Sentence Structure: How to Craft the Perfect Sentence
Authorship and authenticity of the Message
Of the ancient writers, Origen was the first to mention the authorship of the Message (Orig. In Ioan. comm. XIX 23. 152-153; Idem. In Ep. ad Rom. IV 8. 30). It is true that he called the author of the Epistle simply James or Ap. James, without specifying which James was in question (only the Latin first interpretation of Origen’s Epistle to the Romans by Rufin of L’Aquilaise explains what James, the brother of the Lord, is meant). Euseb, bishop of Caesarea, refers to J. P. in connection with the definition of authorship, but cites it as true and belonging to James, the brother of the Lord (Euseb. Hist. eccl. III 25. 3; cf.: Ibid. II 23. 24-25).
The Blessed Virgin also reports that James, the brother of the Lord, wrote one epistle, but it was published by someone else under his name (Hieron. De vir. illustr. 2. 2). In so doing, he identifies this Jacob with Ap. Jacob by Alphaeus (a similar 2-step pattern of the appearance of other texts under the name of Jacob is found in the 2nd Apocalypse of Jacob: “This is the speech which Jacob, the brother of the Lord, gave in Jerusalem and which Mary, one of the priests, recorded” (NHC. 2 Apoc. Jac. 44. 13-17).
The beginning of Apocalypse of Jacob. The Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles. 1072 г. (MSU. NB. Grech. No. 2. L. 100).
The beginning of Ap. James’s Cathedral Epistle. The Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles. 1072 г. (MSU. NB. Grech. No. 2. L. 100).
In the Middle Ages, the question of I. P.’s authenticity was not raised; with the beginning of the Reformation, it was again actively discussed. M. Luther in the preface to the NZ (1522) rejected I. P. as genuine on the grounds that, in his opinion, it contradicts the teaching of A. Paul. Nevertheless, his text remained in Protestant publications of the Bible.
In modern research, the problem of authorship is divided into two questions: which James is meant in the first lines of James and who is the true author of the text? If the majority of scholars answer the 1st question unambiguously – we are talking about James, the brother of the Lord, one of the most authoritative leaders of the Jerusalem community, then the 2nd question is still in dispute.
The simplicity of the introductory formula “Jacob, slave of God and Lord Jesus Christ” (if the Epistle had been false, its anonymous author would have had to identify more precisely to whom the Epistle is attributed in order to give the text more authority); the respectful attitude towards the Law of Moses, corresponding to the way Jacob, brother of the Lord, treated him, as it became known from the others, are evidence of the traditional authorship of Jacob. (e.g. James 1: 25; 2: 8-12; cf. Acts 15: 13-21; 21: 18-24); the similarities between the speeches of James in the Acts and those of James.
Among the exegetes of the 20th c. the traditional attribution of I. P. was defended by: J. Mayor (Mayor. 1897), F. Mussner (Mussner. 1964), L. Mitton (Mitton. 1966), E. Sidebottom (Sidebottom. 1967), J. Mussner (Mussner. 1964), L. Mitton (Mitton. 1966), E. Sidebottom (Sidebottom. 1967), J. Sidebottom (Sidebottom. 1967). Adamson (1976), D. Moo (Moo. 1985), S. Kistemaker (1986), D. Guthrie (1990), P. Hartin (1991), L. Johnson (1995), J. Buckham (1999). Read more information on this sitehttps://argoprep.com/blog/sentence-structure-how-to-craft-the-perfect-sentence/
Opponents of traditional authorship cite a number of arguments: the author says nothing about the earthly ministry of Christ, although, according to A. Guthrie (1990), L. Johnson (1995), J. Bockham (1999). According to Paul, the author was one of the witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ (1 Cor 15:7); the epistle of such an authoritative leader was ignored until the end of the Second World War. These Bible scholars believe that by law in these verses J.P. means the law of the gospel, and not the Old Testament law, because the Epistle as a whole does not mention the ritual commandments of Moses. The similarity between the Acts and J.P. is too exaggerated, there are practically no coincidences; at best, we can state that the author of J.P. was familiar with the text of the Acts. Some researchers suggest that the anonymous author of the Epistle was aware of the martyrdom of James, the brother of the Lord – James 5. 1-6 (Martin. 1988), but this is not so obvious as it may be just an allusion to Prem 2, or Jesus Christ, as in 1 Peter 3. 18; 1 Jn 2. 1, 29. Finally, the strongest argument against the authorship of James is the language of the Epistle, which approaches some samples of Greek prose and testifies to the large vocabulary of the author. In this regard, researchers doubt that James the Righteous had sufficient education to write such a text. Among the supporters of the pseudonymity of the Epistle are J. Ropes (Ropes. 1916), M. Dibelius (Dibelius. 1976), J. Moffatt (Moffatt. 1928), A. Meyer (Meyer. 1930), B. Reicke (Reicke. 1964), J. Cantinat (Cantinat. 1973), W. Schrage, H. Balz (Schrage, Balz. 1973), S. Loz (Laws. 1980), and C. Burchard (Burchard. 2000).
The weakness of these theories is as follows. The Church could not recognize the book as authoritative just because it was written in the name of the apostle (especially during the period of wide circulation of dubious scriptures and with the popularity of Ap. James among heretic-gnostics).
In the ancient world, most of the texts were written with the help of secretaries, who could also be involved in this case. On this basis (taking into account that the pseudonymity of A. James is the same as that of James. P.’s pseudonym is minimal and limited to the title only.
Spelling place and recipients
According to tradition, EP was sent from Jerusalem to the diaspora. The main arguments are the letters James 1. 1 and the attribution of the Epistle to Jacob, the brother of the Lord, his ministry was inextricably linked with Jerusalem. In addition, the theme of poverty is addressed in James. The theme of poverty, as addressed in J.P., is most closely related to the realities of the Jerusalem kehilla, as represented in the Acts of the Holy Apostles and the epistles of Apostle Paul. The image of early and late rain in James 5. 7 may have been understood primarily by the inhabitants of the region of Palestine or Syria.
However, a number of objections were raised to such conclusions. First, the local colour in J. P. is absent altogether (James 5. 7 is based on Old Testament prototypes – Second 11. 14; Jeremiah 5. 24 or Joel 2. 23, which were available to all Christians). Secondly, the discussion of the Judeo-Christian character of the epistle and the congregation, to which it refers, is not based on the text of the epistle, but on information about James, the brother of the Lord, who often predetermines the conclusions of the researchers. Third, attempts to suggest alternative places where the Epistle might have been composed – Rome (Laws. 1980; Reicke. 1964), Alexandria (Schneider. 1961), Antioch (Davids. 1982; Martin. 1988; Hartin. 1991), Corinth (Syreeni. 2002) – are also unconvincing. Moreover, a number of researchers (especially after the work of Dibelius) doubt whether I.P. is a letter, which means that there is a possibility that the author of the text and the audience, for some of them the text was composed, were in the same place and belonged to the same community.
If, however, we admit that James 1. 1 refers in one way or another to the audience, the interpretation of the expression “twelve tribes in dispersion” is of particular importance. At first glance, these words clearly refer to Jews who may have converted to Christianity.
However, as an ethnic reality the 12 tribes had already disappeared by the 1st century AD. Although the prophets mention 12 tribes (Ez 47. 13, 22; Zach 9. 1), in the eschatological context they have only individual tribes (Isa 11. 11-16; Zach 10. 6-12). The “twelve tribes” in this epoch are mainly spoken about by Christ. The authors who associate the concept of the ET with this concept. In the “Pastor” of Herm the 12 tribes that inhabit the whole world are all who believed in Christ (Herm. Pastor. III 9. 17). In the same way in 1 Peter 1. 1 The word “scattering” refers to all Christians as the new people of God. But in this case, in Christ’s texts sometimes found an anachronistic or figurative name of the Jews 12 tribes (Acts 26. 7).
IN I. P. there are no indications concerning the ritual commandments (circumcision, clean/pure, food, Sabbath). Uncleanness” is not ritual, but moral uncleanness (e.g., wickedness – James 1:21). The washing of hands is synonymous with repentance: “…cleanse the hands, sinners, correct the hearts, doubles” (4:8). Since ethical issues are central to the epistle, it is impossible to determine whether it is addressed to Christians of Jewish or Gentile origin. In any case, the statement of the commandments of the law in this version was acceptable to both. The only thing that can be considered indisputable is that, unlike 1 Peter is not addressed to newly baptized Christians, but to the established Christian community.
The purposes of the Epistle
The message is mainly practical, ethical and intended to correct some negative trends in the behavior of its readers. It deals with such issues as the right attitude to wealth, caution in the use of words, attitude to vows, Christ’s prayer, etc. The second purpose of the Epistle, less obvious and controversial to researchers, is the desire of the author of the Epistle to correct the misinterpretation of the teaching of Apostle Paul by some Christians.