^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 proofs 1 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 apostle 1 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 atmosphere 2 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 inscriptions 1 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. 
 
 i 2 Suicer, 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. Deissmann 1 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 x ei P a \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. Broadus 3 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 Dale 5 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." Mayor 1 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 four 2 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 
 Farrar 1 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 Plummer 2 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 saw 2 
 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.) agree 2 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 trouble 4 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). Patrick 1 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- 
 rick 2 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. Hort 1 
 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. Hort 1 
 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 Alexandria 1 says that James the Just 
 "was thrown from the gable [of the temple], and 
 beaten to death by a fuller with a club." Hegesip- 
 pus 2 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 Josephus 3 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. Moulton 1 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 Milligan 2 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 Moffatt 1 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. 
 
5 o 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? 
 Zahn 1 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 Patrick 1 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. 
 Johnstone 1 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 dpxv v ) 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.). Philo 1 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 wave 1 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 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 sxV T£ 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 Rome 1 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 inconstancy 2 
 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 b i2) 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- 
 coveries 2 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°P T0V ) 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)/6via t 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-nagxv v 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 ex ETf ) 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 (ex ere 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 X9 va °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 xP va& X ei P- 
 
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- 
 
ii 4 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 choice 1 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 
 
i 3 o 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 know 1 "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 leaned 1 
 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 x ei ^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 (x a ^ lva 7 0) 7V aai ) , 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, 489 1 ) 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 
 
 1 Cf. 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 vfilv y ). 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; i5:44 bis > 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., 364 20 ). 
 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 ex ere ) 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 (V ov fl)> 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%^9 a 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&P a 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 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<*P lv ), literally "greater grace," "yet he gives grace 
 more and more" (Moffatt). The words "giveth 
 grace" (didaoiv x^9 lv ) 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^9 lv ) 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, 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 i n 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 %Q va °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). 
 
2 3 o 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. 1166 13 
 
 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 account 1 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 huSix 8 ™ r ° v Ti i tuov 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; 
 2 3 : 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) an d 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 
 
 x The 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 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 HIGHSMITH#45115