Who do you think wrote the book of James? The book identifies the author only as “James, the servant of Jesus Christ.” The prevailing opinion, if one discounts a pseudonymous author, is that the epistle was written by the brother of Jesus. I don’t find the evidence compelling.<\/p>\n
There are four James mentioned in the New Testament. Besides Jesus’s half-brother, two were apostles and one was the father of an apostle (Judas, not Iscariot). Since we know nothing about him, I think it is unlikely that Judas ‘ father wrote the letter. It also seems safe to discount James the son of Alphaeus, since he is essentially unknown. But it appears to me that James the son of Zebedee is too quickly dismissed as a possibility.<\/p>\n
Here’s how it happened in one (good) commentary I read and virtually the same scenario replayed in the class discussion this week. James the son of Zebedee is considered, but because he was martyred so early <\/em>(Acts 12), he is rejected. Then James the brother is considered and deemed to be possible because he died much later (in AD 62). But because the book talks about being “justified by works,” it is (rightly) concluded that it must have been written before Galatians and the Jerusalem Council, as James surely would have been more sensitive in his wording had he been aware of Paul’s letters and battles. Thus James was written around 46-48. No one stops to consider that this is not much later than the date of James Z’s death in 44. In other words, if James may have been written by the brother in 46, why could not it have been written by James Z in 44?<\/p>\n The nice thing with a doctoral seminar is that you have many students who have recently studied the subject who can compare notes. My query received two responses, both of which are reasonable but not, in my view, convincing. First, tradition identifies the author as the Lord’s brother. From what I can tell, though, the tradition is very limited. Second, there are similarities in wording between the book and the words of James in Acts 15:13-23. This includes the use of chairein<\/i> (“greetings”) in James 1:1 and Acts 15:23 (nowhere else in NT), the passive use of “call” with “name” in James 2:7 and Acts 15:17, and the phrase, “listen, my brothers” in both James 2:5 and Acts 15:13. These are better arguments than the quick brush-off that James Z was “too early,” but it’s not enough to get me thinking about another subject.<\/p>\n I think that James Z deserves further consideration for a few reasons. First, everyone recognizes the massive influence of Jesus’s teaching upon the author of the book. This fits better with one of the inner three disciples than it does for a brother who rejected Jesus’s claims until after the resurrection and presumably was not privy to much of Jesus’s teaching (John 7:5; 1 Cor 15:7). Second, James Z was an apostle. In my (widely-rejected) view, there was one criterion for an inspired work of Scripture: it had to be written by a spokesman of God. In the OT, these were called prophets; in the NT, they were called apostles. James Z is eminently qualified in this regard. [FN1] His brother, John Z, wrote one gospel, three letters, and Revelation. Peter, the other inside man, wrote two letters. Third, the book employs terminology which would be quite appropriate for a fisherman, as James Z was before following Jesus (Luke 5:10-11). This includes the references to the “wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (1:6), “enticed” (a technical term used by fishermen; 1:14), “ships guided by a very small rudder” (3:4), “sea creature” (3:7), and “fresh and salt water” springs (think of Heptapegon<\/a>; 3:11).<\/p>\n I’m not saying this proves the case. But I think it merits more consideration than it seems to receive. As I thought through this tonight, I recalled a friend arguing something similar. A quick Google search has revealed an article<\/a> of his on the web for those interested in pursuing this further. Perhaps the majority view is wrong.<\/p>\n FN1: The Lord’s brother is apparently called an apostle in Gal 1:19; this is surprising to me given the qualifications given in Acts 1:21-22. In any case, James Z is not an inferior apostle to the Lord’s brother. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who do you think wrote the book of James? The book identifies the author only as “James, the servant of Jesus Christ.” The prevailing opinion, if one discounts a pseudonymous author, is that the epistle was written by the brother of Jesus. I don’t find the evidence compelling. 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