A Recurring Theme in the Letter of James is that of Doubleness' People Essay

A Recurring Theme in the Letter of James is that of Doubleness' People Say One Thing and Do Another - Essay Example In verse eleven, he stresses this point by saying that a fountain does not shed sweet and bitter water at the same since this is a powerful contradiction. Nor can a fig tree bear olive berries (McCartney, 2009, p.243). In (James 2:14-17), he stresses that faith without actions is death. For instance, if a brother is cold, ill-dressed and lacks food and you say to him ‘go well eat and keep warm, you have not actually helped him because you have not provided to him his actual needs. Thus, this is faith without actions and should not be seen among Christians. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is also dead (James 2:26). James, therefore, earnestly and unconditionally discourages the act of double-mindedness among Christians. He encourages Christians to put what they say into actions or in other words that Christians should practice their actions (Batten, 2009, p.145). Circumstances and Background of the Letter Some Christian scholars claim that the le tter of James was authored by James the Just, who served Jesus Christ and the Lord as a slave. The postulation also describes James to be the brother to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is, however, denied by some other group of scholars who argue that the letter is pseudonymous. Although the book is named after James, it was actually written long after his death. This was written, as they say, by a Christian member of the early church James led before being stoned to death in the ‘60s. The book is purported to have been written and named after James in order to honor and respect him for his works (Johnson, 1995, p. 163). The author of this book could not be one of the disciples of Jesus Christ since one of them was called James, the Zebedee’s son, who was martyred in the year 44 CE. The epistle was not written by then, thus, he could not have been the author. The other was James the son of Alphaeus who was not particularly prominent in the record of the scriptures. This dis ciple was unusually outspoken and, thus, could he have written the book of James, he would have indicated that he was among the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. There is a strong evidence that the book was written by James the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ to whom the resurrected Jesus had appeared to in a special way (Mathew 13:55; Galatians 1:19, 2:9). This James was also remarkably prominent to the disciples of Jesus and popular among them (Acts 21:15-25). According to the teaching of the book with the Symmachian sect, it is questioned as to whether the teachings of James were heretical (McCartney, 2009, p.265). The greatest portion of the scholars of the Bible has a belief that the book of James was authored by James, who was the brother to Jesus the Lord. However, scholars like Jerome do not marry the idea and think that the book was written by James son of Alpheus (Mathew 10:3). The view of Jerome is widely supported by the catholic believers to date. The protestant c ommunity strongly deems that the writer of the book of James is James the brother to the Lord (Mathew 13:55). The Jews of Jerusalem once valued James so much and enthroned him at Jerusalem (Acts 25:11). James is recorded to have supported some of the Mosaic Law, and this might have led him to write that letter which was in conflict with the epistles of Paul (Acts