and over
the forces of nature, like wind and wave and elec-
tricity. Man can swim like a fish (for a little while),
can run like a deer (for a bit), and can now even fly
like a bird in the aeroplane with its artificial wings.
He can talk without wires over thousands of miles
with unseen persons. He can speed over land and
sea like the wind. He can send a message around
the earth with the swiftness of the light.
But he cannot control his own tongue. "But the
tongue no man can tame" (ttjv Si ykibaoav ovdei$ Sa\ia-
aai dvvarcu avdpuTruv) . Here is the language of help-
lessness, as in the case of the demoniac in Mark
5:4. Strictly speaking, of course, the tongue is
merely the organ of speech and speech is under the
control of the mind. By a bold figure James almost
personifies the tongue as a separate personality. "It
combines the ferocity of the tiger and the mockery
of the ape with the subtlety and venom of the ser-
pent" (Plummer). It is thus the very chimaera of
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 163
wild beasts ! This is the picture of the tongue in its
natural state, the tongue of the unregenerate man.
The Spirit of God can cleanse a man's mouth of
profanity and unclean speech. "Keep thy tongue
from evil and thy lips from speaking guile" (Psa.
34: 13). Paul puts up the bars: "No filthiness, nor
foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting"
(Eph. 5:4). Once more he says: "Let no corrupt
speech proceed out of your mouth" (4: 29). Surely,
if one has such an untamable little animal in his
mouth as the tongue, he needs to watch it with
ceaseless care. The evil of the tongue echoes and
reechoes through a community and often through the
ages. The evil slander can never be stopped. The
lie is fleet of foot and eludes truth in a race.
"It is a restless evil" (aKaraoTarov kclkov), "piague
of disorder that it is" ( Moffat t), "a disorderly
evil" (Hort), iniquitum malum (Vulgate). It is un-
stable and unreliable, inconsistent and quixotic. It
can never be trusted to the full. It will turn on one
when off guard like the lion when the keeper turns his
eye away. It can be brought under no rules that will
work.
"It is full of deadly poison" (iiearr) lov 0avaTrj<p6pov) .
It is "death-bringing" {davarrjcpogov, mortifero)1 poison
{lov) like the poison of asps under their lips (log donidov
imb rd xzilr\ avT&v), Psa. 140: 3. "Their poison is like
the poison of a serpent ; they are like the deaf adder
that stoppeth her ear" (Psa. 58: 4). The poison of
the serpent is deposited in a little pocket under the
1Cf. LXX, Job 33:23; 4 Mace. 8:17 for the word davarq^poc^
Common in Plato and Xenophon.
1 64 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
mouth. So the tongue is charged with the venom of
hate as the serpent with poison. The hiss of the
serpent and the hiss of the goose are often repro-
duced in the sibilant tongue of slander.
8. Sweet and Bitter Water. 3 : 9-1 1.
The inconsistency of the conduct of the tongue is
graphically portrayed by these verses. Plummer
happily terms it "the moral contradictions of the
reckless talker." There is in very truth moral chaos
if the Christian does not control his tongue. Incon-
sistency is not an evil per se. If one is wrong he
ought to be inconsistent enough to change and do
right. But it is terrible to see a professing Christian
lightly lapse into loose ancWicentious language. "The
fires of Pentecost will not rest where the fires of
Gehenna are working" (Plummer). James had
spoken (1:8) of the double-minded man (dtyvxog),
unstable (atcaTdoTaTog) in all his ways. The tongue
with the gift of double entendre is one of the very
worst, a word that passes muster in polite circles
and yet carries to the initiated a sinister or salacious
meaning. Epictetus (Ench. xxxiii, § 16) says: "But
dangerous also is the approach to indecent speak-
ing." But the double tongue (fc-yXuooog) that talks
one way with one person, another with another, is
utterly unreliable, the mark of double dealing, hy-
pocrisy, the slick-tongue, the oily tongue of the two-
faced man, whose word cannot be depended upon,
whose word is not as good as his bond. Sirach
(5:13) says: "Honor and shame are in talk; and
the tongue of man is his fall." He also (28: 12) has
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 165
this: "If thou blow the spark, it shall burn; if thou
spit upon it, it shall be quenched; and both these
come out of thy mouth." It looks as if James had
seen this passage from the Twelve Patriarchs (Ben-
jamin 6:5): "The good mind hath not two tongues
(6vo yXuooac), of blessing and of cursing (evXoylag mi
Karagaq), of contumely and of honour, of sorrow and
of joy, of quietness and of confusion, of hypocrisy
and of truth." We may omit the inconsistency of
"sorrow and of joy," for that is the lot of all of us,
but certainly the tongue must not play the part of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "Therewith bless we the
Lord and Father" (kv avrxj svXoyovfiev rov kvqiov nai
Trarepa),1 the only instance of this precise combina-
tion of words in the Bible, expressing God's power
and loving approachableness (cf. Matt. 11:25). The
highest function of human speech (Hort) is the
praise of God the Father. Note how when Zacharias
recovered his speech he first praised God (Luke 1 :
64, kX&Xei evXoyuv rov deov). It is glorious to praise
God in prayer, in song, in sermon. "O Lord, open
thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy
praise" (Psa. 51: 15). "Praise ye Jehovah. Praise
Jehovah, O my soul. While I live will I praise
Jehovah: I will sing praises unto my God while I
have any being" (Psa. 146: if.)
So far so good. "Bless and curse not" (evAoyeire
ml [xi] narapdode, Rom. 12: 13). Curse not God in
anger nor in flippant profanity. The tongue that
praises God surely will not profane his name. But
1 Note the instrumental use of iv, as in LXX and koivtj else-
where.
1 66 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
curse not men "who are made after the likeness of
God" (rovg Kad' bfio'MOiv deov yeyovorag) , those who are
like God in their moral and spiritual nature and not
like the beasts of the field (Gen. i : 26; 2 Cor. 3 : 18).
And yet, horribile dictu, this is precisely what we do.
"Therewith curse we men" (tv avry Karapoifitda) .
James here includes himself in the common run of
humanity. The tongue exercises this strange power
of running away with us like a runaway horse with
the bit in his mouth. The scorn of men for men is
seen in John 7 : 49 in the sneer of the Pharisees at
the mob: "This multitude that knoweth not the
law are accursed" (endparoi). It is most likely,
however, personal abuse that James here refers to.
Men who are made in God's image are abused by
the very tongue that blesses God. We curse other
children of our common Father, God. James does
not mean even by implication to approve cursing at
all. Far from it. It is the wicked man whose
"mouth is full of cursing" (Psa. 10: 7). If we do not
love our brother, we do not love God (1 John 4: 20).
And yet "out of the same mouth cometh forth
blessing and cursing" (etc rov avrov ardfiaTog eijepxerai
evXoyia itai Kardpa). We make our tongue a sort of
combination of Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.
"My brethren, these things ought not so to be" (ov
XP^l, adeX<poi jxov, ravra ovtu>^ yeveadai),1 a mild state-
ment all the more effective from its very temperate-
ness.
The point is easy to illustrate. "Doth the foun-
1 The only instance of Xf*h in the N. T. Elsewhere iel. But note
Prov. 25:27. It is weaker than Sei (necessity).
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 167
tain (py « % TTijyrj)1 send forth (/3pv«)2 from the same
opening (e« rijg birffg)3 sweet water and bitter (to yXv-
kv Kal rb nucpov)?" James was familiar with the
brackish waters of parts of Palestine. The water of
the Dead Sea is really bitter (niKg&v), though fed by
the snows of Hermon and the sweet (yXvicv) springs
of the Jordan Valley. The waters of Marah were
bitter (Exod. 15: 23), and one may recall "the water
of bitterness that causeth the curse" (Num. 5: 18,
23). See also Rev. 8:11 for the waters that were
made bitter. Pliny (N. H. ii. 103) tells a fable of a
fountain of the sun that "was sweet and cold at
noon and bitter and hot at midnight" (Mayor). It
is possible to sweeten water, as we see in the great
filtering plants in our modern cities. Yes, and
sweet water can become bitter. But water is not
sweet and bitter at the same time from the same
fountain. You have sweet water on Hermon and
salt water in the Dead Sea (also called the Salt Sea) ,
but not both in the same place.
9. The Vine and the Fig Tree. 3: 12.
James has not only a new image here, but also a
new point of view (Hort). He has, in 9-1 1, shown
the inconsistency of two kinds of speech from the
same tongue. Now he goes deeper to the heart
behind the utterance. The comparison is here made
between the heart and its utterance (tongue). The
1 fit n expects the answer "No." Tlvyv is fons.
1 Used chiefly of the budding of plants, but also of the bubbling of
water, gurgling up.
1 bnJ} is the cleft in the rock out of which the water bursts (fipvei).
1 68 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
grape and the fig are the commonest fruits in Pales-
tine. "Each tree is known by its fruit" (Luke 6 : 44).
Yes, and Jesus had just said (6:43): "For there is
no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor
again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit."
It is not uncommon to find the point made some-
what as James has it. So Epictetus (Diss. ii. 20):
"How can a vine grow, not vinewise, but olivewise,
or an olive, on the other hand, not olivewise, but
vinewise? (^ kXautcjs dXX' dpreAt/cws';).1 So Jesus:
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good; or
make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt" (Matt.
12:33). Once more hear Jesus: "Do men gather
grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" (Matt. 7: 16).
It is the appeal to life.
It has been charged that James exaggerates the
evil of the tongue, but one who knows life as it is
must agree with James. Sirach says: "Curse the
whisperer and the double-tongued (dioori), for such
have destroyed many that were at peace" (28: 13).
Plummer quotes also a clause from the Syriac that is
not in the Greek: "Also the third tongue, let it be
cursed; for it has laid low many corpses." Sirach
(28: 14L) continues: "A third (or backbiting) tongue
hath unsettled many, and driven them from nation
to nation; and strong cities hath it pulled down,
and overthrown houses of great men. A back-
biting tongue hath cast out capable women, and
deprived them of their labors." The "third tongue"
injures three classes (Plummer): the person who
1 Seneca (Ep. XIII. 2. 25) says: Non nascitur itaque ex malo
bonum, non magis quam ficus ex olea.
THE TONGUES OF TEACHERS 169
utters the slander, the one who listens, and the one
of whom the slander is told. It is a triple sin and
only sin. "No more can salt water yield fresh"
(ovre aXvKbv yXvuv noifjaai vdup), James adds, and his
conclusion falls with the force of a trip-hammer.
The crisp wisdom of James about the tongue makes
one wonder afresh if his mother had not taught
him some of these aphorisms as a child.
CHAPTER IX
The True Wise Man. 3: 13-18
The connection between this paragraph about
wisdom and the preceding discussion of the perils
of the tongue is very close. James is still thinking
of the men who supposed that they had true faith,
but who did not practice it, "men who supposed
that they had a deeper wisdom and a larger knowl-
edge than their brethren, and who were continually
asserting their claim to be teachers" (Dale). But
Hort considers the passage on the tongue a "long
digression," a view hardly tenable. These am-
bitious teachers had overlooked the havoc wrought
by tongue (and pen). James has given a needed
warning about that phase of the subject and now
turns to the subject matter itself. The ambitious
teacher will do all the more harm if he is not merely
a bungler of real wisdom, but a disseminator of false
wisdom. Already the air was full of all sorts of
fads and fancies that appealed to the unthinking
and the unwary. The Essenes, the Pharisees, the
Sadducees, the Epicureans, the Stoics, the Mithraists,
the Gnostics, the Judaizers, the Cult of Emperor
Worship, with more or less distinctness were clamor-
ous for a hearing. There were professional Sophists,
who traveled over the country with patent solutions
of all problems. Some appealed to the nervous or
the neurotic, like "Christian Science" to-day; others
170
THE TRUE WISE MAN 171
to the ignorant, like Russellism or Mormonism.
Paul will later discuss both speech and wisdom "as
good things liable to grievous abuse" (Hort) in
1 Cor. 1:5, 17; 2 and 3.
1. The Call for the Wise Man. 3: 13a.
"Who is wise and understanding among you?"
(rig ao(pdg Kot emorrmov kv vfilvy). The question does
not mean that nobody is wise and understanding,
but it calls a halt on the rush of volunteers who
have apparently a superfluity of wisdom. An over-
plus of conceit is intolerable for normal persons.
Job (12:2) has our sympathy when he retorts to his
officious advisers: "No doubt but ye are the people
and wisdom will die with you." Once more Job
(28: 12) asks: "But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?" Here, as
very often in the Old Testament, we have wisdom
and understanding used together. God gave Solo-
mon wisdom and understanding (1 Kings 4:29).
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wis-
dom, and get understanding" (Prov. 4:7). In Psa.
107:43 we have the question: "Who is wise?" (rig
oo<pog$. James is thoroughly acquainted with the
wisdom literature of the Jews, both canonical and
uncanonical, and is at home in the handling of this
theme. His words are not many, but they carry
much of depth and power.
Many of the professional wise men, then as now,
were frauds who easily duped the gullible populace.
They were magicians like Simon Magus, who gave
it out that he was some great man, and the idle
172 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
crowd took him at his high estimate of himself (Acts
8: off.). Note also the case of Barjesus (Acts 13:
8ff.) and the Jewish exorcists (19: i3ff.). Tne suc_
cess of these men is one of the most humiliating
contemplations about our common humanity. Car-
lyle bluntly called most people fools. But there
were really wise men then also, like the Magi and
others, who sought light and truth. Oesterley thinks
that James by this question appeals to the self-
respect of his hearers, who are tired of men with
"the lust of teaching and talking" (Plummer).
James is still directing blows at sham religion, and
there is ample cause for such attacks in all the ages.
Hypocrisy flourishes in all ages and in all climes.
It has a marvellous vitality, this meanest of para-
sites.
The combination of "wise" (ooQog) and "under-
standing" (kwrn/fwov) is not without point (cf. Deut.
4:6; Isa. 5.21). This is the only instance of the com-
bination in the New Testament. In classic Greek
the second word was used of a skilled or scientific
person who had gained technical knowledge of a
subject. It implies personal acquaintance and ex-
perience, not mere abstract knowledge or intellectual
apprehension of the theory of a thing. It is book-
learning plus practical application as opposed to one
without this special training. Then the word for
wise is given by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. I. v.)
to mean "the understanding of things human and
divine, and their causes." It is the word found in the
term "philosophy" and implies thoughtfulness, pene-
tration, grasp of the relations of things, and the right
THE TRUE WISE MAN 173
use of one's knowledge for the highest ends.1 There
are, forsooth, learned fools, men who have a lumber
of learning in their heads, but in a disorderly jumble.
In the use of James the only really wise man is he
who places God in the center of his life, who serves
Christ as Lord and Master, who keeps the intellect
in subjection to the will of God. There are plenty
of ignorant fools also, men who have neither intel-
lectual apprehension nor practical wisdom. It is
hard to tell which is the sadder spectacle, the learned
fool or the ignorant fool. But certainly a premium
is not to be placed upon either class. Both classes
of fools are to be kept out of the ranks of teachers
and preachers if it can be done. Advice on all sorts
of subjects is so plentiful that there seems to be an
abundance of easygoing wisdom. But the world is
still eager to listen to the True Wise Man if he can
be found (cf. Van Dyke's "Other Wise Man"). But
the very reputation for wisdom may lead to posing
as a wise man. James dares to challenge the candi-
dates for teachers of wisdom in the churches. Is it
not possible that not enough care is taken in the
choice of teachers in the churches and the ordination
of preachers of the gospel?
2. The Proof of the Wise Man. 3 : 13b.
Wisdom is not a matter for mere technical in-
quiry. One has to stand an examination on wisdom;
but it is that of life, unwritten and written; that of
deeds, not of words. "Let him show by his good
1 2o(j>ia ranks highest of all the words for intellectual attainment
or endowment (yvwffif, irriyvuoig, kncar^fi^, avveaic, ^povr/aic).
174 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
life his works in meekness of. wisdom" (deify™ kit t^
KaX^ avaoTpocprjs to epya avrov ev -npavTqrL oo<piag). This
test of the wise man is put in a peculiarly Jacobean
style. The very position of the word "show" is
emphatic, the first word in the sentence. If one
may use the vernacular, we are all "from Missouri"
and "have to be shown" when it comes to each
other's wisdom. The test is the acid test of deeds,
not words. We may quibble over words and talk
like a wise man, but time will prove our words by
our deeds. One may speak like a wise man and in
reality be the biggest sort of a fool, yea, of a scoun-
drel. People have learned to discount mere talk
when it stands alone. Just being a preacher is not
enough. One must practise what he preaches. The
Roman Catholic doctrine relieves the priest from
the obligation to live the morality which he preaches,
but surely that is a travesty on the ethics of Chris-
tianity. It is false ethics and false religion. People
have a right to hold the preacher to the standard
of the gospel, just as he has the right to urge upon
them the highest ideals of conduct. There is a
wonderful levelling process going on all the time.
Lincoln said with rare wisdom that a man may fool
all the people part of the time, and some of the
people all the time, but not all the people all the
time.
The greatest asset that the preacher has, after all,
is his life, a long life of piety and consecration.
There is no answering that argument, "by his good
life his works." This is the only proof that counts
in the long run. The King James Version has
THE TRUE WISE MAN 175
here "good conversation" (e« t% mXrig dvaorpo^rig) ,
which was good old English (conversatio, conver-
sari), originally one's conduct or bearing (turn-
ing oneself about, the precise idea in the Greek
word).1 But long ago the English confined the word
to talk, perhaps because some people did little else
but talk. But the quaint old English must give
way to the modern preciseness of speech. It is the
beautiful (naXog) manner of life that speaks the
language of business to-day, the flower of a white
life that adorns the profession of the service of
Christ. But even so, it must be behaviour that is
sincere, that finds expression in acts (epya), not
mere external mannerisms, posing, attitudinizing,
stage-effect. Nothing is more repulsive than pro-
fessional pietists who attract attention to themselves
rather than to Christ the Lord. It is a case pre-
eminently where actions speak louder than words
and where words alone do more harm than good.
Bengel puts it tersely: re potius quam verbis. In
simple truth the more a man says in claim of su-
perior wisdom the less he is credited with the pos-
session of any wisdom.
But it is not merely a case of deeds versus words,
but also of "gentleness and modesty versus arrogance
and passion" (Mayor), "in meekness of wisdom"
(«v TtpavTTjTi oo(f>iag), "with the modesty of wisdom"
(Moffatt). Meekness was not ranked high among
1 Epictetus (Bk. I, chap, vii, § 2) has it avaoTpoQijv ryv (iv) avry
nadliKovcav. Moulton (Vocabulary, p. 38) notes the absence of the
word in this sense in the papyri, though the verb avaorpfycodat is
common. The substantive is frequent in the inscriptions.
176 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
the Greeks. Aristotle (Eth. Nic. IV. v.) considered
it a second-rate virtue, "the mean between pas-
sionateness and impassionateness" (Plummer) . Epic-
tetus (Bk. II, chap, i, ch. 36) says: "But think
that thou art nobody and that thou knowest noth-
ing." The Christian conception rests upon the idea
in the Psalms, where meekness is a favorite trait of
the devout. "The meek will he guide in judgment;
and the meek will he teach his way" (25:9). "The
Lord upholdeth the meek" (147:6). In Sirach
(3:18) we read: "The greater you are, the more
you humble yourself" (oo<p \ieyas el, tooovtu raneivov
oeavrov). But there is no word comparable to that
of Jesus, who said of himself: "I am meek and lowly
in heart" (Matt. 11:29, irgavg elfii icai raneivog ry
mpdia) in his plea for men to come to him as teacher.
It is an essential prerequisite in the teacher, else he
is unapproachable and is aloof and cold. Jesus pro-
nounced a beatitude on the meek (Matt. 5:5), but
he did more : he exemplified meekness in his life.
By meekness James does not mean effeminacy or
weakness (any more than Jesus). He does mean
the absence of pretentiousness and wilfulness.
Peter (1 Pet. 3: 15) uses the expression "with meek-
ness and fear" for the spirit with which one is to
defend the faith, the "reason for the hope that is in
you." There can be firmness and courage without
bumptiousness and bigotry. There are frequent ex-
hortations in the New Testament along this line
(cf. Gal. 6: 1 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 24; 1 Cor. 4: 21). The wise
man wears the crown of modesty. This spiritual
paradox seems absurd to the merely worldly wise.
THE TRUE WISE MAN 177
3. The Disproof of the Wise Man. 3 : 14.
"The possession of wisdom was made a claim to
teachership" (Hort). So the absence of wisdom is a
positive disqualification. One may, no doubt, possess
wisdom and yet not be able to teach. But the lack
of wisdom is itself a sufficient bar. The wrong spirit
shows the lack of wisdom. "But if ye have bitter
jealousy and faction in your heart" (el 6e ZfiXov
ttikqov e^ere icai igidiav ev ry Kagdla Vjuwv), what then?
There were many controversialists who had both of
these vices. Jealousy (tfit-og) is not evil per se.
It wavers between the good and evil sense and in
itself is merely zeal «&o, to boil), which may be for
good or ill. For the good use see 2 Cor. 11:2; Gal.
1: 14). Sometimes this zeal was not according to
knowledge (Rom. 10: 2). Envy ((pdovog) is distin-
guished from zeal (emulation) by Aristotle (Rhet.
ii. 11. 1). But in the New Testament the bad sense
of this word prevails (James 4:3; 1 Cor. 2,' 3', Gal.
5:20; Rom. 13 : 13) and it is listed with the works of
the flesh. The bitterness (micpov) of jealousy is only
too well understood by those who give way to this
petty vice. It tastes bitter and the taste lasts a
long time. Bitterness is itself punishment enough
for the victims of the sin (Eph. 4:31). The other
word, "faction" or "party spirit" (epidia), has an
uncertain etymology, probably from the word for
"hireling" (epidog). At any rate, the word is soon
applied to partisans who court and bribe adherents
to their candidate. It presents the very quintessence
of partisanship and of narrow-mindedness. This is
not a mark of wisdom and is not a thing to boast of
178 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
at any rate. "Glory not" (jii) KaraKavxdade) about it,
"do not pride yourselves on that" (Moffatt). And
yet this is precisely what many of the Jewish Chris-
tians were doing already. Thus they lied against
the truth, were "false to the truth," as Moffatt has
it (ipevdeode Kara 1-775- dXrjdeiag) . Such partisan triumph
is usually obtained by underhand methods and by
the suppression of part of the truth. There is such
a thing as "poisoned truth," truth with poison in it.
So partisan victory often leaves a bitter sting be-
cause those in defeat know that an unfair advantage
has been taken of them and of the truth of God.
It is clear that these opening chapters in the
Epistle of James reveal a pitiful condition of con-
troversy among some of the Jewish churches, such
as Paul has to rebuke in Corinth later (cf. 1 Cor.
1 to 4). "The whole Christianity of many a dev-
otee consists only, we may say, in a bitter contempt
for the sins of sinners, in a proud and loveless con-
tention with what it calls the wicked world" (Stier).
The point of James is precisely this. The very con-
tentiousness which they regarded as supreme proof
of their qualifications as exponents of the faith is
here urged by James as absolute proof that they are
disqualified for the position of teachers. Their bit-
terness makes it improper for them to talk about love
and gentleness. Sometimes the very fierceness of
one's contention for orthodoxy drives some people
into heresy. It is a sad outcome when one's high
and holy ambition to teach the things of Christ is
frustrated by a Christless spirit of wrangling and
personal abuse.
THE TRUE WISE MAN 179
4. The Wisdom from Below. 3: 15L
Wisdom, forsooth, is precisely what we all need
and desire, but the bitter self-seeking partisans just
described "do not cherish the truth except as a pos-
session of their own, or a missile of their own" (Hort).
"This wisdom" (avrrj i\ aocpia), that claimed by the
pompous bigots in verse 14, can only be so described
in terms of courtesy or, more exactly, of irony. It
is only wisdom so-called and is real folly. It is
at best worldly wisdom, "earthly" (kmyeiog) , not
merely in the sense of taking place on earth rather
than in heaven (John 3: 12), but with the earthly
horizon and outlook as opposed to the heavenly
(enovpdvi og) , like those who mind earthly things
(ja kmyeia (ppovovvreg , Phil. 3: 19). Such a wisdom
passes for "the wisdom of this world" (^ oofyia tov
Koofiov tovtov, i Cor. 1: 20; 3: 19), |}ut is distinctly
not "God's wisdom," "a wisdom not of this world"
(1 Cor. 2:6f.). "This wisdom" is not merely
"earthly," but does not come down from above
(ovk eonv avTTj i] aocpla dvudev KaTEpxofJ-Evri) » more ex-
actly "is not of a kind that cometh down" - (Hort),
not such a wisdom, indeed, as God gives (James
1: 5).1 It has the smell of earth in the evil sense
of that term. It is not from above, but in reality
from below. Jesus said to the Pharisees: "Ye are
from beneath ; I am from above : ye are of this world ;
I am not of this world" ('T^Eig ek t&v kcLto lark, eyco
ek tu)v dvcj elfii ■ v/ielc; ek tovtov tov itoofiov eote, sy<o ovk
slfil ek tov k6g\lov tovtov. John 8: 23). The antithe-
sis is complete both in origin and spirit. The axioms
1 It is terrena, not coelestis.
180 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
of the selfish, like "Look out for 'Number One,' "
are the wisdom of the devil: "All that a man hath
will he give for his life" (Job 2:4).
This selfish wisdom is merely that of the "natural
man" (tpvxiKij) , not a mark of the regenerate spirit.
There is no single English word that properly
renders this word. "Psychic" transliterates it, but
does not translate it. "Sensual" makes it too much
a matter of the body, as does "fleshly," like the
Vulgate animalis. It does not appear in the Septua-
gint and only six times in the New Testament
(James 3:15; Jude 19; 1 Cor. 2:19; i5:44bis> 46).
The broad distinction between soul and body or
mind and body (dichotomy) is not so hard to grasp,
but the threefold division (trichotomy) into spirit,
soul, and body (-nvev^a, -tyvxr\, ou)fj.a), as in 1 Thess.
5 : 23, seems to place the psuche below the pneutna.1
It seems clear from 1 Cor. 2: 14 that "the spiritual
man" (6 TTvevnaTatdg) is the regenerate man, while
"the natural man" (6 rfjvxatog) is the unregenerate
man, in his unsaved state of sin. So here, therefore,
this earthly wisdom is that of the unregenerate
man; it is not sanctified wisdom. He may not be
"carnal" (oaput ko<; ) , not the slave of the animal pas-
sions, but merely coldly unspiritual. Such a wisdom
does not reach the higher levels of the man's nature.
But it is still worse. Such a wisdom is "demonia-
cal" (Saifioviudiis) , "devilish" (diabolica, Vulgate), "in
that it raised up the very devil in the hearts of both
1 Cf . Jude 19, 4>vxmoi, nvrv/ia fiij ixovreg. See also I Cor. 15:45
for distinction between irvtvpa and fvxv, and between irvevfiaTtudv and
ifrvxil(6v.
THE TRUE WISE MAN 181
opposer and opposed" (Oesterley). It is wisdom
such as that which demons have (Bengel), not such
as God gives (1:5). It is the wisdom of those who
do the will of the flesh (Eph. 2 : 2f.), who follow the
teaching of demons (1 Tim. 4:1). One is reminded
of the words of Jesus in John 8 : 44 : "Ye are of your
father the devil." "Thus the wisdom shared by
demons answers to the faith shared by demons of
2: 19" (Hort), the tongue set on fire by hell (3:6).
It is indeed a keen knowledge of human nature that
James here reveals, but it is a sad indictment all the
same. It reads like nature in the rough, red in tooth
and claw, the law of the jungle, not the law of grace.
It is Nietzsche's superman, not the love that serves,
that came to minister, not to be ministered unto.
The might of right is not understood by those who
hold that might is right. There is a New Paganism
to-day in Berlin, in Paris, in London, in New York.
It is very subtle and very scornful of the pity of
Jesus. Red blood is a good thing, to be sure, so be
it that it courses through a clean heart. The sur-
vival of the fittest is the law of nature, but fittest
for what? The law of the wolves is to turn and
devour the wolf that falls in the chase. The philoso-
phy of Nietzsche is a bit more brutal in its plainness
of speech than the wisdom of the world usually puts
it. But even so, its demoniacal character stands out
more sharply. "I want"; therefore "I have the
right to get." This is the policy of aggression on
the part of nations and individuals, of rogues and
rapists, of grafters and white-slavers, of bank-looters
and oppressors of labor.
i82 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
The further comment of James elucidates his
point: "For where jealousy and faction are (cf. verse
14), there is confusion and every vile deed" (e««
dKaraoraoia kuX rcdv <pai>Xov npaypa) . Jealousy and fac-
tion come from the devil. He sows suspicion in the
churches, in the midst of families, in the hearts of
those who let him in. James had already (3 : 8)
accused the tongue of being a restless evil and (1:8)
had spoken of the unstable man. God is not the
God of confusion, but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33), so
that the factions in the churches cannot claim God
as supporting them any more than nations at war
have the right to make flippant claims that God is
on their side in a conflict. Oesterley has a fine
description of the spirit of the professional contro-
versialist: "Acute argument, subtle distinctions,
clever controversial methods which took small ac-
count of truth so long as a temporary point was
gained, skilful dialectics, bitter sarcasms, the more
enjoyed and triumphed in if the poisonous shaft
came home and rankled in the breast of the op-
ponent— in short, all those tricks of the unscru-
pulous controversialist, which are none the less
contemptible for being clever — this was wisdom of
a certain kind." But in reality it left the way open
for "every vile deed," for the word here for "vile"
(<pavXov) means "worthless," not "immoral." In the
realm of morals what is merely indifferent soon gets
to be bad. The Vulgate puts it omne opus pravum.
So in John 3 : 20 we read: "For every one that doeth
evil hateth light" (o -navXa -npdoouv fuoel to (pug).
Bugs and bats hate the light. There is a toboggan
THE TRUE WISE MAN 183
slide in sin. "The easy way" is the evil way. See
per contra James 1:17. Anarchy brings moral chaos
(Plummer) to the soul as to nations. The wiseacres
of the world play havoc with the souls and bodies of
men who follow their lead to hell. In every town
there is a bunch of men who cling together in their
evil life and profess a wisdom superior to that of
the gospel. They know it is a lie, but they comfort
each other and are too proud to break away from
the gang. But the end will come. There are no
happy old men save those that are Christians.
5. The Wisdom from Above. 3: 17.
There is wisdom from above (dvudev) , that is, from
God, as James had already said (1 : 5). This is the
true wisdom, God's wisdom both in source and
character. James had not, of course, seen Paul's
remarks on wisdom in 1 Cor. 1 and 2, if he wrote his
Epistle by A. D. 50. But he had full opportunity
to be familiar with Proverbs, the Wisdom of Jesus
the Son of Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon.
"For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth com-
eth knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 3:6).
"Wisdom may praise herself, and glory in the midst
of her people" (Sirach 24: 1). "For wisdom is more
mobile than any motion; and she also passeth and
goeth through all things by reason of her pureness.
For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure
effluence from the glory of the Almighty; therefore
no defiled thing falls into her. For she is a reflection
of the everlasting light, and an unspotted mirror of
the efficiency of God, and image of his goodness"
1 84 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
(Wisd. 7:24-26). Once more: "For she is more
beautiful than the sun, and above every position
of stars, being compared with the light, she is found
superior" (Wisd. 7:29). But, while James is un-
doubtedly conversant with the Wisdom literature of
the Jews, he is no mere copyist. He has the Chris-
tian standpoint and makes his own contribution to
the discussion of wisdom. His words are few, but
fit, and strike right to the heart of the subject.
It is "first pure" (npcoTov fiev ayvr\ kanv). Purity is
the inner characteristic of the wise. It (ayvog) is
pretty nearly like the Latin purus (pure) and means
not so much cleansed (/cadapog, cf. Matt. 5:8, "the
pure in heart") as a combination of this idea and
consecration as holiness (ay tog).1 It is thus free
from stain or defilement of any kind (not merely
sexual purity), like a ray of light, "in holiness and
sincerity of God" (ev dyiorijTi nai dXinoivia tov Oeov,
2 Cor. 1: 12). Christ himself is called pure (dyvog,
1 John 3:3), the ideal toward which we are to strive.
We must learn to put first things first. In wisdom
purity of character and motive is absolutely essen-
tial at any cost.
"Then peaceable" (enetra np^vLK-q). Important as
peace is, purity is paramount. Peaceableness is, to
be sure, the outer characteristic of wisdom, and, if
one has the bright light of inner wisdom, he will
1 The word ayv6q is common enough in the inscriptions for cere-
monial purity and also for ethical purity. It is applied to Athena
Polias, the "Blessed Virgin of Greek Religion" (Ditt., Syll., 36420).
tt)v ndr/nov ayvijv napOevov. See Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary,
P- 5-
THE TRUE WISE MAN 185
have it. But wisdom does not desire peace at any
price nor at the cost of purity. ''All her paths are
peace" (Prov. 3:17) and the chastening of God's
hand yields "peaceable fruit unto them that have
been exercised thereby" (Heb. 12:11). Plummer
wisely notes that the order of James here is logical
and not always strictly chronological. One is not
to compromise with evil and error, but all the same,
if one is to have no peace till he has absolute purity
of every sort in his environment, he must needs be
always at war and never rest at all. An equation of
common sense must, of course, be struck, though
there is the constant temptation to get used to un-
pleasant surroundings and finally to make no pro-
test at all. Plummer likewise observes that James
places the emphasis on the spiritual and moral, not
on the intellectual, just the opposite of modern
ideals of culture (Kultur) and education. There is
nothing in the position of James to justify the
Spanish Inquisition, for instance. The persecutor
has often consoled himself with the thought that he
is doing his victim's soul a real service by rescuing
him from his error. Certainly, if one is pure, it is
easier for him to be peaceable, provided he also loves.
"If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at
peace with all men" (Rom. 12 : 18). There is a great
deal in the New Testament on the subject of peace
(elpijvii). It is true that Jesus said: "I came not to
bring peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10: 34), when men
are wedded to sin and can only be shaken loose by the
sword of truth. But these are those who let the peace
of God rule in their hearts as umpire (Col. 3: 15).
186 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
We are to pursue the things of peace (rd r^ elpTjvrjs
dnl)KG)fiev, Rom. 14: 19) as men of peace, but not to be
afraid to stand up for truth and righteousness (pur-
ity) even if we have to fight.
Then "gentle" (emeucfjg) , "forbearing" (Hort).
The word is used by Thucydides (viii. 93) of men
who will listen to reason and (i. 76) of moderation,
like the Latin dementia. Originally the word meant
what was fitting, fair, reasonable (eUog), but it
was also associated with the idea of yielding (eikm),
"implying one who does not stand on his rights, but
is ready to give way to the wishes of others" (Mayor).
Matthew Arnold gathered the idea into his phrase
"sweet reasonableness." Aristotle (vi. 11) uses it of
the forgiving man, one who does not stand on strict
justice, but who listens to merciful consideration.
Certainly, gentleness is the true mark of the gentle-
man, who does not stickle over little points, who, in
a word, is considerate. The Christian wisdom,
therefore, does not like to give pain. Paul makes
an appeal "by the meekness and gentleness of
Christ" (Sid rr/g npavTTjTog nai kmeuciag rov Xqlotov,
2 Cor. 10:1). See also Acts 24:4; 1 Tim. 3:3;
Titus 3:2; 1 Pet. 2:18 (gentle masters); and, in
particular, Phil. 4:5: "Let your forbearance be
known unto all men." It means the very essence
of fairness as opposed to unreasonableness (Ps. of
Sol. 5 : 14). Cf. Paul's panegyric on love (1 Cor. 13).
It is also "easy to be entreated" (evneidrjg), "con-
ciliatory" (MofTatt). The word is a common one for
military discipline (4 Mace. 8:6; Jos. War ii. 20, 7),
though it does not occur elsewhere in the New Testa-
THE TRUE WISE MAN 187
ment. As gentle (bmeuefc) refers usually to one in a
superior position, so this word (eimei07fc) _s used
mainly of one in an inferior rank (Mayor). The
good soldier is the one who has learned how to
execute orders. Philo employs it as the opposite of
the disobedient (diryfffc). It is tractabilis, not
morosa. The Vulgate has suadibilis. It is a word in
common use about children, pupils, all who obey
laws. If preachers were always gentle, perhaps the
church-members would be more docile and teach-
able. This wisdom from above is suaviter in modo,
fortiter in re.
It is also "full of mercy and good fruits" {iieorrj
iXeovg nai Kapnuv ayaduv). This is just the reverse of
the party-feeling already condemned. Mercy is the
active principle of compassionate love. One may
note already 1:8, 27; 2:13 in contrast with 2:15.
This wisdom bears good ("wholesome," Moffatt)
fruits, not mere leaves (empty boasting). The
plural (fruits) shows that there is variety and abun-
dance for all. It is not satisfied with abstract
virtue, but wishes to bless others.
This wisdom is likewise "without variance" (ddta-
KQiToq), "unambiguous" (Moffatt). The word oc-
curs nowhere else in the New Testament and has
puzzled translators a great deal. It is rendered
"without wrangling," "without judging," "without
partiality," "without distinctions," "undoubted,"
"without feigning," "without doubtfulness," "unde-
cided," "unhesitating," "unwavering," "single-
minded." The Vulgate has non judicans. Some-
thing can be said for all these renderings. The
188 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
context must decide.1 If one considers the use of
the verb in James i : 6 ; 2:4, probably the idea of
decision is the true one here. It is whole-hearted
conviction, positiveness in adherence to the truth,
single-minded devotion rather than the wavering in-
decision of the false wisdom. It is Principal For-
syth's idea of "Positive Preaching" for the modern
mind.
It is finally "without hypocrisy" (awnoKpiTog) ,2
"straightforward" (Moffatt). Here there is no am-
biguity as to the import of the word. It is not the
hypocritical wisdom of earth, the spurious invita-
tion, but the genuine article. It is sincere, "without
show or pretence" (Mayor). The word is used of
love (Rom. 12:9; 2 Cor. 6: 6), of faith (1 Tim. 1:5),
of brotherly love (1 Pet. 1 : 22). The idea here con-
cerns our relations with men as the preceding ad-
jective outlined our attitude toward God (Hort).
This wisdom has the ring of pure gold and passes at
par value with all men. Surely such wisdom as this
will always be in demand by modern men who love
reality and hate pretence.
6. The Harvest of Righteousness. 3: 18.
In this verse James gathers up the sum and sub-
stance of all that he has had to say so far. He has
1 The verb Sia-KpLvo/iai means to distinguish, but the resultant
idea is very variable. Moulton and Milligan (Vocabulary, p. 9)
quote O. G. I. S. 509. 8 (ii/A. D.), ovAe tovto to pkpoq KarkXinov afii-
anpiTov.
2 The Vulgate has sine simulations Of course, vn6-Kpiroq is from
vno-Kpivopai, like vTro-Kp/rrfc, and is used of the actor's mask and then
for mere imitation, hypocrisy.
THE TRUE WISE MAN 189
just spoken of peace and of good fruits. He has,
been insisting on righteous deeds and not mere
words, upon a live faith, not a dead creed. "And
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them
that make peace" (icapndg di dutaioovvrjs kv sip^vy oirei-
gerai rolg noiovoiv elpfjvrjv). "And the peacemakers
who sow in peace reap righteousness" (Moffatt).
The fruit is righteousness (genitive of apposition).
The figure of sowing is common enough. It is the
slow process of soil, seed, plant, blossom, fruit, har-
vest. This is the life of piety (wisdom) that James
lays before his readers. The phraseology occurs
elsewhere (Psa. 1:3). Thus Prov. 11:30: "The
fruit of the righteous is a tree of life" (LXX has etc
Kapnov diKcuoovvrjc;) . So in Amos 6 : 2 we have "fruit
of righteousness." In the New Testament note
Phil. 1: 11, "filled with the fruit of righteousness,"
and Heb. 12: 11, "peaceable fruit" (leapndv elpqvtitov) .
There is a difficulty here in the fact that the "fruit"
instead of the "seed" is "sown" (oTTsiperac) . But
such a prolepsis of thought is not unknown, as in
Psa. 97 : 11 : "Light is sown for the righteous." The
sower sows in peace and the harvest of righteousness
is gathered in peace. The peace-maker has the
rainbow promise of his harvest in due time if he
faint not nor grow weary. "They who make peace
show likeness to God, the great maker of peace"
(Hort).
CHAPTER X
The Outer and the Inner Life. 4:1-12
Oesterley thinks it inconceivable that these verses
could have been addressed to Jewish churches at an
early date, while they were still in the fresh glow of
the new faith in Christ. He thinks that "these
verses reveal an appalling state of moral depravity
in these Diaspora congregations; strife, self-
indulgence, lust, murder, covetousness, adultery,
envy, pride and slander are rife; the conception of
the nature of prayer seems to have been altogether
wrong among these people, and they appear to be
given over wholly to a life of pleasure. It must
have been terrible for the writer to contemplate
such a sink of iniquity." Yes, but James does not
say that all the Christians were guilty of these sins.
It was bad enough in all conscience without over-
stating the situation. Besides, we have the state of
affairs in the church at Corinth to guide us as to the
possibility of sins in a young church, and the state of
affairs among the Galatian churches is not much
better (cf. "so soon departing"). Covetousness and
strife early appear in the church in Jerusalem, as we
know from Acts 4 and 5. Reaction comes only too
swiftly, as is noted after all great revivals, for in-
stance, the years following the late Welsh revival.
Within a year or two after Paul left Thessalonica
discipline is sorely needed in the church there, as we
180
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 191
know from 1 and 2 Thessalonians. The Gentile
world was given over to immorality of all sorts, and
Judaism was deadened with formalism. It was no
easy task to make real spiritual life grow in such an
atmosphere. And yet this is precisely what Chris-
tianity undertakes to do. Jesus came that men
might have life, spiritual vitality, and might have it
abundantly (John 10: 10; 20:31). James is chiefly
concerned that his readers may share in this new
life in Christ and may show the inner reality by the
outward expression. He never gets away from this
central conception of Christianity. The appearance
of sin in hideous forms among the followers of
Jesus stirs James to intense indignation. Mayor
notes that the severity of tone in this paragraph
is accented by the absence of "brothers" (&6eX<f>oi).
1. The Origin of War. 4: 1, 2a.
James makes frequent use of the rhetorical ques-
tion as here when he boldly demands the origin of
the strife among the churches of the Diaspora:
"Whence come wars and whence come fightings
among you?" (nodev iroXefioi Kai rrodev pdxcu tv v/twv;).
This use of question gives life to style and is the
mark of a good teacher. Note also the repetition of
"whence" (rrodev) which gives added piquancy. In
the Epistle of Clement of Rome (xlvi) to the Church
at Corinth (about A. D. 97) he seems to refer to this
passage in James where he asks: "Wherefore are
these strifes and wraths, and factions and divisions,
and war among you?" At bottom ecclesiastical
strife does not differ in origin and spirit from wars
I
192 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
between nations. Sometimes there is even more
bitterness. Certainly, no wars have been fiercer
than the so-called "religious" wars of history. It
does seem like irony that the Great War should
have come after so many years of growth of the
peace sentiment in the world. But Christianity is
on the side of peace and Christians must keep up
the fight for peace. The spirit of Jesus is in the
Lake Mohonk Peace Conference. Jesus left a legacy
of peace for individuals and for nations who win it
("My peace I give unto you," John 14: 27). There
has appeared one evidence of a better public opinion
in the fact that in the Great War now raging over
Europe and Asia each nation has sought to justify
itself in the eyes of the world as not the aggressor,
but on the defensive. This apology is some conces-
sion, at least, to enlightened Christian sentiment,
which will ultimately banish war from the earth
along with slavery, alcohol, the brothel, and other
agencies of the devil. Meanwhile, James occupies
the standpoint of the Christian optimist who fights
for the highest and the best. So Simon Peter: "Be-
loved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul" (1 Pet. 2:11). We need not press the dis-
tinction between "wars" (ndXefioi) and "fightings"
(fidxai), though the first means a state of war and
the lasting resentment connected with it, while the
second refers to battles or outbursts of passion
which occur during a state of war. James does not,
of course, here refer to wars between nations, but to
the factional bickerings in the churches, the personal
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 193
wrangles that embitter church life. "Among you"
(ev vfuv) , he adds, to drive the question home.
James answers his first question by a second.
"Come they not hence, even of your pleasures that
war in your members?" (ovk kvrevdev, en t£>v ydovtiv
bfiuv tg>v arpaTsvofjbivMv ev roig fieXeocv vfiojv;). James
sees an intimate connection between strife and
laxity of life. The case of the church at Corinth is
a point where factional divisions and gross immoral-
ity flourished together. Plato (Phaedo 66) says:
"Wars and factions, and fightings have no other
source than the body and its lusts. For it is for the
getting of wealth that all our wars arise, and we are
compelled to get wealth because of our body, to
whose service we are slaves." James and Plato
agree therefore in finding the origin of war in the
lusts of the body, but they differ in their opinion as
to how to treat the body. Plato exhorts neglect and
scorn of the body, while James urges the victory
of the spirit over the body. "Plato has no idea that
the body may be sanctified here and glorified here-
after; he regards it simply as a necessary evil, which
may be minimized by watchfulness, but which can
in no way be turned into a blessing" (Plummer).
The source of all war (private and public) is "the
pleasures {f\dov(bv) that war (orpaTevofievuv) in your
members."1 The same word for "war" between the
fleshly desires occurs in 1 Pet. 2: n and in Rom.
7 : 23 Paul uses it (avTiaTparevo/iEvov) of the conflict
1 Philo (M. 2, p. 205) traces all the tragic wars of Greeks and
Barbarians to one source {arrb pa? miyf/g), erudv/uiag fy xpT/fiaruv fj 66§ti(
194 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
between the two laws of his nature. The word for
"pleasure" does not necessarily mean sensual pleas-
ures (cf. emdvfiiai) , but what is sweet (^vg, rjdovrj)
and leads to sinful strife (like ambition, love of
money or of power) . In Titus 3 : 3 Paul combines
both words, "lusts and pleasures" (emdvpiaig Kai
■tjdovalt;) .* "The potential pleasure seated in each
member constitutes a hostile force, a foe lying in
ambush against which we have continually to be
on our guard" (Mayor). In the Letter of Aristeas
(cf. Swete, Introduction to the Old Testament in
Greek, p. 567) the question is asked: "Why do not
the majority of men receive virtue?" The answer is
given: "Because all are naturally without self-con-
trol and are bent on pleasures" (tnl ra$ r}dov&q). It
must be said that the philosophy of Hedonism in
this sense of the term has a powerful hold upon the
average man. Buddha said trouble came of desire.
It is not an inspiring picture that James here
draws, and one would like to believe that he has a
wider outlook than the Christian community when
he names this bill of particulars. "Ye lust, and
have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain:
ye fight and war" (imdvuelade, Kai ovk e^ere- <povevere
Kai ^rjXovre, Kai ov dvvaode kmrvxelv fidx^ode Kai iroXe-
fielTs). Here Westcott and Hort make a full stop in
their text, and this is probably correct. The pres-
ence of "kill" ((povevere) before "covet" (fyXovre)
gives a great deal of trouble to the commentators
who find it an anti-climax. Mayor urges the sub-
1 See both terms also in 4 Mace. 5 : 22, bore naoov t<jv i)6ovuv nat
iiudvfiiuv Kparriv. See al60 Philo, M. I, p. 445, i)fiovdl # intdvftiai.
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 195
stitution of "envy" (<pdoveZre) for "kill," but there is
no manuscript authority for it and the difficulty is
not really mended. Hort has the most probable
solution by this punctuation: "Ye covet, and have
not: ye commit murder. And ye envy, and cannot
attain: ye fight and war." At any rate, the humil-
iating fact remains that lust, covetousness, envy,
fighting, murder, are here charged against some of
the readers of the Epistle. It looks as if some of
them held to the view that they were entitled to all
that they could grasp, that Providence was on the
side of the heaviest battalions, that might consti-
tuted right. "Lust" {emdvueire) is here used in the
most general sense, like "covet." The failure to find
satisfaction (/e<u ovk exere) leads to jealousy (fyXovre),
fighting (fidxsads), war (noXefieire) , and even murder
((f>ovevsrs) . Covetousness leads to fights with indi-
viduals and nations. Lust in the narrow sense and
murder are common partners. The fight is on in
every man's life against all that is low and mean.
He can keep a pure life only by living the victorious
life. There is also the common oppression of the
poor by the greedy and grasping in all the ages.
"No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone
to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge"
(Deut. 24:6). So Sirach (34:21^) says: "He that
taketh away his neighbour's living slayeth him; and
he that defraudeth the labourer of his hire is a
blood-shedder." The opposite of all this pitiful
business is seen in the nobility of love as portrayed
in 1 Cor. 13.
196 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
2. Asking Amiss. 4: 2b, 3.
The latter part of verse 2 is a puzzle to the com-
mentators: "Ye have not, because ye ask not" (ovk
eX^re, Sect rd \ifi alrelodai v^iag). Oesterley (follow-
ing Carr) thinks that we have a string of poetical
quotations ("stromateis"), "not very skilfully strung
together." Mayor takes it as a mere repetition of
"ye lust and have not," and says "it is not a further
step." But surely James does not mean to say that
the one reason why the impulses to lust, covetous-
ness, envy, fighting, and murder are not gratified is
because men do not pray so as to carry their point
with God and man! That were to make prayer a
travesty and God a puppet of man's evil desires.
I must believe that this sentence belongs to verse 3
in thought and should be so punctuated. We must
always bear in mind that the original Greek text
had no punctuation and that we are at liberty to
punctuate de novo if the context demands it. There
is, no doubt, a backward look in "ye have not,"
verse 2, but in reality James here starts a new topic,
that of prayer. There is a delicate hint in the use
of the middle voice (alrelodai) here that they had not
put their hearts into their prayers.1 "Ye ask" with
1 See Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N. T. in the Light of
Historical Research, p. 805, for discussion of the distinction between
aircj and alnvfuu. The Schol. Aristoph. 15. 6 says: rd fiev alru to
an'Auq tyro, to (Se alrov/xai //d?' ineoiae. That is it exactly. In prayer
one must seek with passion. The Syro- Phoenician woman, pleading
for her daughter, said: "Lord, help me" (Matt. 15:25). So Herod
Antipas said to Salome: Alrr/adv /xe 6 iav dtXric, while she said to her
mother in eagerness and perplexity: Ti alr^ou/iai. Since the middle
denotes more earnestness, it is quite frequent in the papyri.
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 197
the mere form of words (ahelTe) and naturally "re-
ceive not" (ov Xafiftdvere) , "because ye ask amiss"
(Sioti KdKCog ahelode), "wrongly" (nanus), as in John
18:23. Their prayers are vitiated by the evil
purpose, "that ye may spend it in your pleasures"
(tva ev ralg jjdovalg daTravrjarjTe) , "with the wicked in-
tention of spending it on your pleasures" (Moffatt).
Even Epictetus (Cod. Vat. 3) says of the gods:
"And then shall they give to thee the good things
when thou rejoicest not in pleasure (Vovfl)> but in
virtue." How often we all miss it in prayer! We
ask for what we should not, staking our judgment
against that of God. We ask with a spirit of rebel-
lion and not of subjection to the will of God (4: 7).
We ask, not for the glory of God nor for the blessing
of others, but for the gratification of our own selfish
pleasures (ijdovat) even when the things asked for
are good in themselves. We may even get to the
point where we dare ask God for what is not good in
itself. "No asking from God which takes place in a
wrong frame of mind towards him or towards the
object asked has anything to do with prayer. It is
an evil asking" (Hort). God cannot be made a pri-
vate asset to further our own selfish interests or to
serve the wicked world (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4f.). "If we
ask (ahovixeda) anything according to his will, he
heareth us" (1 John 5: 14). The word in James for
"spend" (danavdw) means to "consume," to "waste,"
to "dissipate." It is used of the Prodigal Son who
"spent all" (Luke 15: 14). Prayer is probably the
poorest of all our spiritual exercises. It should be
the most constant and the most helpful. It calls
198 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
for searching of heart and all sincerity. It is right
and proper to pray for our daily bread (Matt. 6 : n),
provided we do our daily tasks so as to earn our
daily bread. God does not mean prayer to be a
substitute for work. Trust is not anxiety (Matt.
6:31), but it is also not presumption. The use of
the "name" of Jesus does not cause the door of
grace to spring open for us unless we put ourselves
under the rule of Jesus.
3. The Friendship of the World. 4:4.
The words "adulterers and" of the Authorized
Version are not genuine, occurring in late documents.
The sudden outburst, "ye adulteresses" (fioixaXiSeg) ,
"wanton creatures" (Moffatt), leaves one in doubt
whether James is singling out one special form of
sin so common in the world (Hort) or is using the
word in the figurative sense (Mayor) so frequent in
the Old Testament for the sin of idolatry (cf. Psa.
73: 27; Ezek. 23: 27; Hos. 2:2; Isa. 57). Jesus de-
nounced his age in Palestine as "an evil and adul-
terous generation" (Matt. 12:39). It will make
good sense with either interpretation. Oesterley ar-
gues that "the depraved state of morals to which
the whole section bears witness must, in part at
least, have been due to the wickedness and co-
operation of the women, so that there is nothing
strange in their being specifically mentioned in con-
nection with that form of sin with which they would
be more particularly associated." Such a sin ought
not, to be sure, to be found among Christians, but
1 Cor. 5 shows how early it appeared in the church
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 199
in Corinth, a peculiarly licentious city. The pres-
sure of the easy-going, laissez-faire life of the world
on this point is hard upon true Christians in all the
ages. It is not merely that a double standard of
morals is claimed by men of the world for them-
selves, though denied to their own wives, but they
are aggressive against the virtue of the daughters
and wives of other men. This age-long evil is con-
doned even by women of the world who are clean
themselves in a blind surrender to the fact that
men seem to be hopelessly evil and they let it go
at that. If the word "adulteresses" is here taken
literally, as is probable, James makes a bold appeal
to women of pleasure (rjdovj) to cease from sin and
to let God rule in their lives. It is surely worth
while to make such an appeal even to those who
seem to be hopelessly abandoned to the evil world.
But it is preeminently worth while to seek to warn
and to prevent from ruin the young men and women
of our day. The facts about this "Ancient Evil"
are presented with fearful plainness and power by
Miss Jane Addams from the standpoint of the "New
Conscience." At last American cities are seeing the
folly of calm acquiescence in the presence of this
monster evil which should be driven out with lash
and wjiip. "Know ye not" (ova oldare), says James
with neat, "that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God?" (on t\ <piXia rov koojxov l%^9a T("-'
deov kariv ;) Pastors sometimes find men and women
living in adultery and complacently keeping up their
church connections. James means to show the utter
inconsistency of such a course of conduct.
200 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
But, if "adulteresses" is taken in the figurative
sense, there is still the friendship of the world that
is enmity with God. The friendship of the world is
preferred to that of God. World (noa/iog)1 here is
riot the earth with all its beauty and charm (God's
world made by him. Cf. Psa. 19), nor mankind, for
whom Christ died (John 3: 16), but that world of
selfish pleasure and sin out of which Christ called
his disciples and which in turn hated them as it
hated Christ (John 15: i8ff.)- This "world" will
only love ((piXecS) as a familiar friend (faAog) those
who cater to its ideals and standards, who condone
its slackness of morals and neglect of God. This
cleavage between the wayward wicked world and
the kingdom of God is a fact of the utmost signifi-
cance (John 17: isff.). The Christian has to learn
the secret of living in such a worldly atmosphere
without being contaminated by it. One does not
wish to be considered a religious crank and queer.
He desires to have influence with his friends and
business acquaintances. But one cannot be a "hale
fellow well-met" in sin and every form of worldly
indulgence and retain his influence for God. The
time comes when a choice must be made between
friends, for that sort of life in the world becomes
incompatible with friendship with God. One must
1 The k.6o/iuq was originally "order." The order and beauty of
God's world are attractive to the right-minded man (Rom. 1:20).
It is applied to the people of the earth (John 1 : 29) and then to the
believers who are alienated from God (John 8:23; 12:31), this world
which the devil rules (John 14:30; 1 John 5:19), whose spirit is
hostile to that of Christ (1 Cor. 2:12), against which James has
already (1:25) warned his readers.
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 201
make his choice. "If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2: 15).
One cannot run with the hare and the hounds. The
devil makes no objection to such a double life of
hypocrisy, but God does. God is gracious and for-
giving to sinners who repent, but has no mercy for
presumptuous sinners who defy his kindness and
keep in touch with the devil and his circles of evil.
The word "enmity" (e%#pa) is the term for personal
hostility. Preference for sin constitutes a personal
offense towards God, who can have no rival any more
than a true wife can suffer a rival in the affections of
her husband. ' 'The mind of the flesh is enmity against
God" (Rom. 8:7).x One must make his choice.
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will
hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold
to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). Plummer argues
clearly that James does not condemn the scientist's
love of nature nor the sociologist's enthusiasm which,
forsooth, is not always shared in by preachers as
much as is desirable. Preaching often is so given to
denunciation of sin that it fails to exalt the possi-
bilities of the right sort of manhood. It thus repels
the very men that it wishes to attract. So far from
that, love for man is one of the main proofs of love
for God (1 John 4: 20). The passion for the souls
of men is the true mark of the redeemed. Paul
(Titus 2:12) urges that "denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts" (rag Ko<jfwca<; kmdvpicu), "we should
1 ex&pa e'ic deov. The objective genitive in James 4:4, Zx&Pa T°v
deov, has the same import.
202 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
live godly in this present world" (evoefius ^a^fxev ev
tw vvv aiuvi) or "age" more exactly. "Whosoever
therefore would be a friend of the world maketh
himself an enemy of God" (dg kdv ovv PovXrjdq <pilog
elvai tov tcoofiov, e^pof tov deov Kadio-arai), "who-
ever, then, chooses to be the world's friend turns
enemy to God" (Moffatt). One makes his choice
({iovXrjd^) as he is able to do by the exercise of his
own will and purpose (fiwX^). But, once and finally
made, he renders himself {Kadiararai) ipso facto an
enemy to God (expos' T0V deov). There is no help
for it so long as God is really the God of purity and
righteousness. Josephus calls Poppaea, the infamous
wife of Nero and proselyte to Judaism, a worshipper
of God {deooeftrjs, Ant. xx. 8. n), but surely such
"worship" was not acceptable to God. James (2 : 23)
has termed Abraham "the friend of God" (0<Aof
deov), but he entered into that relation to God on
terms of obedience to God as Lord. On no other
terms is friendship with God possible. It is not a
question of one's feelings, but of the actual state
of affairs. "To be on terms of friendship with the
world involves living on terms of enmity with God"
(Hort). The word "friendship" ((piXia) does not
itself occur elsewhere in the New Testament, though
it is found several times in Proverbs, but the words
"friend" (<f>iXog) and to "love as a friend" (<f>iXea)
are common enough. Gildersleeve (Justin Martyr,
p. 135) notes that Xenophon uses the two verbs for
love (dya-rrdcj and <piXe<o) as synonymous.1 But in the
1 He also remarks that ayan&u is a colder word than 0</*iw and is
more common in the N. T. to avoid the idea of kissing in Qitea.
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 203
New Testament there is a distinction drawn in
John 21: 15-17. The one (ayarmw) is the "deeper"
and richer word, while the other ((piXeo) is the "more
human" (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary of the
N. T., p. 2). Certainly, one has no right to claim
intimate family relationship with God as his friend
while at the same time living in adulterous relations
with the sinful world that hates God. The "seduc-
tions of the world" (Plummer) are very real and
very many, but surrender to them is not consonant
with the fellowship of God. The law of spiritual life
is not always understood. Some men wonder why
they are not spiritually happy, why they do not
enjoy religion. They are living in sin with the world
and yet marvel at their lack of communion with
God.
4. The Yearning of the Spirit for Us. 4 : 5f .
"Or think ye?" (rj 6oK,etre), says James, as the
alternative. Either the friendship of the world is
enmity with God or you think that "the Scripture
speaketh in vain" {kcvuh; fj ypacprj Acy«). "What, do
you consider this an idle word of Scripture?" (Mof-
fatt). This rhetorical question expects an indignant
denial. Therefore the argument holds that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God. But
what is the Scripture? Is it only the passage in
verse 6 that is referred to? The punctuation of the
Revised Version allows that. We have two ques-
Epictetus uses ayandu in the classical sense of "be content," but
once (Stob. 9) "in a sense approaching that of N. T. love" (Sharp,
Epictetus, and the N. T., p. 126).
204 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
tions before the one quotation. But it may be that
the general sense of Scripture is meant by the first
question. Usually "the Scripture" occurs before a
direct quotation, as in Rom. 4:3. Some would take
the rest of verse 5 after the first question as a quota-
tion, although no such quotation occurs in the Old
Testament. The general sense appears in various
parts of the Old Testament, as in Exod. 20:5: "I
am the Lord thy God, a jealous God" (dedg fyfayrrjs).
Cf. Isa. 63: 8-16; Zech. 8:2. Oesterley even sees a
direct allusion to Gal. 5: 17, 21; Rom. 8:6, 8; 1 Cor.
3:16, and an argument for the late date of the
Epistle of James. But this is forcing the matter
rather stiffly. The New Testament writers seem to
have used chains of quotations (catenae), as, for in-
stance, in Rom. 3: 10-18. Paul probably makes a
free paraphrase of Isa. 64 : 4 in 1 Cor. 2 : 9 and of
Isa. 60: 1, 2 in Eph. 5: 14. Either this is what is
done here or James is already referring to verse 6,
a quotation from Prov. 3:34.
It is not necessary to take the second sentence in
verse 5 as a question. We may follow the margin:
"The spirit which he made to dwell in us he yearneth
for even unto jealous envy," or "with jealousy doth
He yearn after the spirit which he caused to dwell
in us" (Hort), or "He yearns jealously for the spirit
he set within us" (Moffatt), (-n-pd^ <pdovov kmnodei to
TTvevfia 0 KdTtiKioev kv rjfilv). In one case (the ques-
tion) we take the Spirit as subject and as the Holy
Spirit. In the other case (the affirmation) we take
spirit as object and as our redeemed spirit planted
in us by God (cf. Rom. 8: 4-16 for both ideas). In
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 205
either rendering it is the Spirit of God (cf . Rom. 8 : 9)
who dwells in us and helps us strive against the evil
forces of the world in our own hearts. God has sent
forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts (Gal. 4:6),
who helps us in the fight with the flesh (Gal. 5:16-
26). It is the doctrine of the Indwelling Spirit of
God, a very precious doctrine in the New Testament
(John 7:39; 16:7; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; Gal.
4:6; Eph. 3:17; 4:30). The Spirit of God has
made his home (tcartiKicrev , from olnog and Kara) in
us. This is our glory and our hope. The word for
"yearn" (kmno&el) is a very strong one. It is the
verb in Psa. 42 : 1 (LXX) : "As the hart panteth
(kmnodti) after the water brooks, so panteth (iniTro-
del) my soul after thee, O God." Peter uses it of
the longing of new-born babes after the sincere milk
of the word (1 Pet. 2:2). So Paul yearns after
(tTTinodcd) the Philippians (Phil. 1:8). There are
many interpretations and many ways of punctuating
the words "unto jealous envy" or "with jealousy"
(npdg (pdovov) . We may not tarry over them. Prob-
ably the idea is that the Holy Spirit covets our
souls. He does not wish the devil to have us.
Usually this word for "jealous envy" ((pdovog) has
a bad sense, but the context here makes it clear.
God is a jealous God. He can brook no rival in
our hearts. God wishes the whole of our hearts'
love, not just a part. He claims the rights of a
loving husband to all our hearts' devotion. In our
hours of doubt and weakness "the Spirit himself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8: 26, vrrepevrvyxdvei arev-
206 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
ayiwlg dXaX^roig). We may thank God that he is a
jealous God for his people Israel. He broods over
his children with a mother's love and longing for
their growth and development.
"But he giveth more grace" (iiei&va 6e dlduoiv
X<*Plv), literally "greater grace," "yet he gives grace
more and more" (Moffatt). The words "giveth
grace" (didaoiv x^9lv) come from the quotation fol-
lowing (Prov. 3:34). The effect of this jealous
affection on God's part is not to abandon us, but to
heap more and richer favors upon us. God demands
of us whole-hearted surrender and service, but he
pours out the wealth of his love upon us. "God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the hum-
ble" (6 Oedg vnep7](pdvocg avTiTaooerac rarreivolg tie didu)-
olv %dpn>). This Septuagint quotation (see also
1 Pet. 5:5) is a free translation of the idea in the
Hebrew text. It is the striking figure of God stand-
ing in the way (avTirdooeTai) , across the path of the
proud man who carries his head so high above
others (vnepjj^avoc;) . He will in due time be brought
low. Pride goeth before a fall, for God is to be met
along that road. (Cf. Acts 18: 6; Rom. 13: 2.) The
man of the world feels no need of God and feels
secure and serene. But he reckons without his
host. God shows favor (diduoiv x^9lv) to the hum-
ble {ra-nELvolg. Cf. the contrast in 1:10). The
proud men think themselves the monopolists (Hort)
of divine favor, but they find out sooner or later
that they are passed by in favor of the man with
lowliness of spirit and nobility of life, who makes
God, not the world, the Lord of his life. This man
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 207
God honors with far more "grace" than the world
can offer. He will have trouble ("with persecu-
tions"), no doubt, but "he shall receive a hundred-
fold now in this time," while "in the world to come
eternal life" (Mark 10:29^.). The prince in God's
kingdom and at his court is not the man who
wears the trappings of earthly rank and station,
but the one who caught the spirit of Jesus and
sought to do good to all as he found opportunity.
Plummer wonders if James had not heard his
mother recite the Magnificat. Certainly, he here
echoes the same beautiful spirit.
5. Choice Between God and the Devil. 4:7, 8a.
It comes to this at bottom, that a man must de-
cide whether God is to rule his life or not. It is self
or God, and that is the same thing as the devil or
God, for a self without God is ruled by the devil.
"Be subject therefore unto God" [y-mordy^re. ovv tw
0£<3), since, as James has shown in verse 6, God gives
grace to the humble and withstands the proud.
The idea is like that in Psa. 3 : 7 (LXX) : "Be sub-
ject to the Lord" {v-noTdyqdi tw k,vqI(S). "The proud
spirit has to be curbed" (Oesterley). Peter has ex-
panded this idea in a great passage (1 Pet. 5: 6-9).
Our only hope is under the leadership of God. The
devil is the "prince of the world" (6 tov adaiiov dpx^v-
John 14:30), and he has plenty of help in the
world rulers of darkness (Eph. 6: uf.). The proud
and self-willed are sure to fall into his condemna-
tion (1 Tim. 3:6).
"But resist the devil" (dvTiarTjre de t<2 6ia(36Xu>).
208 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Take your stand (note the aorist tense) in the face
of (dvTi) the devil, the great hinderer and slanderer
(didftoXog). The fight is on between the forces of
God and Satan, and one must take sides. A man
once said that he wished to be impartial in the
struggle between God and the devil. That species
of liberality is out of the question. He that is not
with Christ is against him. There is no middle
ground. James does not stop to parley over the
existence of the devil. He assumes the reality of
the dread agent of evil who is bent on the destruc-
tion of all that is good in man. The point to see
clearly is that there is but one thing to do, and that
is to fight the devil, not with fire, but with the word
of God, with the help of the Spirit of God. "Get
thee hence, Satan," Jesus had to say (Matt. 4: 10).
"And he will flee from you" (/cat (pev^erat &$' vfiibv) .
The devil will run if we fight him with the might of
God. One way to submit to God is to fight off the
devil.
But it is not all negative. The converse is true
also. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh
to you" (tyy ioars tg5 6eS>, Kai kyyiaei vfilv). The He-
brew had a technical term for drawing nigh to God
for the purpose of worship (Exod. 19:22; Jer. 30:21).
It is not true that the devil is irresistible and that it
is useless to oppose him (Plummer). This is one of
the pleas of the devil himself to break down the
resisting power of the human will and so to take all
fight out of us. The principle that James here an-
nounces is true to Scripture, to psychology, and to
human experience. If we draw nigh to the devil he
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 209
will draw nigh to us. If we resist him he will flee
from us. If we resist God, even God will finally
depart from us and leave us to our sins. If we ap-
proach God in worship he opens his heart to us.
"Return unto me, and I will return unto you"
(Zech. 1:3). "To this end the Son of man was
manifested that he might destroy the works of the
devil" (1 John 3:8). "The Lord is nigh unto all
them that call upon him" (Psa. 145:18). God
first draws nigh unto us (John 16: 16) and when we
respond, lo, he is there before us. The place of
safety and of power for the Christian is the Throne
of Grace. There he has a mighty Friend and Helper
(Heb. 4: 16). We can draw close to God as a child
to his father in the dark and feel his Presence.
6. A Call to Repentance. 4: 8b-io.
Here James speaks like one of the Old Testament
prophets. His Epistle, while thoroughly Christian,
is yet nearer to the standpoint of the Old Testament
prophets than any other book in the New Testa-
ment. "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners" (Kadapioare
Xtigas, afiapTuXoi). The priests washed their hands
before they entered the tabernacle to worship (Exod.
30:19-21; Lev. 16:4). It was natural for the
language to be applied to moral purity: "I will wash
my hands in innocency: so will I compass thine
altar, 0 God" (Psa. 26:6). See also Heb. 10:22.
So Pilate sought to emphasize his own freedom (!)
from guilt by washing his hands (Matt. 27:4), if
by so doing he might also soothe his own conscience.
It is now as it has always been: "Who shall ascend
210 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
unto the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in
his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a
pure heart" (Psa. 24: 3L).
The clean hands signify little in a moral sense,
however desirable for sanitary and other reasons,
unless the heart is also clean. Indeed, the Pharisees
came to make the cleansing of the hands a sub-
stitute for moral cleanness (Mark 7 : 8ff.). "Purify
your hearts, ye double-minded" (dyvloare mpSla^,
dtyvxoi). The word for purification here is the
common one for ceremonial cleansing (Exod. 19: 10),
but the idea is figurative, as in 1 Pet. 1:22 and
1 John 3:3. James seems to refer to Psa. 73: 13:
"Wash you, make you clean" (Xovoaade icadapoi yiv-
eade, Isa. 1:16). The double-minded (dtyvxoc Cf.
James 1 : 8) must no longer halt between two opinions.
They must forsake the world and give God the
whole heart. It is a brave word for reality in re-
ligion and against the hollow mockery of mere lip
service.
In verse 9 we have a rather unusual exhortation
for the New Testament. The word for repentance
(fierdvoLa) does not mean sorrow, but change of mind
and life. The need for a change implies sorrow for
the sins of one's life, to be sure. But one may have
sorrow and still not change his heart and life. The
thing that counts is the change, not the degree of the
sorrow. But, certainly, sorrow for sin is appropriate
and natural for the sinner who turns away from it.
There is certainly room for the appeal to "be
afflicted and mourn and weep" (raXanrupiioaTs nai
TTU'drjoare nai tcXavoare, all aorists with a note of
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 211
urgency in the tense). One is reminded of the "woe"
of Jesus in Luke 6: 25. We have here a call to the
godly sorrow described in 2 Cor. 7: 10. There is a
time to laugh and a time to mourn ; yes, and a time for
laughter to be turned dteTarpan^ro)) to mourning and
even for joy to be turned into heaviness (tcar^etav),1
like the poor publican with downcast eyes in the
temple before God (Luke 18: 13). "The words ex-
press the contrast between the loud unseemly gaiety
of the pleasure-seeker, and the subdued mien and
downcast look of the penitent" (Oesterley).
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord"
(raTTeLvd)di]Te kv&mov Kvglov). This is the only proper
attitude for the sinner, whether saved or unsaved.
See the same figure in 1 Pet. 5:6. The proud Phari-
see in Luke 18: 11 is the picture of all that worship
should not be.
"And he shall exalt you" (W mpuaet vfidg). This is
the law of grace, as is often stated by Jesus: "Every
one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Matt.
23: 12; Luke 14: 11). But the man that humbles
himself before the eye of (evumov) the Lord must
do so because of real apprehension of his own sin
and need of forgiveness, not for the purpose of
future exaltation to be obtained by momentary self-
abnegation. The delicate balance of motives here is
preserved. The promise will come true, if only one
1 See again Luke 6:25. Better mourn now than always here-
after. Karf/Qeia is a classical word that occurs here only in the
N. T. It expresses the look of one who has his eyes down upon
the ground.
212 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
really turns to the Lord with sincerity of heart.
Nothing is more needed to-day than just this pros-
tration before God.
7. Captious Criticism. 4: uf.
Moffatt places these verses just after 2: 13, since
this "seems to have been its original place." This
is the position also given by Oesterley. And yet it
is quite possible that James here merely recurs to
the subject of the loose tongue, as he had already
done once (cf. 1 : 26 ; 3 : 2ff.). See also 5:12. He has
"one word more" on this burning topic, a sort of
postscript on the tongue, an extremely difficult sub-
ject to say the last word about. "Speak not against
one another, brethren" (fir} KaraXaXelre dXX^Xojv, ddeX-
(poi). The tense of the verb (present durative) im-
plies that some of them had been doing precisely
this thing. It is so easy to "talk down on one"
(/cara/laAwv) , to act as critic (itpivuv, cf. Matt. 7:1)
of one's brother in Christ. We cannot help form-
ing opinions of each other, but we can avoid
captious criticism, sharp and needless censure.
The point made by James is that this habit
assumes the right to judge the very law of God.
It is far easier to play the part of critic (/tpmfr)
of the law than to be a doer (tto^t^) of the law.
J Destructive criticism is always the cheaper exercise
and the more useless. Constructive criticism is more
creative and much harder. There is one supreme
lawgiver {vo^oO^t^) and judge, "he who is able to
save and destroy" (6 dwdfievos ouocu itai d-noXvoai).
This power belongs to God, the Creator (Matt.
THE OUTER AND THE INNER LIFE 213
10: 28; Luke 6:9), not to man, the creature. The
critic of the law prefers to find flaws in the law
rather than to undertake to obey it. He assumes
that he can enact a better law, but it is all assump-
tion. James shows his impatience with such criti-
cism by saying: "But who art thou that judgest thy
neighbor?" (oi> 6i Tt$- el, 6 icpiviov rov TrXr)oiov). See
Rom. 14:4. In common law we are to give every
man the benefit of the doubt and to assume his
innocence till his guilt is proven. But in current
speech the sharp tongue follows no such rule of
reason, but creates suspicion and sows hate and
strife at every turn.
CHAPTER XI
God and Business. 4:13-5:6
The arrogance of the sinful heart is clearly shown
here. Such a heart prefers worldliness to the
worship of God (see 4: 1-10) and flippantly criti-
cises one's neighbors with light-hearted satisfaction
with self and a positive love of fault-finding (4:1 if).
This easy arrogance faces the future with unconcern.
No look Godward is taken in their business ventures.
James "opposes the irreligious sense of travelling
merchants" (Windisch)1. These Jews of the Dia-
spora had come to have a considerable part of the
business of the Roman Empire. They professed
to be servants of God, but in practice they often
denied and ignored the God of their fathers.
/. Leaving God out of Account. 4: 13-15.
One may hope that James alludes to the Jewish
merchants, not Jewish Christians. Certainly those
Jewish merchants who became Christians con-
tinued their business, though not in a Godless fash-
ion. The merchant has one of the most useful and
most honorable of all callings, but it seems clear
that some of the Jewish merchants had already
brought disfavor upon the business by their sharp
practices. See Sirach 26:29. "A merchant will
hardly keep himself from doing wrong; and a huck-
1 Wider den irreligiosen Sinn der Geschaftsrciscnden.
214
GOD AND BUSINESS 215
ster will not be declared free from sin." This piece
of moralizing is evidently occasioned by some tricks
in trade indulged in by Jewish merchants. One is
bound to admit that some modern Jews retain some
of the same reputation in certain lines of trade.
The very term "Jewing" in current use is an illus-
tration of this trait. There were then as now enough
Jewish merchants who dealt in business on un-
ethical lines to create suspicion. But the point that
James makes is a peril to Christian merchants also.
The keen competition in all kinds of business is a
constant temptation to violate the Golden Rule and
to ignore God as well as the welfare of one's cus-
tomers in order to make money and to meet a rival
who is unscrupulous in trade. The Christian
drummer to-day can do business on a high plane.
Hustle and enterprise need not condescend to under-
hand methods. It is a pleasure to note the activity
of the Gideons, an organization of Christian drum-
mers who, among other useful things, have placed
copies of the Bible in the rooms of most American
hotels. Mr. J. H. Mills, a quaint layman of North
Carolina, used to say that the Good Samaritan was
a drummer. In Palestine the Jews held on to the
agricultural life, but in the Diaspora they were
merchants and bankers. Philo (In Flaccum VIII)
gives a picture of the Jewish merchants and bankers
in Alexandria. Josephus (Ant. XII, 2-5) alludes
to the Jewish travelling merchant about B. C. 175.
It is one of the wonders of history how the Jews,
scattered over the world, finally without a land of
their own, have yet by their wits maintained them-
2i6 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
selves as a race and a religion and have been leaders
in business, in art, in music, in politics, in literature.
"Come now, ye that say" (aye vvv ol XeyovregY is
the impatient challenge of James to those who leave
God out of account in their plans for the future.
The tone of impatience is due to the conviction
that one should be so conscious of his own weakness
as not to boast about the future. "To-day or to-
morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year
there, and trade, and get gain" (a^epov r\ avpiov ttoqev-
odfieda elg T7\v6*t tt\v ttoXlv nai ttoijJoo/iev kicei kviavrbv nai
kfiTTopevooneda nai Kepdrjoonev). And then we shall
move on to the next town and work that with our
wares, for all the world like a modern "fire sale" or
second-hand clothing store with its bankruptcy or
fire features. The picture is drawn from life. The
use of "this city" (rqvde rrjv TToXiv) is merely typical,
as if James were pointing it out on the map
(Mayor), and is more vivid than "such and such a
city." In James 1:11 we read that the rich man
shall "fade away in his goings" • (h ralg Tropeiaig), an
allusion to the travels of the rich merchants. We
see the rapid movements of the Jewish Christians
illustrated by the travels of Aquila and Priscilla,
who come from Rome to Corinth (Acts 18 : if .), then
to Ephesus (18:18), to Rome again (Rom. 16:3),
and back to Ephesus (2 Tim. 4:19)- The phrase
"spend a year there" {ttoit\oo\izv IkeI hviavrov) is liter-
1 The use of aye with ol teyovres causes no trouble as aye is a mere
interjection. See Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N. T. in the
Light of Hist. Research, pp. 941, 949- It occurs thus in the LXX.
Cf. Judg. 19:6; 2 Kings 4:24.
GOD AND BUSINESS 217
ally "do a year there," and the idiom occurs also
in Acts 15:33; 20:3 (cf. Prov. 13:23). The wide
dispersion of the Jews all over the Roman Em-
pire gave them business connections that made
it easy to get new business and to hold the old
trade. The very word here for "trade" (e^Tcopevao-
fieda) means to travel into (k[j,nopEvo[Mii) a region to
get (the business just like a modern drummer
or commercial traveller. Our word emporium (eju-
■noQiov) is just this word. The Jews made the very
Temple itself "a house of merchandise" {olnov
kfiTTopiov) . So then trading implied travelling for the
business (Matt. 22:5). In 2 Pet. 2:3a sombre light
is thrown by this same word. "And in covetous-
ness shall they with feigned words make merchan-
dise of you" (y^idg kunopevoovTcu) .* "And get gain"
{ical Kepd^oofiev) . This is the climax of the whole,
the aim of the journeys and the trading. "The
frequent conjunctions separate the different items of
the plan, which are rehearsed thus one by one with
manifest satisfaction. The speakers gloat over the
different steps of the programme which they have
arranged for themselves" (Plummer). There is no
harm in planning to make money nor in travel for
that purpose. The harm lies in the complete
ignoring of God in all their plans.
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the mor-
row" (oiTiveg T?ig avpiov),2 "you who know nothing
1 Transitive use of the verb.
2 Note the causal use of oinveec, not indefinite, but more definite.
Westcott and Hort read ra ttjq avpiov in the margin, "the things of
the to-morrow day" (w^paf, understood).
218 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
about to-morrow" (Moffatt). James has ample
authority in this statement. "Boast not thyself
of to-morrow ; for thou knowest not what a day may
bring forth" (Prov. 27 : i).1 The prohibition implies
a carelessness about the future that grew out of
indifference to God. There is a rabbinical saying
(Sanhed. 100b) to this effect. "Care not for the
morrow, for ye know not what a day may bring
forth." James is condemning those who make
their plans for the future with God left out of the
problem, as if all were in their own hands. Jesus
spoke the wonderful parable of the Rich Fool for
the benefit of two brothers who were quarrelling
over the estate: "Soul, thou hast much goods laid
up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be
merry." This was the worldly-wise view of the
Cyrenaics and the Epicureans and is the standpoint
of multitudes of modern men who under the influence
of Monism (like Haeckel) deny the existence of a
personal God or who act as if there were no God.
"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."
(Psa. 14: 1). But God replies to the fool, "Thou
foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee;
and the things which thou hast prepared, whose
shall they be?" Jesus does not contradict this
position when he says: "Be not therefore anxious
(nepifivrjariTe) for the morrow; for the morrow will
be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof" (Matt. 6: 34). He is here condemning
over-anxiety that is as distrustful of God as reckless
unconcern. There is the golden mean of calm
1 jiij Kavxu ra fJf avpuw, oil yap yivucneiq ri litjerai /) kniovoa.
GOD AND BUSINESS 219
trust in God. We are not to live at haphazard
without plan or purpose. We are to make plans,
only we must put God into our preparations. It is
cowardly to be superstitious in the anticipation of
evil. Same people knock on wood if they happen
to boast a bit. Others are superstitious about the
number thirteen, about Friday, about the moon,
and a hundred other hallucinations. The point
with these Jews is not worry or superstition,
but irreligion. There are multitudes of practical
pagans to-day who reck not about God, who fear
not God nor regard man. They carry on their
business with no thought of God and no fear of
consequences for their evil practices. They wreck
a bank or a railroad with equal nonchalance and care
not for the suffering in the homes of the poor caused
thereby.
As a matter of fact we are ignorant of the morrow.
We do not know the weather of the morrow with
certainty in spite of our signal service. Many rail-
road accidents are due to the unknown elements in
the problems of travel. A faulty rail, a broken tie,
a weakened wheel, a rolling stone, a careless brake-
man, a sleeping switchman, a malicious robber, a
hundred and one things may happen, any one of
which will cause death to helpless victims. "The
best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley."
The uncertainty of life is one of the things that a
wise man must consider and face. A clot of blood
on the brain may cause instant and unexpected
death. The heart, driven too hard, may suddenly
cease to beat. "What is your life?" (noia ?? £<u^
220 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
vfitiv;). He does not mean manner of life (frog)
nor the life principle nor eternal life. The question
concerns all, the good and the wicked alike. The
question as to the character (noia, of what sort) of
life pertains to its brevity and uncertainty on earth.
"For ye are a vapor" (ar/tig ydp eare), "you are but
a mist" (Moffatt). The word is common for smoke,
as the "smoke of furnace" (Gen. 19: 28), "vapor of
smoke" (arfiig kcittvov, Acts 2:19; from Joel 2:30),
steam or breath. So our "atmosphere." Job la-
mented (7:7): "O remember that my life is a
breath" {-nvevjia iiov % &rj). We are a vapor "that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away" (irpog oXlyov (paivofitvr), eneira icai a<pavi£oiievij) .l
Aristotle (Hist. An. vi. 7) uses these two verbs of
the appearance (<j>aivETai) and the disappearance
(acpavifrTai) of a flock of birds as they sweep across
the sky. The usage occurs also of the eclipse of the
"sun. The transitoriness of human life should lead
to full and hearty recognition of God, not to careless
slighting of Him.
"For that ye ought to say," more exactly "In-
stead of your saying" {avri tow Xiyuv v/idg),2 "If
the Lord will" (kdv 6 Kvpiog deXxi) "we shall both
live, and do this or that" (nai tfoonev ml noirioofiev
tovto ij eKslvo). James does not, of course, mean
that one should always say these words. That
gets to be cant or mere clap-trap. It becomes
1 Note the play on the same verb here. For ""/oof bliyov, see
1 Tim. 4:8.
2 A neat Greek idiom, the preposition with the infinitive. Cf.
Psa. 108:4, ovrl tov ayanav fit.
GOD AND BUSINESS 221
repellent to hear one use the name of God flippantly
and constantly. Besides, it comes to signify little
or nothing, as one may count his beads or say his
Pater Nosters with no regard to what he is doing.
The Jews made a point not to use the name of God
too familiarly. They often used "the Name" for
God, and Christians came to refer to Christ in the
same way, "for the Name" (Acts 5:41). The late
Jews came, perhaps under Mohammedan influence,
to use the formula "If the Name wills," when about
to start upon a journey (Oesterley). The rabbis
(Plummer) have a story of a Jewish father who at
the circumcision of his son, boasted that with seven-
year-old wine he would celebrate for a long time the
birth of his son, That night Rabbi Simeon meets
the Angel of Death and asks him "Why art thou
thus wandering about?" The angel replies: "Be-
cause I slay those who say, we will do this or that,
and think not how soon death may come upon
them." The thing that matters is for us to have
the right attitude of heart toward God, not the
chattering of a formula. God does not have to be
propitiated by a charm or amulet. God should be
the silent partner in all our plans and work, to be
consulted, to be followed whenever his will is made
known. Paul frequently spoke of his plans, some-
times mentioning God as in Acts 18:21 (God willing,
roi) Oeov dekovro^) and 1 Cor. 4: 19 (if the Lord will,
eav 6 Kvpiog OeXTjoq) and 1 Cor. 16:7 (if the Lord per-
mit, kav b KvpLog smTpe-ny), but also with no mention of
God in words as in Acts 19: 21 ; Rom. 15 : 28; 1 Cor.
16:5. But always Paul felt that his movements
222 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
were "in the Lord" (ev ™ Kvpiu) &s in Phil. 2: 24.
He never left God out of his life.
2. Conscious Opposition. 4: 16.
It is bad enough to ignore God as so many men,
alas, do. A slight is almost as hard to bear as an
insult, but not quite. However, a positive refusal
to do God's known will is worse. "But now"
(vvv 6e), as is really the case (cf. 1 Cor. 14: 6), "But
here you are" (Moffatt), instead of your trust in
God, "ye glory in your vauntings" (Kavxdade kv ralg
aXa&viaiq vfitbv). In their pride of life (7/ aXafrvia rov
fliov, 1 John 2:16) they practically defied God.
The word (aXa&v) meant originally a wanderer
(dXrf) about the country, a vagabond, a Scotch
landlouper, a swaggerer, an impostor, a braggart.
In Job 2 : 8 we find the "children of pride" (viol
aXa&viov). "And I exalted not myself in arrogance"1
(Test. Joseph XVII, 8). And Jesus said: "I am
among you as one that serveth" (Luke 22:27).
These men were exalting themselves at the expense
of God. They were running against the known
will of God. One of the rabbis says: "It is revealed
and known before Thee that our will is to do Thy
will" (Berachoth, 17a). "All such glorying is evil"
(naoa KavxrjaK; roiavrrj Trovqod kortv), says James. It
is not wicked (irovr\od) per se to boast (cf. 1:9), but
such boasting as this is wicked and only wicked
like the wicked one (6 irov^oog) . It is not impossible
to know the will of God if one will pay the price.
"If any man willeth to do (deXy noielv) his will,
1 kv a?.a{uvip.
GOD AND BUSINESS 223
he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God"
(John 7 : 17). The way opens out to the one who
is willing to put God to the test. "The boaster
forgets that life depends on the will of God"
(Mayor).
3. Negative Sin. 4:17.
In a way this verse is a summary of the entire
epistle (cf. 1:22; 2:14; 3:1, 13; 4:11). Hence
James' "therefore" (ovv) is quite in point. Moffatt
places this verse at the end of chapter 2. Spitta,
however, finds no connection in the context and takes
it as a familiar quotation. This may indeed be a
reference to the words of Jesus in Luke 12 : 47 : "That
servant, who knew his lord's will, and made not
ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes." There is an excusable ignor-
ance or at least a mollifying ignorance (cf. Luke
12:48; Acts 3: 17; 1 Tim. 1: 13). There is pallia-
tion for unconscious sins. But James is dealing
with failure to obey the will of God. It is conscious
and wilful sin, but of the negative kind. These sins
of omission (peccata omission-is) are treated lightly
by many people. The Talmud in general takes
this easy position on the subject. Oesterley quotes
the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma viii, 6) on Zeph. 1 : 12 :
"I will search Jerusalem with candles, and I will
punish the men" which adds: "not by daylight, nor
with the torch, but with candles, so as not to detect
venial sins." But he adds also this (Shabbath, 54b) :
"Whosoever is in a position to prevent sins being
committed in his household, but refrains from doing
224 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
so, becomes liable for their sins." And in i Sam.
12 : 23 we read, "God forbid that I should sin against
the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." Jesus made
it plain that he considered sins of omission as real
sins: "These things ought ye to have done, and
not to have left the other undone" (Matt. 23: 23).
Hear his tragic words to the deluded sinner at the
judgment bar: "I was hungry, and ye did not
give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in;
naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison,
and ye visited me not" (Matt. 25: 42!). The
repetition of "not" here is like the tolling of a
bell. Hear then James: "To him therefore that
knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him
it is sin" (elSon ovv naXbv txoleIv icai fifj itoiovvti, a\iaoria
avru) konv). So also Paul urged the Galatians not
to grow weary in doing the good or beautiful (Gal.
6:9, to KaXbv ttoiovvtes) . It is so easy to shut one's
eyes and not to see the opportunities for service.
It is so easy to let prejudice blind us to the needs of
the real neighbor, as the priest and the Levite passed
by on the other side {avTL-naoriXdev) and left the poor
wounded man to suffer (Luke 10: 3 if.). The point
that James is anxious to make is that this blindness
is sin. The man who has learned how to do the high
and noble deed and then falls short has committed
a sin. It is a heavy indictment that is here drawn
against us. We are charged with not coming up
to the standard of our highest knowledge. Plum-
mer comments pertinently on the Roman Catholic
doctrine of Probabilism which seeks to excuse the
\y
GOD AND BUSINESS 225
weakness of the flesh and to justify one in his pre-
ference of the lower in the presence of the higher.
"So long as it is not certain that the act in question
is forbidden it may be permitted." Plummer adds:
"The moral law is not so much explained as ex-
plained away." Alphonse de Sarasa wrote on "The
Art of Perpetual Enjoyment" (Ars Semper Gaudendi),
a piece of special pleading for the indulgence of the
flesh. "The good is the enemy of the best," and the
bad is the enemy of the good. Down the steps we
go to the bottom of the ladder.
4. Tainted Wealth. 5: 1-3.
Oesterley finds proof of the "patchwork" character
of the Epistle in the five paragraphs of the closing
chapter. But in a "wisdom" book one does not
expect direct connection between the paragraphs.
That is not true of the practical portions of the
Pauline Epistles. In the first eleven verses of this
chapter the eschatological standpoint is occupied,
possibly that of Jewish eschatology in 1-6 and that
of Christian eschatology in 7-1 1 (Oesterley). Note
"in the last days" in verse 3. James is familiar with
the prophetic imagery of the Messianic times in
apocalyptic style, but very pointed in his courageous
indictment of the follies and iniquities of the wicked
rich. Johnstone entitles this paragraph "the woes
of the wicked rich." Mayor says: "It is not the
careless worldliness of the bustling trader which is
condemned, but the more deadly worldliness of the
unjust capitalist or landlord." In verse 7 James
seems to contrast "the brethren" with the rich of
226 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
verses 1-6. It is worth while to quote Isa. 33:1:
"Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not
spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt
not treacherously with thee! When thou hast
ceased to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when
thou hast made an end to deal treacherously, they
shall deal treacherously with thee." And Hab. 2:9:
"Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house,
that he may set his nest on high, that he may be
delivered from the hand of evil." Note also the
Book of Enoch 94: 7 : "Woe to those that build their
houses with sin" ; 96 : 8, "Woe unto you mighty who
violently oppress the righteous, for the day of your
destruction will come." Perhaps there is an allu-
sion to the words of Jesus against the Pharisees
(Matt. 23: 13-36). The Gospel of Luke is held by
some to have an Ebionitic tendency because it
preserves some plain words of Jesus to and about
the rich (6:24; 18:24). But Jesus is not hostile
towards the rich, for he had friends and followers
from the wealthy classes, though he dealt very
squarely and honestly with them. Some Jews held
that all the rich were wicked as some modern
socialists and anarchists do. But certainly Jesus
did not fawn upon the rich nor curry favor with
them by flattery or compromise. It is easy to de-
nounce classes of men en masse. It requires per-
spicacity and courage to discriminate, to be just,
and to seek to remedy real ills. The rich Jews had
already oppressed the Christians and made the
conditions of life hard.
The Christians were helpless for any immediate
GOD AND BUSINESS 227
relief. They had little or no power in government
and had to live in the social and economic atmos-
phere created by those hostile to them. It was not
a democratic, but an imperialistic age. In holding
out the consolation that rectification of these grave
evils will come at the second coming of Christ,
James does not mean to condone the present situa-
tion nor to acquiesce in it. But what cannot be
cured can be endured. Christianity has had a long
and hard fight in the effort to alleviate the sufferings
of the poor. Ofttimes grasping men of money have
used the very church itself as a means of oppression
instead of an agent of blessing. It is a sad state
when men and women with real social wrongs come
to feel that Christianity is a negative factor in their
struggle or a positive hindrance to success. James
turns upon these oppressors: "Come now, ye rich,
weep and howl for your miseries that are coming
upon you." This "come now" (dye vvv) is like that
in 4: 13. "Weep and shriek" (icXavoaTe bXoXv^ovreg) ,
Moffatt has it. The word (dXoXvfa) is an onomato-
poetic word and is used only of violent grief as in
Isa. 13:6; 14:31. It does not occur elsewhere in
the New Testament. The apocalyptic writings have
a good deal to say about the "miseries" (raXanrojpiaig)
"that were coming" (ralg tTregxo^vaig) upon them
(cf. Joel 2:ioff.; Zech. i4:6ff.; Dan. 12:1). The
gospels connect them also with the Day of the
Lord (Matt. 24: 25; Mark 13: 14-27; Luke 21:9-19).
Part of the gospel prophecies were fulfilled in the
destruction of Jerusalem.
"Your riches are corrupted" (6 ttXovto? v/lmv
228 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
oeo-qnev),1 "your wealth lies rotting" (Moffatt). The
perfect tense presents the state of rottenness. This
ill-gotten gain will not keep. It is already putrid
and smells to heaven. There is such a thing as
tainted money, blood-money wrung from the op-
pressed toilers, money gained by financial legerde-
main ("high finance") at the expense of helpless
stockholders whose stock is watered for the benefit
of the few in control; money made out of the souls
and bodies of men and women in the saloon and the
white slave traffic. The ethics of money -making is
a large question and a vital one in modern life. It is
raised in an acute form by this passage. Christians
cannot afford to make money by crushing the life
out of business rivals on the juggernaut principle.
The Golden Rule ought to work in business. Christ
claims control of the money and the making of
money. The Christian is disloyal to Christ who
acts on what Rev. John A. Hutton calls the "bulk-
head" or compartment principle of life and keeps
his money in a separate bulkhead into which he
does not allow Christ to enter. Christ claims the
right of a partner in our business, and not that of a
silent partner, but an active one. We are in busi-
ness with Christ and for Christ. The Christian has
no right to have rotten riches. He should have clean
money, not filthy lucre. Sound money is more than
mere phrase. Money represents labor and labor
1 In Epictetus (see Sharp, Epictetus and the N. T., pp. 57f.)
oairpdq has the weaker sense of "poor," like the use of "rotten" in
England. In P. Brit. M. 356 (i/A. D.) "art aan^bv avry ihvvai, the
idea of aa-p6v is "stale."
GOD AND BUSINESS 229
is the sweat of brain and brawn. The gambler
cannot offer clean money to God. He has robbed a
man of his money.
"Your garments are moth-eaten" (to ifidna v/jubv
ff7/r6/3pwra yiyovev). We have the prophetic perfect
here and James sees the outcome as a reality in a
state of completion. It is a vivid picture of fine
clothes eaten by moths and full of holes, ruined
beyond repair. In the east these rich garments
were handed down as heirlooms from generation
to generation and often formed a considerable part
of the wealth of a rich man. Paul refers to this
when he said: "I coveted no man's silver, or gold,
or apparel" (Acts 20:33). The picture of an old
moth-eaten garment is forlorn in the extreme.
"Though I am like a rotten thing that consumeth,
like a garment that is moth-eaten" (Job 13:28).
A plutocrat is subject to the fate of all mortals.
"Your gold and your silver are rusted" (6 %Qva°S
v[i<bv Kai b dgyvpos Kariuyrai)1, "lie rusted over" (Mof-
fatt). As a matter of fact gold does not rust
in the ordinary sense, except by chemicals, though
silver tarnishes rather easily. However, this verb
(Kanou) is used in Sirach 1 2 : 1 1 of a mirror dimmed
with rust, but the Hebrew word is used also of filth.
A dirty mirror is one of the ugliest sights. James
is using popular language, to be sure, and is not to
be held to the terminology of science. But scientists
themselves hardly know how to use language ac-
curately since radium is found to break down the
1 The Pindaric construction occurs with this singular verb {xari.
urai).
23o PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
lines between metals and transmutation (according
to Sir William Ramsay) actually occurs like the
alchemy of the ancients. In James 3 : 8 this word
for "rust" (log) is used for poison. At any rate,
there rests decay on all mortal things. It is not
necessary to wait for the Day of the Lord to see
this fact. "Their rust" (6 log avribv) "shall be for a
testimony against you" (dg \iaprvpiov vjuv tarai).
There will be no escape from this telltale rust which,
like gray hairs, betrays age and the approach of
death. "And shall eat your flesh as fire" («<u
(frdyerai rag odpicag v/j,cbv cjg nvp). Westcott and Hort
place "as fire" (w? nvp) with the next sentence.
Either punctuation makes good sense, but it is a
bolder figure as above, for nothing eats up what it
seizes upon more rapidly or completely than fire.
Feeding the flames of the furnace as a stoker in the
great ships is one of the most exhaustive of all tasks.
Fire licks up all in its reach and will gut modern
fire-proof buildings (iron and concrete) when once it
gets started, even the wonderful concrete structures
of the Edison plant. The plural here (rag odpmg)
emphasizes the completeness of the work of de-
struction.
"Ye have laid up your treasures in the last days"
(IdTjoavpio-are ev kox&Tcug rjfiepaig). These wicked rich
have heaped up treasure like a thesaurus and in the
end of the day have seen it turn to dust and ashes,
crumbling between their fingers. There is no vault
on earth secure against moth and rust and thieves
(Matt. 6: 19). Those who set their hearts upon the
wealth of earth are bound to come to grief. Pitiful
GOD AND BUSINESS 231
is the state of the man "that layeth up treasure for
himself and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12: 21).
The only wealth that lasts is riches toward God,
and this is open to us all. The only wise use ot
money is so to use it as to make friends who will
welcome us in heaven (Luke 16: 9) into the eternal
tabernacles. The mammon of unrighteousness may
be so employed. If it is not, one will find that he
has simply treasured up wrath against the day of
wrath, to be paid at last with compound interest
(Rom. 2:5).
5. Wronged Workers. 5:4.
The God of all the earth will do right. He is not
deaf to the cries of those oppressed millions in the
ages whose piteous appeals for elemental justice
come to him. This is a terrible indictment of Jew-
ish capitalists who withheld the meager wages of
the men who gathered the harvests. "Behold, the
hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which
is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out." The hire
of the laborers (6 ^uoddg twv Ipyarwv) reminds one of
the proverb, "The laborer is worthy of his hire"
(Luke 10:7; 1 Tim. 5:18). The word for "hire"
(pioddc;) occurs sometimes in the sense of reward
(e. g., 1 Cor. 3:8, 14), but the original idea is
that of pay for work done (e. g., Matt. jj>: 8},
and so here. The word for laborer {tyyp*rf<r) means
any kind of workman, but it is conimon in the
New Testament for agricultural workers. "The
harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers (01 epyd-
rat) are few" (Matt. 9:37). When the work is done
27,2 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
it is only simple justice for the workman to receive
his pay, for the hungry mouths at home have to be
filled. In the Old Testament the cause of the work-
man was guarded with special care: "Thou shalt not
oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy,
whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers
that are in thy land within thy gates: in his day
thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun
go down upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the
Lord, and it be a sin unto thee" (Deut. 24: i4f.).
See also Mai. 3:5, "I will be a swift witness against
. . . those that oppress the hireling in his wages."
Tobit charges his son Tobias: "Let not the wages
of any man, which hath wrought for thee, tarry
with thee, but give him it out of hand" (Tobit 4:
14). Sirach (34: 2if.) says: "The bread of the needy
is the life of the poor : he that def raudeth (anooTeptiv)
him thereof is a man of blood. He that taketh away
his neighbor's living slayeth him; and he that de-
fraudeth a laborer of his hire is a blood-shedder. "
Certainly, therefore, the Jews were not without ex-
plicit teaching on this vital point of elemental social
justice.
And yet these men "who mowed" {ayqodvT^v, lit-
erally, "heap together")1 their fields had the sad
experience of not receiving the wages, "of you kept
back by fraud" (6 d<pvarf.prjiievo^ a<p' v^uyv), "comes too
late from you" (Mayor). The word means to "fall
short," "be too late" (vcrrepEO) is like vorepov, "later").
Note Heb. 3:1 {voTtpTjutvai) . See P. Lond. 116613
1 At harvest time there is always special demand for laborers at
higher wages than usual to save the ripe grain before it perishes.
GOD AND BUSINESS 233
(A. D. 42) for the very word (a^voTepq) used of "a
bath insufficiently warmed" (Moulton and Milligan,
Vocabulary, p. 99). The honest laborers who form
the foundation of our industrial system are not to be
treated as beggars or "hobos." They are not
subjects for charity. They are the human element
in the industrial problem. Blood is thicker than
water and is more valuable than gold. The horror
of war is that it treats men as fodder for cannon
regardless of the result to the man or those de-
pendent on him.
This stolen pay "cries out" (upd^i) and ought to
cry out, whether the hire is kept back after the
work is done or whether the employer purposely
squeezes the laborer down to starvation wages in
order to make more money for himself. There is a
just balance to be struck by which both capital and
labor may receive just remuneration. "The cries
of them that reaped {al (3oai twv depiodvrav) have
entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (elg ra
u)ra Kvplov lafiacjd elaeXi]Xv8av) . " "The cries of the
harvesters" (Moffatt) are musical when they sing
together as they work, content with their wages
and joyous in their work. But the "cries" here
heard are of a very different sort. They are the
angry, resentful outcries of men who have been
wronged in their very souls by those who should
have been their protectors and friends, those for
whom the harvesters have worked. These men cry
to heaven and they ought to do so. Mayor notes
four sins that cry to heaven-. A brother's blood
(Gen. 4:10), the sin of Sodom (Gen. 18:20), the
234 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
oppressed hireling (Deut. 24: 15), the cry of Job
for justice (16: 18L). But men ought to hear the
cry of the laborers before they become too clamor-
ous. It is only right that social injustice should be
rectified here and now and the transgressors pun-
ished. We have come upon a time when the hosts
of labor and capital are like two armed camps,
ready for instant battle. Even as these words are
penned the country faces the spectacle of a pro-
longed war in the mining region of Colorado that
has gone beyond the power of the State authorities
to control and that has taxed the resources of the
national government for a solution. There are
probably wrongs on both sides. The State cannot
do everything. It is a vain hope to expect a millen-
nium in the socialistic State of the radical socialists,
and yet much that is called socialism is simply
common humanity and Christian brotherhood taught
by Jesus, chief of all, and reenforced in the Epistles.
It is undoubtedly true that society has paid more
attention to the making of money than to the men
who toil to make it. The social test of modern
Christianity is to do justice to the laboring men
without doing injustice to the capitalists. The
conditions of life must be made easier. If corpora-
tions have no souls, the men who toil at the forge
have. Men are entitled to a bit of heaven here
and now in their own hearth and home. Somehow
many of the laborers have come to feel that the
churches do not sympathize with the struggles of
the laboring classes to better their hard lot, but
fawn upon the very rich who sometimes grind the
GOD AND BUSINESS 235
toilers to the earth. It is easy to be extreme and
unjust to one side or the other. The main thing is
to be faithful to God and man, to man as man.
The poorest of men is worth more than a sheep,
yes, and than gold and silver. The soul is without
price and the soul dwells in the body. We must
shake the shackles free from men and women who
cry out to God. The Lord God of Sabaoth has
heard their cries and will punish the offenders in
due time, but that fact does not absolve us from
our present duty in the midst of conditions that
call for action. Wronged workers have a right to a
hearing at the bar of public opinion. They will
cry on till they are heard.
6. The Wanton Use of Money. 5 : $f.
Evidently James is all ablaze with passion as he
faces the situation of his readers. These Jewish
plutocrats, some of them shysters, had made their
money out of the blood and sweat of the toiling
poor (cf. modern sweat-shops). And then they
spend it in a way to anger the wronged workers
still more. They live in the most luxurious ex-
travagance and waste of money while the cold,
half -naked, hungry toilers who made the wealth go
unpaid. It is no wonder that such laborers grow
bitter at heart. It is a vivid and even ghastly pic-
ture of the wicked rich who revel at the cost of
human happiness, who with careless indifference
shut their eyes to the misery all around them due
to their own injustice. Christianity endeavors to
make this cold cynicism impossible, to persuade to
236 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
be just and, if need be, go the second mile in eager-
ness to help rather than to hang back and higgle
over the first. During the dreadful days of the
strike at Lawrence, Mass., a daughter of one of
the wealthy mill owners braved the criticism of her
social circle and boldly went among the very men
who cursed her father as the cause of it all. She
went as an angel of mercy to bind up the broken
hearts and lives. "Ye have lived delicately on the
earth, and taken your pleasure" (h-pv^a-re kttt rift
y?7£ Kai koTraraX^aaTe) , "ye have revelled on earth
and plunged into dissipation" (Moffatt). The
sound of revelry by night has no melody to the
ears of the man whose wife and children are starving
because he does not get a square deal from his
employer. In Hermas (Sim. 6. i) both of these
verbs are used together ("reminiscence of this pas-
sage," Mayor) of those who gave themselves up to
the lusts of the world. See also i Tim. 5:6: "She
that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she
liveth." One is reminded of the picture of the
beggar Lazarus who lay at the rich man's gate
while he feasted within. The conditions will be
reversed in heaven if the poor are Christians and
the rich man is unsaved (Luke 16: 25). That hope
is not to be despised, but James is not content to
spare the rich now while they inflict such wrongs
on men whom they employ.
"Ye have nourished your hearts in a day of
slaughter" (kdpeipaTe rag /capd/a? v/uov kv fy/epa oQayjft).
We have here a hard phrase to understand. Homer
uses the verb (rpe^w) of turning milk into cheese
GOD AND BUSINESS 237
(Od. ix. 246). But we cannot feel sure (cf. Luke
21:34). And what is "the day of slaughter"?
Moffatt boldly renders thus: "You have fattened
yourselves as for the Day of Slaughter." That is at
least comprehensible. At any rate, when Jerusalem
was destroyed the Romans slew the rich Jews indis-
criminately whether they remained in the city or
flew in despair to the Romans who were bent on
plunder (cf. Josephus, War, v. 10, 2). The pious
poor in all the ages have suffered at the hands of
the rich and the mighty. Even in America religious
liberty came as the result of fierce struggle. Political
freedom was bought with the price of blood. Eco-
nomic justice will be won only by tears and blood.
The very limit is reached. "Ye have condemned,
ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist
you" (icaTediitdoaTe, kipovevoare tov diiccuov. Ovk avTirdo-
atrai vfilv). Many take these words to refer to the
death of Jesus as the culmination of iniquity when
the rich Pharisees and Sadducees obtained the death
of the poor Carpenter of Nazareth. Peter charged
the Jews with Christ's death in these words: "But
ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked
for a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed
the Prince of Life" (Acts 3: 14L). Certainly the
application to Jesus has a deal of verisimilitude.
Stephen used similar language: "And they killed
them which showed before the coming of the Right-
eous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers
and murderers" (Acts 7:52). "The Righteous One"
(6 61*010$) is thus seen to be one of the titles given
Jesus by the early disciples. There is no reason
238 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
why James should not have referred to the death
of Jesus in these words. But the Book of Wisdom
has similar language about the righteous poor who
are oppressed by the wicked rich and the parallel is
so clear that probably James refers directly to it.
See Wisdom 2:ioff. : "Let us oppress the poor
righteous man; let us not spare the widow, nor
reverence the ancient grey hairs of the aged. . . .
Let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is
not for our turn, and he is clear contrary to our
doings; he upbraideth us with our offending the
law." It was so in the days of the prophets. Hear
Amos as he thunders against the evils of his day.
"They have sold the righteous for silver, and the
needy for a pair of shoes; they that pant after the
dust of the earth on the head of the poor" (surely
the most greedy of men for real estate, if they even
seek that on top of the head of the poor!). The
picture is one of the oppression of the good man
who is unresisting and allows himself to be robbed.
The horrors of war to helpless women and children
come before us.
It is curious that in the legendary account1 of the
death of James, who was later called also "the Just"
(6 dixaiog), we are told that the Jews ran upon James
crying: "Oh! oh! even the righteous one has gone
astray — let us stone the righteous one" (w & itai b
diKaiog h-nXavi)dr] — \tQaou\Ltv tov diitaiov). One of the
priests vainly cried out: "Stop! What are you
doing? The righteous one is praying for you."
According to this story, James himself finally met
1 Eusebius, H. E. ii. 23 (taken from Hegesippus).
GOD AND BUSINESS 239
the very fate of those unfortunate victims of Jew-
ish greed and hate of whom Jesus is the chief illus-
tration. Progress in behalf of human rights is won
only by slow advances here and there. But in the
end of the day the cause wins. The stars in their
courses fight against Sisera and all the enemies of
man and God.
CHAPTER XII
Perseverance and Prayer. 5:7-20
The purpose of James in writing his Epistle comes
out clearly here. He wishes to hearten the Jewish
Christians in the midst of their trials as well as to
make a protest against the oppressions to which
they were subjected. "The storm of indignation is
past, and from this point to the end of the Epistle
St. James writes in tones of tenderness and affec-
tion" (Plummer). He has denounced the persecu-
tors, and now turns to the brethren who are under
the heel of the money -devil.
1. Patience Till the Parousia. 5: 7L
"Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming
of the Lord" (fiatcpodviiTJaare ovv, adeX<poi, "ug rr/g trapov-
oiag tov Kvqiov).1 Moffatt has it "till the arrival of
the Lord." The example of the righteous man,
whether Christ or the typical righteous poor man,
argues (ovv) strongly for longsuffering (fiaKQo-dvftecj is
"long-tempered" like our "sweet-tempered," "quick-
tempered," and is the opposite of "short-tempered,"
so Mayor) . In the Christian race one cannot afford
to be short of wind. He has a long run and must
hold out till the goal is reached (cf. Heb. 12: 1-3).
1 In P. Par. 26, B. C. 163, note ev Mt//0« irapovoiac ("visits to
Memphis").
240
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 241
* One is reminded of the opening note of the Epistle
of James (1 : 2-4), where he urged joy in the midst
of varied trials. The wicked rich deserve all the
fierce denunciation that James has just bestowed
and all the penalty that God will inflict, but the
suffering Christians must not engage in mere re-
crimination. James does not discourage protest
against wrong nor the effort to remove evil. But
there is a residuum of suffering and pain in the cup
of all of us. When all else is done, in the end of the
day we must drink that cup. Let us do it with the
spirit of soldiers who fall in the trenches at the post
of duty. It is better to do it without flinching and
without making a wry face. Men (and even women)
have undergone major operations without anes-
thesia. God is full of "longsuffering" toward us
(Rom. 2:451 Pet. 3:20), and men have shown the
same spirit (James 5 : 10; 2 Cor. 6:6). The patience
in James 1 : 3L is just "remaining under" (vnoiiovrj) ,
but here the point is to do it and make no fuss about
it, not to call attention to what one is suffering, to
be a martyr without insisting on being recognized as
one.
The early Christians were so eager for the second
coming (napovoia) of the Lord Jesus that they were
impatient for his return and some of them com-
pletely upset about it, though Jesus had emphasized
the utter uncertainty of the time and had urged
watchfulness and readiness. By a skilful turn
(Plummer) James "makes the unconscious impa-
tience of primitive Christianity a basis for his
exhortation to conscious patience." Some of them
242 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
no longer had a taste for the slow work of plowing,
sowing, and reaping, forgetting what Jesus had said
of the gradual growth of the Kingdom of God from
seed to harvest. So James, probably with the words
of Jesus in mind, says: "Behold, the husbandman
waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth" {l6oi>
6 ygwpydf huSix8™ r°v Tiituov Kapnov tt}$ yijg). The
farmer, tiller of the soil (yewpydf), has much to dis-
courage him in the making and selling of his crops.
The soil has to be kept up to its level of fertility
and must be properly prepared. The seed must be
of good quality and has to be sown at the proper
season. The weeds will come and the harvest is
dependent on the sun and the rain. He cannot
hasten the process. When he has done the most
scientific farming, he can only wait in expectancy
(t/£<j£££T<M, note Ik).1 Often, perhaps daily, the farmer
goes and watches the growth of the grain, "being
patient over it" (naKpodv/iuv 'm' avrCi), bending over it
as a fond father. He knows that he cannot hasten
the season. The "early" rain (npoiftov) made pos-
sible the sowing of the seed. The "latter" rain
(uxpinov) will make possible a harvest. Meanwhile he
can do nothing but wait "till it receive" (ew? x&Pv)
the final touch from God's hand. By force of cir-
cumstances the farmer has to exercise long-suffering
toward his crop of wheat.
"Be ye also patient" (iiaKpodvfiTJaare mi vfitl^).
James applies his illustration with directness and
power. "Ye also," as well as the husbandman. He
1 Note P. Oxy., 939 (iv/A. D.), line 27, iK&o~r/{ u/jac indextyevot
tt/v [o]?)i> ty/l-iv ("hourly expecting thy arrival").
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 243
does it, for nature has taught him her secrets. "Ye"
should do so, for Jesus has shown you the way.
"Establish your hearts" (arrjpi^aTe rag tcapdiag v/itiv).
Peter is charged with just this task when he has
turned (Luke 22:32). God strengthens us (1 Pet.
5: 10; 1 Thess. 3: 13), but we must do our share.
"For the coming of the Lord is at hand" (ore ^
■napovoia tov Kvpiov rfyy 1 kev) . The word "is at hand"
{fp/yutev) is the one that John the Baptist used of
the nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven which had
come right upon them (Matt. 3:2). So Peter (1 Pet.
4:7) says: "The end of all things has drawn near."
Paul (Phil. 4: 6) says: "The Lord is nigh" (or near).
There is no doubt that the early Christians hoped
that Jesus would come back quickly and thus re-
lieve them from the ills of an impossible social
system (Rom. 13:11; 1 Cor. 15:5; 1 Thess. 4:15;
1 John 2: 18). But they did not at all feel sure
that Jesus was coming right away (1 Thess. 5:2;
2 Thess. 3: iff.; 2 Cor. 5:1-10; Phil. 1:21-23).
When 2 Peter is written scoffers are already asking,
"Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Pet. 3:4.)
The answer is given that one day with the Lord is as
a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
Back to their tasks they must go, back to the
building up of the Kingdom of God in the midst of
a world of woe and sin, on with the conflict till
Jesus comes, on with the long siege against human
greed and inhumanity to man. Patience is the
word, patience and prayer, pluck and praise, power
and peace in the end.
244 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
2. Folly of Recrimination. 5:9.
If things do not go to suit us, the natural way is
to blame somebody else for what has befallen us.
We generally exculpate ourselves from all responsi-
bility. There is a naive illustration of this propen-
sity in John 12:19: "Behold, ye prevail nothing;
lo, the world is gone after him." At the Triumphal
Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem the Pharisees, thinking
that their cause against Jesus is lost, turn and blame
each other for the outcome. So then "murmur not,
brethren, one against another" (p) orevd&re, ddeX^oi,
Kar' aXXrjXuv) . Literally it is, "groan not, brothers,
against one another." See Rom. 8:23: "We our-
selves groan (arevd^onev) within ourselves." It is
rather the inward and unexpressed feeling than the
outward expression of dissatisfaction (cf. James 4:
11). The secret grudge is taken out in groans and
murmurs. In Mark 7:34 Jesus is said to have
groaned (toTeva&v) as he looked up to heaven and
prayed, perhaps out of sheer weariness at the burden
of sin and sorrow that was upon him. It is hard to
be content and to smother resentment at known or
suspected wrong. The suppressed volcano may eas-
ily break out into a violent eruption. "They will
run here and there for meat, and grudge if they be
not satisfied" (Psa. 59: 15). The murmur of a mob
is often senseless, and in all events we must bear in
mind that we bring down condemnation on our own
heads. "That ye be not judged" (iva fir) Kpidqre), says
James. He recurs to this point in 5 : 12. Probably
the words of Jesus in Matt. 7 : 1 are recalled by
James. "Behold, the judge standeth before the
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 245
doors" (idov 6 KQirrjc, Trpd T(hv 6vpiG)v eoT7]Kev). He will
hear all complaints and set everything right. The
picture appears to be that in the Mishna (A b. iv.
16): "This world is as if it were a vestibule to the
future world; prepare thyself in the vestibule, that
thou mayest enter the reception room." Jesus is
the Judge who stands at the Door through which
all must pass. The conception is eschatological and
apocalyptic. See Matt. 24:33: "Know ye that he
is nigh, at the doors" (sni dvpai^. In Rev. 3:20
Jesus is represented as saying: "Behold, I stand at
the door and knock." Let him in now, that you
and he may sup together. Let him in now, else
you may stand before him hereafter as culprit and
helpless and hopeless. "Kiss the Son, lest he be
angry, and ye perish in the way" (Psa. 2:12).
Treat kindly one another so that you will not need
the Son to act as Judge between you.
3 . Examples of Patience. 5 : 1 of .
James, like a practical preacher, loves to illus-
trate his points. He has a fitting one right to hand
in "the prophets who spake in the name of the
Lord" {rovg TTQo<priTag, 01 khdXrjoav kv ra bvofiarc Kvplov).
They spoke in the name, with the authority, and so
with the power of the Lord. The idiom is common
enough in the Septuagint and, indeed, in the papyri
(Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 198). They spoke as
the representatives of Jehovah. Mayor seems a
bit perplexed over the failure of James to mention
Jesus as the supreme example of suffering, as is
done by Peter (1 Pet. 2: 21), who spoke of Christ
246 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
leaving us an example (vnoypaniiov) , and by Paul
(Phil. 2: 5-1 1), and by the author of Hebrews (12:
1-5). Perhaps James may have thought it was
particularly pertinent for these Jewish Christians to
be reminded of the prophets as an "example of suf-
fering and patience" (vTrofoiyfia rfjg Ka/co-nadiag mi rfjg
fiaKQoBvficag) . Certainly, they endured evil (/ca/corrafl/a)
in abundance and had great need of long-suffering
(lianQodvfiia) . It was common enough to appeal to
them for this purpose. Jesus did it with keenest
irony at the mock heroic monuments built later to
the memory of the martyred prophets (Matt. 5: 12;
23:34» 37)- Stephen did it with so sharp a tongue
that the Sanhedrin stoned him to death for his
courage and proved the truth of his words by their
own acts (Acts 7:52). Elijah says to Jehovah:
"The children of Israel . . . have slain thy prophets
with the sword" (1 Kings 19: 10, 14). Jeremiah
says also: "Your own sword hath devoured your
prophets like a destroying lion" (Jer. 2:30). As
patterns of patience "take" (XdfteTe) Noah, Abra-
ham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah. These illus-
trate in various ways the patience of which the
readers of the Epistle of James stand in sore need.
"Behold, we call them blessed that endured" (ISnv
liaKo.pi^o[iev rovg vTrofitivavraq) . He had already done
that in James 1 : 12. Jesus had promised salvation
to the one who endured to the end (Matt. 24: 13).
Men usually felicitate the survivors of a catastrophe.
Often they become popular heroes.
In particular, "ye have heard of the patience of
Job" (ttjv vnofiovTiv 'Iw/3 rjicovoaTe) . Job was the most
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 247
frequently quoted instance in the Old Testament
times and is a perfectly obvious one for James.
And yet Job did have passionate outbursts of indig-
nation at the jibes and superfluous advice of his tor-
menting friends and even of his wife when God
seemed to have deserted him. But it must be
remembered Job did not curse God and die. He
waited for God to speak and make it all plain. Job
hardly exhibited longsuffering (jiaicpodviua), but he
clearly did show patience (imofiovrj) . He was not
exactly meek, but he revealed the endurance of a
sensitive man. Though Job is the most famous
instance of patience in the Old Testament, yet he
is nowhere else cited as such in the New Testament.
We need not discuss the question whether Job is par-
able or fact, as the point is here precisely the same.
Ye "have seen the end of the Lord, how that the
Lord is full of pity, and merciful" (to reXog Kvpiov
elders, otl TrokvonXayxvog Iotiv 6 ttvpiog mi oi/mp/zwv) .
The outcome in the case of Job proves the point.
It turned out all right with Job. So he illustrates
the pity and mercy of the Lord; "the end of the
Lord" is seen in the conclusion like a novel that
turns out happily at last. In the midst of the
stress and storm of Job's life (Sturm und Drang)
and his violent outbursts of emotion and exalted
feeling God is sympathetic (TroXvanlayxvog) and com-
passionate (oIktlqluov) . God has understood Job
and watched his endurance all the while. The
story is so well known that James does not have to
tell it, but can depend upon his readers to see the
point of the illustration.
248 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
4. Profanity. 5:12.
This little paragraph seems to come in rather
abruptly, with no connection with what precedes.
As a result, Oesterley regards it as "a fragment of a
larger piece" which James here tears from its con-
text, perhaps a saying from Jesus. But Plummer
is more likely correct in thinking of it as an appen-
dix after rounding out the Epistle, coming back to
the blessedness of trial with which topic the Epistle
opens. The exhortations need not have a close
connection with each other. As a matter of fact,
James has spoken more against the sins of speech
than any other single sin. Plummer well says: "He
has spoken against talkativeness, unrestrained speak-
ing, love of correcting others, railing, cursing, boast-
ing, murmuring" (1:19, 26; 3: 1-12; 4: 11, 13;
5:9). He now recurs to the sins of speech to say a
few words against one of the commonest evils of
which he has not spoken specifically. He evidently
is thinking of the words of Jesus as we have them in
Matt. 5 : 34-37, though it is not an exact quotation.1
He may, indeed, as Resch holds, give another ver-
sion of the same logion (cf. 2 Cor. 1 : 17). But there
was ample ground for this prohibition, as the Jews
had learned how to split hairs on the subject of
profanity. The third commandment was plain
enough on the subject and it was supported by the
Pharisees and the Essenes. The Essenes, indeed,
1 Plummer notes that the Epistle of James shows more coinci-
dences with the words of Jesus than all of Paul's epistles, and that
all of them deal with the morality of the gospel, with conduct and
life. This is all just as the circumstances would lead us to expect.
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 249
opposed all oaths, even before courts, and were said
to have been excused by Herod from taking the
oath of allegiance (Jos., Ant. xv. 10. 4). And yet,
as Mayor notes, this is not consistent with the oath
of initiation which the Essenes took (Jos., War ii.
8. 7). The Jewish view is well represented by
Sirach 23: 7-11 and by Philo (M. 2, p. 184). The
early Christians found trouble with this verse of
James, as with the words of Jesus on the same
point. See list of quotations from the early writers
in Mayor. Augustine sees no harm in oaths before
courts if it were not for the danger of committing
perjury. And yet it may be seriously questioned if
Jesus or James is thinking of oaths in courts of
justice, since Jesus himself did not refuse to answer
when put on oath by the high priest before the
Sanhedrin (Matt. 26:63^). Besides, solemn assev-
eration is allowed in the Old Testament (Deut.
6: 13; 10: 20; Psa. 65: 16). It is far more likely the
flippant use of oaths (profanity) that is here con-
demned. There were, and are still, alas, all sorts of
devices by which more or less pious people felt
justified in calling on the name of the Lord in
ordinary speech. It is to-day one of the saddest
things in life to note how common profanity is in the
ordinary speech of men and of boys, mannish boys
who imitate the men about them. It is positively
disheartening to hear it on the streets, in the street-
cars, in the trains.
If one is puzzled, as was Augustine, over the
words "above all things" (npd navruv), on the ground
that profanity is not worse than adultery and
250 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
murder, we may take it either as a kind of hyperbole
(as Augustine) or as a sort of "elative" superlative
(not literally before all, but only "very important")
as limited to the forms of impatience in the preceding
context like i Pet. 4: 8, where the same idiom (vpn
ttcLvtuv) occurs (so Mayor). But, if the strict inter-
pretation be insisted on, one has only to consider
what the sin of profanity really is. It is a blasphe-
mous use of the name of the Most High God. The
fact that it is usually done without thinking miti-
gates the offense, but sometimes the full bitterness
of profanity is meant. Few things are worse than
sulphurous speech like the very fumes of hell. For
my part, I should not press the words "above all
things" too far in this context.
"Swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the
earth, nor by any other oath" (/*?? dfivvere, urjre ibv
ovpavov \vf\TZ ttjv yrjv firjre dXXov riva oqkov).1 Cer-
tainly this is plain enough to be understood. It is
conclusive and inclusive and leaves no room for the
milder forms of profanity for which Christians
sometimes excuse themselves. "But let your yea
be yea, and your nay, nay" (rjro) Si v^v to No/ vai
Kal to Ov ov), "let your 'yes' be a plain 'yes,' your
'no' a plain 'no' " (Moffatt). This, and nothing
more. But there is the trouble. The need for
1 The use of the present imperative in prohibition rather than
the aorist subjunctive implies that the thing was being done. That
is probably true, for church members have been known to be guilty
of this sin. However, it is possible for this tense to prohibit the
habit rather than the single act. "Keep on not swearing." See
Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N. T. in the Light of Hist. Res.,
p. 851-854.
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 251
emphasis and the love of strong assertion lead one
so easily to go beyond the bounds of good taste
and of decency. Edersheim (i. p. 583) has a Midrash
quotation: "The good man's yea is yea, and his nay
nay." In calmer moments one knows that the
value of his statement rests at bottom on his own
character for veracity. His mere word is enough
and, in truth, all that one can offer. Violent ex-
pletives throw discredit on one's ordinary state-
ments and suspicion on the one that he seeks to
bolster up with artificial means. Profanity is one
of the worst and most useless of sins. It brings
good to none and harm to all, in particular to the
one who uses it. "That ye fall not under judgment"
(Jva pi) vnd kqIolv neoTjTe). The Judge is at the door
(James 5 : 9) and there is no escape.
5. Worship and Excitement. 5: 13.
Plummer has a very keen and pertinent heading
for his chapter on this verse, and it is noteworthy
that he devotes an entire chapter to this one verse,
a verse that is little understood by most interpre-
ters. His heading is this: "Worship the Best Outlet
and Remedy for Excitement. The Connection be-
tween Worship and Conduct." Certainly oaths are
not the way to express one's emotions, whether one
be angry or merely excited, least of all when one
has the miserable habit of profanity and is unaware
of his foul speech. And yet it is not wrong to ex-
press one's feelings. There is no merit in the self-
repression of the Cynic or the Stoic. "Let the
expression of strongly excited feelings be an act of
252 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
worship" (Plummer). This is an intensely practical
point. "Is any among you suffering?" (KaKonadel
rig kv vfiiv;). And what church or community does
not have one or more of these occasional or chronic
sufferers ? The word (mno-nadu) has a wider meaning
than mere bodily sickness. Paul uses it for suffer-
ing hardship as a good soldier (2 Tim. 2:3, 9; 4: 5).
It includes any kind of ill of body or mind. It
means literally having had experiences and refers
to the natural depression as a result of such mis-
fortunes. The remedy is not in despondency or in
suicide. The remedy lies in prayer. "Let him
pray" (npooevxeodu) , let him pray as a habit (present
tense of durative action). Prayer is a blessing to
the heart and to the mental life. It is good to talk
with God. The worry disappears in God's presence
and often the very ill itself disappears. But if it
does not go, he gives us grace sufficient to bear the
burden. So then prayer is the proper outlet for the
depressed Christian. Here lies one of the great
blessings of public worship in the house of God.
The tired soul finds rest in prayer in the house of
prayer. There is comfort in secret prayer and in
family worship, but the man makes a tremendous
psychological blunder who cuts himself off from the
spiritual tonic of the public worship of God. Those
in charge of that worship should never fail to have
such in mind — such spirits who come to church
seeking comfort and strength.
But some hearts are overjoyed and feel like giving
expression to their joy in unusual ways, almost in
ecstasy. "Is any cheerful?" (evdvfiel rig]). There
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 253
are many in happy mood, in good spirits or "good
cheer" (cf. Acts 27:22, 25). These are in good
health of soul and mayhap also of body. "Let
him sing praise" (ipaXMroj). The word originally
meant to play on a stringed instrument (Sir. 9:4),
but it comes to be used also for singing with the
voice and the heart (Eph. 5:19; 1 Cor. 14:15),
making melody with the heart also to the Lord.
There is a wondrous exaltation of soul in the public
praise of God. The combination of instruments
and of voice enables the soul of man to pour itself
out toward God in richness of praise. This is far
better than the reckless, unrestrained ecstasy of
overwrought emotionalism. Plummer notes prop-
erly that there is no merit or demerit per se in
excitement. The wild dervish commands only as-
tonishment, not sympathy. Religious excitement
may become the occasion of bringing discredit upon
Christianity, even when it represents real fervor
and an element of worship. The spirit of man
cannot always be restrained. Under the preaching
of Wesley and Whitefield the audiences were some-
times carried to excesses of emotion. But far better
this than the deadness and coldness of mere formal-
ism. Revivals occasionally have been marked by
such excesses, like the "Jerks" in Kentucky a hundred
years ago, when, however, real change of life took
place. There is wisdom in the words of James here.
Let the religious emotions find expression in prayer
and praise. The effect is not only good for the
moment, but is good for conduct and life as a whole.
If we could only manage somehow to turn some of
254 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
the energy that goes into dancing into religious
worship, certainly the effect would be more whole-
some all round. People cannot help a measure of
excitement. Some of it is good for them. There is
tonic in communion with God, tonic for soul and
body.
6. God and Medicine. 5:14-18.
Few subjects have excited more interest in recent
years than the subject here presented. So many
subsidiary issues are raised that it is difficult to
treat the question adequately in a few pages. The
career of Alexander Dowie, with his work at Zion
City, is still fresh in the mind of the public. The
man undoubtedly performed some wonderful cures,
but turned out to be a mountebank if not worse.
Many varieties of "faith-cures" have been before
the world. The so-called Christian Science move-
ment is now the most prominent of them all, com-
bining an idealistic philosophy and pantheistic
religion. This combination takes up various as-
pects of Buddhism, Gnosticism, and a dash of
Christian verbiage, with the vital elements of
Christianity gone, and uses some of the well-known
ideas of modern psychology as to the influence of
the mind on the body.? As a whole it is a hopeless
jumble of absurdities and inconsistencies and is
hostile to the worship of Jesus. 'It leads astray a
certain type of mind without clear reasoning proc-
esses and fattens on the fees for mental healing, a
portion of which go to the Mother Church in Bos-
ton. There is only the most superficial parallel
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 255
between what James here describes and what the
Christian Science "healer" practises. There is in
James an absence of all mercenary ideas. There is
no "commercialized use of prayer," to use the legal
phrase of one of the New York courts. There is
also the use of olive oil, /the best medicine known
to the ancient world, and still one of the best re-
medial agencies, whether used internally or ex-
ternally. The disciples of Jesus on their tour of
Galilee had the double ministry of preaching and
healing (Matt. 10: 7L) and they anointed the sick
with oil (Mark 6: 13). In Isa. 1 : 6 the prophet says
that the bruises were "neither bound up, neither
mollified with oil." So the Good Samaritan bound
up the wounds of the poor victim of the robbers and
poured oil and wine upon him (Luke 10: 34).
A number of questions come bristling for discus-
sion as we proceed with this passage in James. The
use of the word church (1% eKK^riata^) rather than
synagogue, as in 2:2, is to be observed. The local
church undoubtedly had a close kinship to the
Jewish synagogue in origin and worship. The very
phrase "elders" (rovg npeopvTepovs) of the church
occurs also in Acts 20: 17 and in the plural like
bishops at Philippi (Phil. 1:1). There was a
council of elders in the synagogue (Luke 7:3), and
the word appears in an official sense in the Egyptian
papyri (Deissmann, Bible Studies, pp. i54f., 233L).1
But a more vital question for our subject is whether
these elders come in an official capacity to perform
an ecclesiastical "anointing" (dXeiipavreg kkaiu) with
1 The phrase 6 Tvpea^irspo^ rf/g ko>/x//c occurs in a Ptolemaic papyrus.
256 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
oil or whether they come to pray as brothers in
Christ and rub with the olive oil (cf . Isa. i : 6) as
medicine. Mayor quotes Philo (Sonm, M. i. 666),
Pliny (N. H. xxiii. 34-50), and Galen (Med. Temp.,
Book ii) in praise of oil as a medicine. In Herod's
last illness he was recommended a bath of oil (Jos.,
War i. 33, 5). There is therefore no doubt as to the
ancient opinion about and use of oil as a medicine.
It is probable that one will decide this question
according to his predilections. For my own part,
I incline to the view that we have here, not a sacra-
mental or priestly function on the part of these
elders, but the double duty of ministry of the word
and of medicine (with prayer) . The nearest parallel
in modern life is the medical missionary, who goes
with the word of life and the healing balm of modern
science. He heals the sick with the physician's
skill and the prayer of faith. Paul helped the sick
(Acts 20:35) at Ephesus and often healed the sick,
and yet he worked side by side with Luke, the be-
loved physician, as in the island of Melita (Acts 28:
8f.). There is certainly no indication that what is
called "extreme unction" was practised or urged by
James and the Apostolic Christians. That was a
late development in the Greek and Roman Catholic
churches that is foreign to the tone of this Epistle.
There is here no such superstition as sending for a
minister, when death is at hand, to perform a
magical ritual ceremony to stave off death. Mayor
has a full statement of the chief facts about the
"sacrament" of unction in later centuries. Mayor
suggests that the cases of the failure of the simple
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 257
use of oil as a medicine probably led finally to the
special consecration of the oil or the use of relics.
But in James we seem to have not a ceremony or
ecclesiastical function, but rather the simple use of
oil as a medicine and prayer "in the name of the
Lord." To-day we have a more advanced medical
science, which is, however, by no means final and
infallible. We separate the functions of the minister
and the physician. We prefer the doctor to the oil,
but we still need God with the doctor. It is a great
error for one to think that God is not to be called
upon because we have a skilled physician. The
minister still has a place, and a very important
place, in the problem of therapeutics, particularly in
those many cases of a more or less nervous type
when the influence of the mind on the body is very
pronounced. Often in the most severe illness the
deciding factor is not medicine, but hope, as any
doctor will say. The minister should make friends
with the physician and be at his service and co-
operate with him. The minister needs to be careful
to be a help, and not a hindrance, in cases of sickness.
He should be a sedative and an inspiration to the
patient, not an irritant or an excitant. It is a
just ground of complaint that physicians have
against those preachers who lend themselves to the
schemes of "quack" doctors with patent medicines
for all sorts of ills.
But to come back to the use of prayer. James
says: "And the prayer of faith shall save him that is
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (/cat ^ evxu rr\<;
7rlOT£u)<; aojoei tov Kdfxvovra, km kyegel avrbv 6 Kvptog).
258 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
The credit is here given to prayer and the power
of God. One is not to infer that James gives no
credit to medicine. The oil was good, God works
through medicines and without medicine. The best
that we still know on this subject is just this:
Prayer and medicine or God and the doctor. The
promise of James is unconditioned, like those of
Jesus in Mark 11: 24; John 14: 14. But the very
essence of prayer is acquiescence in the will of God,
not a demand on God's acquiescence with us. By
"save" (ocogec) here James means "cure," as often
in the Gospels (Mark 5 : 23 ; 6 : 56 ; 8 : 35, etc.). The
prayer of faith is the only kind that is real prayer,
and it is trust in God with full acknowledgment
of God's power and love. Some men have always
had the idea of a God so aloof from the world that
he cared nothing about it or was powerless to help.
There is nothing in modern scientific knowledge in-
consistent with an immanent, yet transcendent, God
who holds the key of life in himself. The wondrous
laws of nature are all of God and there are many more
that we do not yet understand. Science has vastly
increased our sense of wonder about God and his
world. We have only skirted the fringes of knowl-
edge. It is idle to say that God, if he really sent his
Son to redeem men from sin and all earthly woe,
does not care if we suffer in t>ody and mind. The
Father's hand rests upon us all. He can be reached.
He is not far from any of us and he loves us.
"And if he have committed sins, it shall be for-
given him" {tcav anaprlag y ttsttol^k^, dcpEdijoerai avrio),
not by being healed in body nor because he is healed
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 259
of his sickness. The two things do not correspond
nor does one follow because of the other. What
James means, undoubtedly, is that the cured man,
convicted of his sins and out of gratitude to God for
his goodness, repents of his sins and is forgiven.
This is what should always happen in such cases,
but often it occurs that men who profess repentance
on a bed of sickness forget it when they get up.
This is sheer ingratitude and a horrible outcome.
But certainly, if the sick man is a sinner, he should
be prayed for. It is the time of opportunity to get
him to listen to the voice of God. No undue ad-
vantage need be taken of one's situation, and yet it
is wise to speak plainly then. Sickness is a great
leveller and brings us all down.1 Beyond any doubt,
Roman Catholics have made good use of their
asylums and hospitals. Other denominations are be-
ginning to take a real interest in this aspect of
Christian activity. In the hour of sickness it is a
great mercy to fall into the hands of those who love
God and where the love of Jesus is mingled with
the highest medical science.
It is a good time to confess our sins to one another
as well as to God, when we fall sick. "Confess
therefore your sins one to another" (kt-o/jioXo-ytiode
ovv aXkrikotq rag afiapriag). Clearly if the sick man,
conscious now of his own weakness, is not willing to
confess his sins (trespasses, iraga-nrd^ara, some MSS.
have it) against others, God will not forgive him.
1 Note nav (= even if) here instead of xal kdv and the rare peri-
phrastic perfect subjunctive active y nsnoir/Kuc. The condition is
the third class (undetermined with prospect of determination).
26o PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
As Mayor points out, James expands the words of
Jesus about forgiving those who have trespassed
against us (Matt. 5: 23; 6: 14), so as to bring out
both sides of the subject. Let the sick man ask
forgiveness of those whom he has wronged. Then
let them forgive him and pray for him. "Pray one
for another" («:eu -rrpooevxeode v-rrep aAA^Awv). The
Roman Catholics sometimes appeal to this passage
as a justification for auricular confession to the
priest, Bellarmine, for instance, but Luther has a
pointed answer: "A strange confessor. His name is
'One Another.' " Cajetan "speaks the language of
common sense" (Mayor) and admits that James has
no such custom in mind. What James urges is
public confession, in particular to those wronged,
not private and secret confession to a priest. The
Roman Catholic Confessional is one of the most
dangerous of ecclesiastical institutions. It puts un-
told power for harm into the hands of the priest.
It is difficult to conceive how a husband or father
could be willing for wife or daughter to make secret
confession to a priest. The abuses of the confes-
sional make a horrible chapter in human history.
Not merely are things wrung out that should not be
told, but evil is suggested that would never be
thought of. The original form of absolution was
"precatory rather than declaratory" (Plummer).
But it is a great good to the soul to open the heart
and make a frank confession to the church or to the
persons who have been injured. Great sorrow
would be avoided if men would only have the man-
hood to do this thing. Tertullian (On Penance viii)
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 261
well says: "Confession of sins lightens as much as
concealment aggravates them." Confession of sin
was one of the cardinal tenets in the preaching of
John the Baptist. The Romanists demanded pen-
ance for sins publicly confessed and private enmity
(Plummer) took advantage of it for purposes of
revenge.
Then it is a good time to pray "that ye may be
healed" (oncog ladrjTe). Then the power of God is
with men to heal both soul and body. Many a
revival has started in a church because those who
have been estranged have buried the hatchet and
see eye to eye again. There is power in prayer when
the soul is open to God as can be true only when
hate disappears from the heart. "The supplication
of a righteous man availeth much in its working"
(ttoAv loxvet dirjoig dticaiov evepyov/j,ev7]) , "the prayers of
the righteous have a powerful effect" (MofTatt).
This short sentence is clearer in the Greek than in
any of the English renderings. Plummer suggests:
"Great is the strength of a righteous man's supplica-
tion, in its earnestness." The word for "supplica-
tion" (depots) is more specific than the usual term
term (evxv) and suggests a sense of need. But the
crucial word is the participle (evepyovfievrf) , which
may be either middle or passive.1 Our word "ener-
getic" is derived from the verbal adjective (kvep-
yrjTifcog) of this word. The notion of "energy" is
present at any rate. The great word in modern
science is this very word energy, which is made
1 See extensive discussion in Mayor. The N. T. usage favors the
middle, but the passive is also in use and either makes good sense.
262 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
luminous by electricity and radium. The only
prayer worth while is one with "energy" in it,
whether "inwrought" (taking evepyovnivT] as passive)
by the Spirit of God or at work (middle voice)
through the spiritual passion of the man's own
soul. Such a prayer has much force (ttoXv laxvei) in
it and is not a mere ceremony nor rattle of meaning-
less words. The emphasis on "a righteous man"
(dLnaiov) here does not mean that God will not hear
the cry of a sinner for mercy, but probably that a
righteous man is more likely to put the proper
energy into his prayer. We may sadly reflect that
our prayers often have no power with God because
they have no energy when said. There is no power
in the dynamo. The engine has gone dead. The
steam is not high enough to move the driving wheel.
Oesterley quotes aptly the words of Rabbi Ben
Zakkai in Berachoth, 34b, when prayers for a sick
child are desired: "Although I am greater in learn-
ing than Chaninah, he is more efficacious in prayer;
I am indeed the Prince, but he is the Steward who
has constant access to the King." There are men
who have power in prayer. They have it because
they live close to God. With a great price they
have won this high prerogative. Ofttimes they are
the humblest of men in earthly station and store.
Very mechanical surely is the idea of Rabbi Isaac
(Jebamoth, 64a), who says: "The prayer of the
righteous is comparable to a pitchfork; as the
pitchfork changes the position of the wheat so the
prayer changes the disposition of God from wrath
to mercy."
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 263
James has a typical case to illustrate his point.
"Elijah was a man of like passions with us" (JKXeiag
dvdgo)7Tog r\v bfioioiradf}c; -rjfxlv), "with a nature just like
our own" (Moffatt). James emphasizes the human
frailties (dfJMoiradrig) of Elijah to show that he does
not refer to ceremonial or sacramental rites when
he urges prayer for the sick. Such prayer is the
privilege, not merely of the elders of the church, but
of any good man who has the ear of God. That
power is not a function of ecclesiastical position, but
the reward of holy living and trust in God. Elijah
had his weaknesses as we all have, but God heard
him. The point for us is that, if God heard Elijah,
he will hear any of us who puts the same amount of
spiritual energy into his prayer. "He prayed fer-
vently" (npooevxzj TrpooTjv^aro) . l There is no use to
pray in any other way. Elijah prayed seven times
before the rain came. Half-hearted prayer defeats
itself (cf. doubting prayer in 1 : 6ff.). Many modern
men have no faith in prayer of any kind save as a
wholesome reaction on the mind of the one who
prays. They scout the idea that the God of the
universe would condescend to listen to the feeble
chatter of such worms in the dust as men. They
conceive it as impossible that God would alter in the
least his will in any particular because, of such insig-
nificant requests. Least of all do they admit the
possibility that God would change the weather in
response to the prayer of one or many individuals.
They argue that the laws of the weather are fixed
1 This idiom, common in the LXX in translation from the He-
brew infinitive absolute, appears also in the common Greek.
264 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
by the laws of nature and that God does not alter
his own laws. A very pretty network of impossi-
bilities is fixed up, but all the same the experience
of Christians breaks right through all these en-
tanglements. A real God is greater than his own
laws and his own will is the chief law of his nature.
God is not an absentee God and he is our Father
and loves for us to tell him our troubles. Certainly
God knows how to work his own laws. We do not
have to think that Elijah had the matter of drouth
and rain in his own hands, at his beck and call (tov
jtfi Ppet-ai mi ovk e[3pe&v). Far from it. Elijah won
in prayer by strenuous prayer and perseverance, not
by lightly informing God of his wishes. Besides,
when rain came in response to the prayer of Elijah,
it came out of clouds, as rain always does. God
made the clouds gather from the west (the Mediter-
ranean) till the rain came. As the hot winds from
the east and the south brought the drouth, so the
west winds brought the rain. Many times in my
own experience I have known people to pray for
rain and the rain came. This very thing happened
last summer (19 14). The rain may not have come
in response to the prayer. Of that I do not know,
but it came the very night in which prayer was
made for it at the prayer meeting. The difficulty
in the matter of rain is no greater than in cases of
sickness. The root of the trouble is the lack of
trust in God, the broken relation with God, the
loss of power with God.
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 265
7. Rescue Work or Restoring the Erring. 5: igf.
James makes a last appeal to his readers and it
has a touch of tenderness. "My brethren" (AdeX-
(pot (jlov). In verse 16 he spoke of the case of a sick
man who is brought to confess his sins and is led
to God. Here he seems to refer specifically to the
case of a brother who has fallen into error. There
are such sad instances that puzzle many a pastor by
their indifference, hardness, and even scorn of
Christ. "If any among you err from the truth, and
one convert him" (kav rig ev v\iiv TrXavrjOr/ a-nb rrj^
dXrjdelag icai kmoTpeipq rig avrdv) . The condition (third
class) is put delicately only as a supposed case, not
assumed as true and yet as probable, alas. "Err"
is from the Latin err are (to wander, to go astray).
The Greek word here (nXavrjdq) suggests the picture
of one who is lost in the mountains, who has missed
his path,1 without passing on the question of his
own part in the process. That is now neither here
nor there, for he is lost. Our "planet" is this word
from the notion that these luminaries were wander-
ing stars, not fixed like the rest. We now know
that none of the stars are "fixed," but they all
move with great speed. But, whatever the cause, it
is not impossible for brethren to go astray "from the
truth." One way to treat them is to kick them out
of the way down the hill. Another way is to go
after them with hammer and tongs to beat them
xThe passive voice does not have its technical force here as in
Rev. 18:23, but rather is more like the middle in sense as in Deut.
22:1 and probably (Mayor) in Luke 21:8; 2 Pet. 2:15. The pas-
sive is constantly making inroads on the middle in the kolvt).
266 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
back into the path. Another way is to give them
up in disgust and to wash our hands of all responsi-
bility. It must be confessed that often it is very
hard to do anything else, since brethren act with
so much independence and resent any effort to
show them a better way. When they start away,
so often they go the whole way. But there is a
more excellent way, the way of love. See, not only
i Cor. 13, but also Gal. 6 : iff. We are our brothers'
keepers in spite of all they say and all that we may
feel. Ye that are spiritual have a call to mind
the broken lives all about you. There is no nobler
work than this rescue work, to "turn a sinner from
the error of his way" (6 imoTpEipag dfjbaprcjXov eic irXavqc;
bdov avTov).1 It is so hard to get a man back on the
right track. He, like all lost men, wanders round
and round in his old tracks of sin and error. He is
the victim of his own logical fallacies and sinful
delusions. Though a giant, he is bound by the
cords of the Lilliputians, the bonds of habit which
he does not break. It is enough to discourage any
social worker in the slums or in the tenement dis-
tricts of our cities to see the hopeless conditions in
which the victims live. Drugs have fastened some
with clamps of steel. Drink has fired the blood of
others. The cigarette has deadened the will of
these. Immorality has hurled these others to the
pit. They stumble into the rescue halls, "cities of
refuge" in our cities. Happy are those who know
1 Note 6 cniorpiipac, the aorist participle describing the worker
for souls.
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 267
how to save souls like these, who have known
better days and who have gone down into the
valley of sin and sorrow. But it is worth while to
save souls like these for whom Jesus died. Let the
rescue worker know (yivooKiro), by personal ex-
perience, in truth) that he "shall save a soul from
death" (ouoei i/w£??v etc davdrov), from a living death
in which such a soul already finds itself and from
eternal death as well. That is the reward of the
winner of souls.
But it is not alone those who go down into the
depths of gross sin, the "pick-me-ups" of life, that
are to be won back. There are many who live in
accord with the outward ethical standards of life
who turn away from the knowledge of Jesus, who go
after the strange gods of gold, of "knowledge falsely
so-called," of materialistic monism, of "New
Thought," of "Christian Science," of "Russellism,"
of any new fad in science or philosophy or religion,
of any new form of old wives' fables that lead men
astray. These are in reality more difficult to win
back to the truth as it is in Jesus, for they have the
pride of knowledge and look with compassionate
condescension on those who still worship Jesus as
God and Saviour from sin.
The worker for souls has one more joy. He
learns to see the good side of human nature. The
bad side is there beyond a shadow of doubt. No
man knows that better than the worker for the
redemption of human souls. But this fact does not
make him a pessimist or a cynic. He sees the
angel in the stone. He learns the love that "shall
268 PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
cover a multitude of sins" (KaXvxpei nkrjdog apaprtibv),1
"hides a host of sins" (Moffatt), covers with a veil
(icaXvipei) the sins of the poor soul who wandered
away and is now brought back. See i Pet. 4 : 8 for
the same idea. This is not the Jewish doctrine of
merit in good works balancing evil ones, as Oesterly
holds. Mayor also thinks that the idea is that the
man who rescues another saves his own soul. But I
cannot agree to that interpretation, so out of har-
mony with the teaching of Jesus and the whole
trend of the gospel message. We do not need to go
back to these "blind guides" of Pharisaism to find
the key to this verse and that in 1 Pet. 4:8, where
we read that "love covers a multitude of sins." It
is the love that no longer sees the sins of the saved
sinner. We see the true idea in Prov. 10: 12 : "Hate
stirreth up strife, but love covereth all transgres-
sions." See also Psa. 85:2: "Thou hast forgiven
the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all
their sin." In Luke 7 : 47 Jesus speaks of the love
of the converted woman as proof that she has been
forgiven much. James presents the joy of the
winner of souls who throws the mantle of love over
the sins of the repentant sinner, the joy of the
Shepherd who has found the lost sheep out on the
mountain and is returning with him in his arms,
the joy of the Father who welcomes home the
prodigal boy with the best robe and the fatted calf,
the joy in the presence of the angels that one sinner
has repented and turned unto God. That is heaven
on earth. The preacher who has missed this joy
1 The Vulgate has it operiet multitudinem peccatorum.
PERSEVERANCE AND PRAYER 269
of winning souls has missed the greatest reward in
his ministry. If he has this, he can do without
much else. He can stand many rebuffs, small
salary, lack of help, if only he has this meat to
eat that satisfied the soul of Jesus when he led
one poor abandoned woman into the light and life
of God.
SOME MODERN BOOKS ON JAMES
Only the best of the modern books are here men-
tioned :
Beyschlag, W. Der Brief des Jakobus. Meyer-
Kommentar. Sechste Aufiage. 1898.
Brown, Charles. The General Epistle of James. A
Devotional Commentary. Second edition. 1907.
Carr, Arthur. The General Epistle of St. James.
The Cambridge Greek Testament. 1896.
1/ Dale, R. W. Discourses on the Epistle of James.
1895.
Hollmann, G. Der Jakobusbrief. Die Schriften des
Neuen Testament. 1907.
Hort, F. J. A. The Epistle of St. James, 1 : 1 to
4:7- i9°9-
Johnstone, R. Lectures Exegetical and Practical.
187 1. Edition two in 1889.
• Knowling, R. J. Commentary on the Epistle of St.
James. The Westminster Series. 1904.
- Mayor, J. B. The Epistle of St. James. Third
Edition. 19 10. The ablest volume on James.
Meinertz, Der Jakobus Brief und sein Verfasser.
1905. Roman Catholic interpretation.
Oesterley, W. The General Epistle of James. The
Expositor's Greek Testament. 191 o.
Patrick, W. James, the Lord's Brother. 1906.
Plummer, A. The General Epistle of St. James.
The Expositor's Bible. 1891.
270
SOME MODERN BOOKS ON JAMES 271
Soden, H. von. Der Brief des Jakobus. Hand-
Commentar. 1893.
Spitta, F. Der Brief Jakobus. 1896.
Weiss, B. Der Jakobusbrief und die neuere Kritik.
1904.
Windisch, H. Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
1911.
BS2785 .R649
Practical and social aspects of
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
1 1012 00014 0758
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