Epistle of James

The Epistle of James (Ancient Greek: Ἰάκωβος Iakōbos), the Book of James, or simply James, is one of the twenty-two epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament.

The author identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," who is writing to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" (James 1:1). The epistle is traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus (James the Just), and the audience is generally considered to be Jewish Christians, who were dispersed outside of Palestine due to persecution.

Framed within an overall theme of patient perseverance during trials and temptations, James writes to encourage believers to live consistently with what they have learned in Christ. He wants his readers to mature in their faith in Christ by living what they say they believe. He condemns various sins, including pride, hypocrisy, favouritism, and slander. He encourages believers to humbly live by godly rather than worldly wisdom and to pray in all situations.

Within the New Testament canon, the Epistle of James is noteworthy in that it makes no reference to the death, resurrection, or divine sonship of Jesus. It refers to Jesus twice, as "the Lord Jesus Christ" and as "our glorious Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1, 2:1).

According to Robert J. Foster, "there is little consensus as to the genre, structure, dating, and authorship of the book of James." There are four "commonly espoused" views concerning authorship and dating of the Epistle of James:

The writer refers to himself only as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." As many as six different men may be referred to in the Bible as James, and if none of them wrote this letter, some other man not mentioned in the Bible by the name of James could be the author.

Jesus had two apostles named James: James, the son of Zebedee and James, the son of Alphaeus, but it is unlikely that either of these wrote the letter. According to the Book of Acts, James, the son of Zebedee, was martyred about 44 AD. That would be very early for him to have been the writer. The other apostle James, the son of Alphaeus, is not prominent in the Scriptural record, and very little is known about him.

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