James

We come, finally, out of the jungle of Paul's theology. Now, we look into the thoughts of the other central leaders of the early Christian church. James was always my favorite (I named my son after him), mainly because his letter expressed an active, social conscience. This, I liked. Apparently, though, Paul didn't much care for James' thoughts, for they contradict what Paul said, thereby earning him the label of a false teacher. I have a quote from Martin Luther to the effect that he didn't care for this book, either.

Jam 1:2-4 - My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
So when things go wrong in life, James tells believers to think happy thoughts! The things that hurt you are not evil, but they are good tests of your strength that come from God.

Jam 1:5-7 - If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
James here echoes things said by Jesus in the gospels. Anything you ask for will be given to believers (though here, James says it's only immaterial benefits, specifically "wisdom"), but they have to completely believe in order to get what they ask for. James thinks that doubting is a horrible character flaw. Personally, I doubt that he thought this attitude through very well.

Jam 1:17 - Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Here's another verse that tries to support the claim that God never changes. And this comes from James, the person whose brother claimed that God wanted to completely change the religion handed to the Hebrews centuries before! Also of interest to me is the claim that if something is "good" in some way, it has to come from God. It as much as says that if any person does something nice, it's actually a matter of God acting through that person, rather than the person doing something nice of their own free will!

Jam 1:25-27 - But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Here, James gets into trouble with Paul and Martin Luther. He says that religion (or faith, if you prefer!) must be accompanied by good deeds to have any value. Paul didn't like this idea, claiming that faith alone is all that's needed to get into heaven. James' thought here also more closely reflects the things Jesus said in the gospels, which I expect Paul wouldn't have cared to hear!

Jam 2:10,11 - For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Now this is just plain idiotic. It goes against any concept of justice, such as "let the punishment fit the crime," and "each person should pay the penalty for the crimes he committed." Now, James tells us that if someone takes a jelly bean from a neighbor's candy dish without permission, that person is automatically guilty of committing murder, rape and all other crimes!

Jam 2:14-17 - What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
We get back into the salvation by faith and works comments. Personally, I think that James' attitude is admirable, as far as it goes. Unfortunately, it also sets up yet another contradiction in the Bible, one that causes an awful lot of hard feelings and animosity!

Jam 3:6-8 - And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue-a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Well, James was certainly no fan of free speech! Perhaps he was thinking of the way people can say hurtful things, but if that's the case, I really think this was carried overboard. Instead, I think this is a case of demonization, attacking human nature, and accusing people of being completely evil by their nature, which I think is a wrong-headed, irresponsible and simplistic view.

Jam 5:7,8 - Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
Here's yet another writer in the New Testament who thought that the end of the world was near when he wrote nearly 2000 years ago! Oddly enough, this is one of the few things that all who addressed the subject agreed on. Not one writer came close to predicting that the wait for Jesus' triumphant return would be more than 100 generations! The closest was the writer of the gospel of John (written c. 100 CE), and his one statement was very ambiguous.

Jam 5:15-18 - The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
I spent twenty years going faithfully to a Baptist church, where every sick person had prayers said for them. Some recovered, some died. I saw no reason to think the prayers had any effect. As to Elijah, I think James had a few things mixed up about the story of the drought. In 1 Kings, Elijah announced that no rain would fall, unless he directed it to. He never had to pray to maintain the drought, according to what I read.

Jam 5:19,20 - My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
If you'll look in Hebrews, you'll see that the author there says it's impossible to bring back a wandering believer. It would have been interesting to see a conversation between the two writers, but the more interesting thing is that this is yet another contradiction in the supposedly "unified" Bible.