JAMES, THE EPISTLE OF. The Epistle of James is one of a small group of New Testament writings which since the end of the second century have been known as " Catholic Epistles," because they are addressed to Christians in general. Eusebius (c. 325 A.D.) described it as a disputed book, that is to say, as a book not universally accepted by the Church. In the fourth cen tury, however, it was definitely recognised as canonical (Council of Laodicea, 364 A.D.; Council of Carthage, 397 A.D.). The epistle is very Hebraic in tone and language, and it has been widely held that the James whose name it bears was " James, the Lord's brother " (Galatians i. 19). who became president of the Church at Jerusalem. The opening words, " James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting," have been sup posed to favour this view. But these words may well be editorial. The fact is that the Epistle of James Is a puzzling writing. It may either be very early or rather late. It was evidently written by a Jew for Jews. There is little, if anything, in it that is distinctively Christian, and it is not referred to by Christian writers before the time of Origen. One is inclined to think, with Spitta, that it is a pre-Christian Jewish writing which was afterwards adapted to Christian use. Von Soden also holds that, at any rate parts of the epistle are of Jewish origin. New theories have been pro pounded by G. Currie Martin and J. H. Moulton. Currie Martin's theory was first explained in The Expositor. " The idea. briefly expressed, is that James, the brother
of the Lord, may have made a collection of sayings other wise not preserved, and have made these the basis of short homilies or reflections, which are collected together in this present work. It may not have been designed at all as a letter in the first instance, but after the death of James some of his disciples may have realised the value of such a record, and brought them all together in his name, and sent them out with his authority " (Books of the N.T.. 1909). The theory of J. H. Moulton is ex plained and commended by Prof. A. S. Peake. J. H. Moulton thinks that the epistle, which contains a number of sayings of Jesus not recorded elsewhere, was addressed not to Christians but to Jews. " This has the very great advantage that it explains why a Christian writing should be so destitute of avowedly Christian elements. The writer would not damage his appeal by specific references to Christ, above all to the scandal of His cross. But he included many sayings of Jesus in the hope that their own intrinsic beauty and worth would commend them to the readers and prepare them for a truer estimate of the crucified Nazarene whom they bated and despised. This involves that, as other scholars have suggested, the references to Christ were not a part of the original composition." See the Commentaries by J. B. Mayor and R. J. Knowling; the Encycl. Bibl.; J. A. M'Clymont; G. Currie Martin; Arthur S. Peake, In-tr.: J. Moffatt, Intr.