1:19), that he was one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church (Gal.

15:7), that he was “the Lord’s brother” (Gal. We also read about this James in Paul’s epistles, where he notes that Jesus made a special post-Resurrection appearance to this James (1 Cor. 49 (Acts 15:13-21) and when Paul returned to Jerusalem for the final time in A.D. This is a reference to the second famous James, who played an important role at the Council of Jerusalem in A.D. Before he did so, he recounted how an angel brought him out of jail, and then said, “Tell this to James and to the brethren” (12:17). But Peter miraculously escaped and fled Jerusalem (Acts 12:3-17). James the brother of JesusĪfter Herod Agrippa had James son of Zebedee killed, he arrested Peter and tried to have him killed as well. 41 and 44, and so it’s likely that the author of the epistle is another famous James. But he was martyred by King Herod Agrippa I, sometime between A.D.

The first was James the son of Zebedee, who was famous because he was one of Jesus’ core disciples. This lets us figure out which James is writing because, although there are multiple Jameses, only two had such prominence. The fact that he was famous is also indicated by the brief way he introduces himself, as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” There were many first-century Christians named James who would have fit that description, so this suggests that he was a particularly well-known one who didn’t need to identify himself further. That tells us something very important about this James. It could be questioned whether “the twelve tribes” is meant literally, but the reference to the Dispersion indicates an international audience. (“Dispersion” refers to Hebrews not living in Palestine.) It’s being sent to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.” Taken literally, that would be members of any of the twelve tribes of Israel, wherever they are living in the Roman world. “The twelve tribes in the Dispersion”Ī clue to which James this is may be found in the letter’s address. But which one? James was one of the most popular male names in first-century Palestine, and there are multiple men in the New Testament who bear it. This letter identifies its author as James. This is the way letters were usually addressed at the time: They stated the sender, the recipient, and a greeting. The book begins: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greeting” (1:1). It has often been thought that James is criticizing and contradicting Paul.īut a close look at the text-and at how the book came to be-suggests something else.

Much of the reason is the seeming conflict between James and Paul on the issue of “works” and their relationship to salvation.

Book of james background