THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES

There are seven epistles which from the fourth century have gone under the name of the Catholic (or General) Epistles, viz. James; 1 and 2 Peter; i, 3, 3 John; and Jude. They were so called in contradistinction to Paul's epistles, which, with the exception of the pastoral epistles, are addressed to individual Churches, also seven in number. In most of the Greek MSS. the Catholic epistles stand next to the Book of Acts, although they were much later than the epistles of Paul in obtaining general recognition in the Church.

"THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES"¹

In common with four other of the Catholic epistles, viz. 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude, this epistle is described by Eusebius (about 325 A.D.) as a disputed book of the New Testament, in the sense of not being universally acknowledged by the Church.

In the fourth century the claims of these and other writings to a place in the New Testament Canon were carefully sifted, the result being to vindicate the character of each of the disputed epistles (as appears from the Decrees of the Council of Laodicea, 364 A.D., and of Carthage, 397 A.D.), while a number of other books which, although not in the New Testament, had been read in church along with them were finally disallowed.

With regard to the Epistle of James in particular the rarity of allusions to it in the early Christian writers² may be accounted for by its circulation being confined to Jewish Christians, as well as by the narrow sphere of labour in which the writer himself moved, his life apparently having been entirely spent in Jerusalem.

The internal evidence of the book is entirely in its favour, and it is now generally admitted to be a genuine work of "James, the Lord's brother" (Gal. i. 19), who presided for many years over the Church at Jerusalem, (1) The writer's modest designation of himself — "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ " is against the idea of forgery. (2) The epistle was evidently written for Jewish Christians by one of themselves. It speaks of Abraham as "our father" (ii. 21); it calls the readers' place of worship "your synagogue" (ii. 2, R. V.), it calls God "the Lord of Sabaoth " (v. 4); it takes for granted an acquaintance with Old Testament characters (ii. 25; V. 10, 17); it alludes to Jewish forms of oath (v. 12); it refers to "the law "as still binding (ii. 8-1 1; iv. 11); and it contains no allusions to those sins of the flesh which figure so prominently in epistles meant for Gentile readers. (3) It bears traces of having been written by a native of Palestine — in its allusions to "the scorching wind" (i. 11), the sea (i. 6; iii. 4), "sweet water and bitter" (the latter referring to the brackish springs of the country, iii. 11-12); the vine, olive, and fig (iii. 12); "the early and latter rain" (v. 7). (4) It shows a familiar acquaintance with Christ's teaching, although in doing so it does not use precisely the language of our Gospels.³ (5) It reflects a state of Jewish society, the rich oppressing the poor, which in a great manner ceased to exist after the rebellion that terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem. With regard to the author's personal history the following points may be noted. He and his brothers Joses, Simon, and Jude (Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi 3) were either the children of Joseph and Mary, and younger brothers of our Lord, or else they were the children of Joseph by a former marriage. The latter supposition seems the more probable, both because it is in harmony with the earliest traditions of antiquity, and because it helps to explain the attitude of James and his brothers towards Jesus during His lifetime (Matt. xii. 46 and John vii. 3-5), and the committal of Mary to the keeping, not of her stepsons, but of the Apostle John (John xix. 26). We find that at an advanced period in our Lord's ministry His brethren did not believe in Him (John vii. 5); but immediately after the Ascension they are associated with the disciples in the upper room (Acts i. 14).

According to a tradition, which we have no reason to disbelieve, their conversion was due to the appearance of the risen Lord to James, which is mentioned 1 Cor. xv. 7. Among the Christians at Jerusalem James soon took a prominent place, being, indeed, the recognised head of the Church there after the death of James, the brother of John (44 A.D.), and the dispersion of the other apostles. This commanding position he owed partly, no doubt, to the special relation in which he stood to Jesus, and partly to his own high character, which procured for him the name of the Just (or Righteous) and Obliam ("the bulwark of the people"). He is said to have been a Nazarite, and so much given to prayer in the Temple that his knees had grown hard like those of a camel. He was essentially a Hebrew of the Hebrews, who clung to the law and the prophets, and valued the Gospel as their fulfilment Hence his name was sometimes used by the Judaising party in opposition to Paul (Gal. ii. 12; cf. Acts xv. 24) — as indeed it continued to be long after his death⁴ — although he himself recognised Paul as the apostle of the Gentiles, and did not insist on a full observance of the law by Gentile converts (Gal. 11 9; Acts xv. 19-21, 25-26). He died a death of martyrdom, being stoned by the Jews — as Josephus and Hegesippus relate — shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, on account of his testimony to Jesus as the Messiah.

To whom written, — " To the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion" (i. 1). In view of the Jewish traits in the epistle, which have been already pointed oat, and having regard to the migratory habits of the readers (iv. 13), there is no reason to take these opening words in any other than a literal sense. Jews of the Dispersion were to be found in almost every part of the world, as appears from Acts ii. 5-11. The expression there used to describe the pilgrims who came up to Jerusalem, "devout men from every nation under heaven," is supported by the evidence of many independent witnesses, such as Philo and Josephus. These exiled Jews were chiefly located in Babylon, Syria, and Egypt; and it was probably to those resident in Syria that copies of this epistle would be first lent The epistle is addressed to Christian Jews (ii. 1, 7; v. 7-8), of whom there were many in Syria liable to persecution and violence similar to that which Saul was inflicting on the Christians previous to his conversion; cf. ii 6-7 and Acts ix. 1-2. While addressing himself mainly to Christian readers the writer seems also to have occasionally in view his unbelieving countrymen. The denunciations in v. 1-6 may be regarded as an apostrophe to the wealthy unbelievers, chiefly of the sect of the Sadducees, who truckled to the Romans and oppressed their poorer brethren, especially those who professed Christianity. James would have many opportunities of hearing of the trials which beset his believing countrymen in their distant homes; and, as he seems never to hare left Jerusalem, it was natural that under a sense of the high responsibility attaching to his position he should wish to address them in writing as he does in this epistle.

Where and when written.— Both Scripture and tradition concur in representing James as having constantly resided at Jerusalem, so there is no reason to doubt that the letter emanated from that city. With regard to the date of its composition there is less certainty. That it was written before the outbreak of the war, 66 A.D., which put an end to the Sadducean ascendency, is generally admitted. We may also infer, from the absence of any allusions to the sharp controversy regarding the obligations of the Jewish law on Gentile converts which gave rise to the Council of Jerusalem (50 A.D.), that it was not written either at that time or for several years afterwards.

On the whole, considering the marked absence from the epistle of anything like developed Christian doctrine, the continued expectation which it exhibits of Christ's speedy coming to judge the world (v. 8), and the application of the term Synagogue to an assembly of Christian worshippers (ii. 2), we are justified in assigning to the epistle a very early date — say 44-49 A.D. If this supposition be correct, we have here the oldest book of the New Testament

Its Character and Contents.— This epistle is less doctrinal or theological than any other in the New Testament. It partakes largely of the character of the Sermon on the Mount, which it resembles, not only in its general tone and sentiment, but in many of its expressions.⁵ Its tone is eminently practical, the object of the writer being to inculcate Christian morality as essential to salvation (e.g. ii. 14.26). But it gives a prominent place to faith and patience {e.g. I 2-12), and includes in its good works the careful ruling of the tongue (iii. 1-12). It also dwells much on the wisdom⁶ which should characterise the religious man (e.g. iii. 13-18), and refers in detail to many other forms of duty — Christian practice being to the writer the highest form of outward worship (i. 27). The style of the epistle is sententious and forcible, passing swiftly, and sometimes without any apparent logical formation, from one topic to another, and it has about it not a little of the vehemence and fervour of the old prophets. James does not hesitate to denounce in very strong and plain terms, which savour, in some respects, of the language of Amos,⁷ the greed and cruelty of the rich, the servility of the poor, and the general vanity, strife, hypocrisy, and worldly-mindedness which were characteristic of the Jews at this period of their history, and had begun to infect the Christians in their midst.

He insists on character as the test of true religion, and demands that a man shall show the reality of his faith by his life and conduct In his protests against an empty profession of religion, he is led into the use of language which has sometimes been supposed (by Luther, for example) to be irreconcilably at variance with the teaching of Paul.⁸ But in reality there is no such inconsistency between them.

The good works which James contends for are altogether different from the ritualistic observances which Paul refused to acknowledge as necessary for salvation; the justification he has in view in this epistle is not the initial admission into the Divine favour which Paul's Gentile converts needed, but the continuance of God's people in a state of grace to which they are already called; while the faith which he depreciates is not that personal union with the Lord Jesus Christ which Paul declared to be all important for the Christian, but mere intellectual belief, such as the acceptance of the monotheistic doctrine (ii. 19) that lay at the foundation of the Jewish faith. No one can read Romans ii. 17-24 without seeing that Paul would have concurred most heartily in all that this epistle says about the necessity for carrying religion into

1) The Hebrew original of this name is Jacob.

2) The earliest express quotation from this epistle is found in the writings of Origen; but the language of Clement of Rome, and still more clearly of Hennas, would lead us to believe that it was known to these waters. Still more significant is the fact that it has a place b the ancient Syriac Version (the Peschito).

3) Cf. i.5, 6 and Mark xi 23; i. 25 and John xiii. 17; ii. 5. and Luke vi. 20; vi. 9 and Luke vi. 25; iv. 10 and Matt, xxiii. 10; v. 10 and Matt. v. 37.

4) In the (so-called) Clementine Homilies and Recognitions.

5) Cf. i. 2 and Matt. v. 10-12; i. 4 and Matt. i. 48; i. 5 and Matt, vii. 7-12.; i. 20 and Matt v. 22; ii. 13 and Matt, vi. 14.15; ii. 14 and Matt, vii. 21-23; iv. 4 and Matt. vi. 24 iv. 10 and Matt. v. 3-4; iv. 11 and Matt. vii. 1-5; v. 2 and Matt, vi. 19; v. 20 and Matt v. 19; v. 18 and Matt. v. 34-37.

6) Hence James has been called "the Apostle of Wisdom"; and the designation given to him in the Greek liturgy is that of "James the Wise."

7) Cf. iv. 13, v. 1-2 and Amos viii. 5, 10; v. 5 and Amos vi. 1-6.

8) It may have been the language of James ii. 10 that gave colour to the misrepresentations referred to in Acts xv. 24.