Page 4 - General Epistles (James through Jude) Textbook

General Epistles—James through Jude

By Justin Siame, MABE

Study Section 1: Introductory Matters of the Epistle According to James.

1.1 Connect.

Do you know that there are four people named James in the New Testament and one of them
wrote one of the inspired books of the Bible, James? How do we know that? That is an
interesting question which cannot be answered by just reading or studying the epistle according
to James itself. However, if you want to know which James among the four wrote the letter
according to James, the place where he wrote it and the date, and occasion and purpose for
writing it, read on…

1.2 Objectives.

1. The student should be able to identify the author of the letter.

2. The student should be able to identify and describe the place of writing of the letter.

3. The student should be able to evaluate the occasions and purposes for writing the letter.

4. The student should be able to describe the recipients of the epistle.

1.3 Introductory Matters.

Introductory matters for any biblical book discuss the writer of the epistle, place (Provenance)
and date of writing, recipients of the epistle, occasion, and purpose of the epistle.
Author.

The letter itself makes a bold claim that it was written by James “a servant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ” (Jas. 1:1 [NIV]). But the question which remain unanswered is this: who wrote this letter
since there are probably four people named James in the New Testament?

First James from Mark 6:3.
“Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his
sisters here with us?” And so, they took offense at him” (NET [cf. Luke 8:19]). In this passage, we are
being introduced to the first person named James. This James is biologically the half-brother to his
Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the half-brother because he was born to Joseph, who would later on become
the husband to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Based on John 7:5: “(For not even his own brothers believed
in him.),” it seems James was not even a believer yet. Also, clear opposition to Jesus’ ministry shows that

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