The Letter of James

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The Letter of James is perhaps needed more than ever today. In this commentary, Hart argues that the epistle is indeed the work of James of Jerusalem, "the brother of the Lord, " that it was an encyclical letter, and that its chief concern was to combat a distorted version of Paul's gospel. It is a work with a singular purpose: to bring the churches back to the most basic teachings of Jesus. In its defense of orthopraxy as the primary Christian standard, its denunciation of those with wealth who exploit or neglect the poor, its hard words for those who have taken on the mantel of "teacher" without first learning to restrain their tongues, and above all its exhortation to relearn the truth that "faith without works [of love] is dead, " James could be talking to churches in our own time. This commentary presents James afresh, as a living guide with a perennial message for those who seek to follow Jesus. It is pastoral in intent, written for those who teach and preach, those who desire a more authentic discipleship, and those who practice lectio divina--the meditative reading of Scripture. (Includes the entire Greek text and the new English translation of the epistle by David Bentley Hart.) "Addison Hart's commentary on James accomplishes the difficult task of placing the epistle in its historical and cultural context, including its dialogue with strands of Pauline thought and Jesus's teachings, while at the same time making the epistle come to life for the modern reader. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it." --Roman A. Montero, Author of All Things in Common: The Economic Practices of the Early Christians "The apostle James comes alive in Addison Hodges Hart's fascinating commentary on this New Testament epistle . . . In his own way, James was clearly as powerful a figure as Paul in the early church, advocating a subtly different take on Jesus's teaching, and is someone whom Christians still need to hear and understand if they are to know God in their hearts and lives." --Mark Vernon, Author of The Idler Guide to Ancient Philosophy (2016) "The greatest surprise of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation was the sheer number of prominent Protestant theologians announcing its end. If the Reformation project of a 'faith vs. works' Paulinism has run out of steam, then the 'What is to be done?' question arises. Addison Hodges Hart's The Letter of James has a plausible answer in precisely a believing-through-doing approach to faith, orthopraxy, based upon James. This return of the repressed Jamesian 'faith through works, ' simultaneously ancient and post-modern, is presented not merely as a rival to early-modern (and ancient) Paulinisms, but also unearths resources for a reading of the Pauline corpus against Paulinism through orthopraxy." --Artur Rosman, Managing Editor, Church Life Journal Addison Hodges Hart is the author of six previous books on the topics of Scripture, spirituality, interfaith dialogue, and doctrine. His two most recent books are Strangers and Pilgrims Once More: Being Disciples of Jesus in a Post-Christendom World (2014) and The Woman, the Hour, and the Garden: A Study of Imagery in the Gospel of John (2016). He is a former university chaplain and priest, now residing in Norway with his wife.