_THE RELATION OF THIS EPISTLE TO THE WRITINGS OF ST. PAUL
AND OF ST. PETER. THE DATE OF THE EPISTLE.
THE DOCTRINE OF JOY IN TEMPTATION._
"Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold
temptations, knowing that the proof of your faith worketh patience.
And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and
entire, lacking in nothing."--JAMES i. 2-4.
This passage at once raises the question of the relation of this
Epistle to other writings in the New Testament. Did the writer of it
know any of the writings of St. Paul or of St. Peter? It is contended
in some quarters that the similarity of thought and expression in
several passages is so great as to prove such knowledge, and it is
argued that such knowledge tells against the genuineness of the
Epistle. In any case the question of the _date_ of the Epistle is
involved in its relation to these other documents; it was written
after them, if it can be established that the author of it was
acquainted with them.
With Dr. Salmon[28] we may dismiss the coincidences which have been
pointed out by Davidson and others between expressions in this Epistle
and the Epistles to the Thessalonians, Corinthians, and Philippians.
Some critics seem to forget that a large number of words and phrases
were part of the common language, not merely of Jews and early
Christians, but of those who were in the habit of mixing much with
such persons. We can no more argue from such phrases as "be not
deceived" (1 Cor. vi. 9; xv. 33; Gal. vi. 7, and James i. 16), "but
some one will say" (1 Cor. xv. 35, and James ii. 18), "a transgressor
of the law" (Rom. ii. 25, 27, and James ii. 11), "fruit of
righteousness" (Phil. i. 11, and James iii. 18), or from such words as
"entire" (1 Thess. v. 23, and James i. 4), "transgressor" used
absolutely (Gal. ii. 18, and James ii. 9), and the like, that when
they occur in two writings the author of one must have read the other,
than we can argue from such phrases as "natural selection," "survival
of the fittest," and the like that the writer who uses them has read
the works of Darwin. A certain amount of stereotyped phraseology is
part of the intellectual atmosphere of each generation, and the
writers in each generation make common use of it. In such cases even
striking identity of expressions may prove nothing as to the
dependence of one author upon another. The obligation is not of one
writer to another, but of both to a common and indefinite source. In
other words, both writers quite naturally make use of language which
is current in the circles in which they live.[29]
_Some_ of the coincidences between the Epistle of James and the
Epistle to the _Romans_ are of a character to raise the question
whether they can satisfactorily be explained by considerations of this
kind, and one of these more remarkable coincidences occurs in the
passage before us. St. James writes, "Knowing that the proof of your
faith worketh patience." St. Paul writes, "Knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; and patience, probation" (Rom. v. 3). In this same
chapter we have another instance. St. James says, "Be ye doers of the
word, and not hearers only" (i. 22). St. Paul says, "Not the hearers
of a law are just before God, but the doers of a law shall be
justified" (Rom. 13). There is yet a third such parallel. St. James
asks, "Whence come fightings? Come they not hence, even of your
pleasures which war in your members?" (iv. 1). St. Paul laments, "I
see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind"
(Rom. vii. 23).[30]
The effect of this evidence will be different upon different minds.
But it may reasonably be doubted whether these passages, even when
summed up together, are stronger than many other strange coincidences
in literature, which are known to be accidental. The second instance,
taken by itself, is of little weight; for the contrast between hearers
and doers is one of the most hackneyed commonplaces of rhetoric. But
assuming that a _primâ facie_ case has been established, and that one
of the two writers has seen the Epistle of the other, no difficulty is
created, whichever we assume to have written first. The Epistle to the
Romans was written in A.D. 58, and might easily have become known to
St. James before A.D. 62. On the other hand, the Epistle of St. James
may be placed anywhere between A.D. 45 and 62, and in that case might
easily have become known to St. Paul before A.D. 58. And of the two
alternatives, this latter is perhaps the more probable. We shall find
other reasons for placing the Epistle of St. James earlier than
A.D. 58; and we may reasonably suppose that had he read the Epistle to
the Romans, he would have expressed his meaning respecting
justification somewhat differently. Had he wished (as some erroneously
suppose) to oppose and correct the teaching of St. Paul, he would have
done so much more unmistakably. And as he is really quite in harmony
with St. Paul on the question, he would, if he had read him, have
avoided words which look like a contradiction of St. Paul's words.
It remains to examine the relations between our Epistle and the First
Epistle of St. Peter. Here, again, one of the coincidences occurs in
the passage before us. St. James writes, "Count it all joy, when ye
enter into manifold temptations; knowing that the proof of your faith
worketh patience;" and St. Peter writes, "Ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in
manifold temptations, that the proof of your faith ... might be found"
(1 Peter i. 6, 7). Here there is the thought of rejoicing in trials
common to both passages, and the expressions for "manifold
temptations" and "proof of your patience" are identical in the two
places. This is remarkable, especially when taken with other
coincidences. On the other hand, the fact that some of the language is
common to all three Epistles (James, Peter, and Romans) suggests the
possibility that we have here one of the "faithful sayings" of
primitive Christianity, rather than one or two writers remembering the
writings of a predecessor.
In three places St. James and St. Peter both quote the same passages
from the Old Testament. In i. 10, 11 St. James has, "_As the flower of
the grass_ he shall pass away. For the sun ariseth with the scorching
wind, and _withereth the grass; and the flower_ thereof _falleth_,"
where the words in italics are from Isaiah xl. 6-8. St. Peter (i. 24)
quotes the words of Isaiah much more completely and consecutively, and
in their original sense; he does not merely make a free use of
portions of them. Again, in iv. 6 St. James quotes from Prov. iii. 34,
"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." In v. 5
St. Peter quotes exactly the same words. Lastly, in v. 20 St. James
quotes from Prov. x. 12 the expression "covereth sins." In iv. 8
St. Peter quotes a word more of the original, "love covereth sins."
And it will be observed that both St. James and St. Peter change
"covereth _all_ sins" into "covereth _a multitude_ of sins."
Once more we must be content to give a verdict of "Not proven." There
is a certain amount of probability, but nothing that amounts to proof,
that one of these writers had seen the other's Epistle. Let us,
however, assume that echoes of one Epistle are found in the other;
then, whichever letter we put first, we have no chronological
difficulty. The probable dates of death are, for St. James A.D. 62,
for St. Peter A.D. 64-68. Either Epistle may be placed in the six or
seven years immediately preceding A.D. 62, and one of the most recent
critics[31] places 1 Peter in the middle of the year A.D. 50, and the
Epistle of James any time after that date. But there are good reasons
for believing that 1 Peter contains references to the persecution
under Nero, that "fiery trial" (iv. 12) in which the mere being a
Christian would lead to penal consequences (iv. 16), and in which, for
conscience' sake, men would have to "endure griefs, suffering
wrongfully" (ii. 19), thereby being "partakers of Christ's sufferings"
(iv. 13). In which case 1 Peter cannot be placed earlier than A.D. 64,
and the Epistle of James must be the earlier of the two. And it seems
to be chiefly those who would make our Epistle a forgery of the second
century (Brückner, Holtzmann) who consider that it is James that
echoes 1 Peter, rather than 1 Peter that reproduces James. There is a
powerful consensus of opinion[32] that if there is any influence of
one writer upon the other, it is St. James who influences St. Peter,
and not the other way.
We must not place the Epistle of St. James in or close after A.D. 50.
The crisis respecting the treatment of Gentile converts was then at
its height (Acts xv.); and it would be extraordinary if a letter
written in the midst of the crisis, and by the person who took the
leading part in dealing with it, should contain no allusion to it. The
Epistle must be placed either before (A.D. 45-49) or some time after
(A.D. 53-62) the so-called Council of Jerusalem. There is reason for
believing that the controversy about compelling Gentiles to observe
the Mosaic Law, although sharp and critical, was not very lasting. The
_modus vivendi_ decreed by the Apostles was on the whole loyally
accepted, and therefore a letter written a few years after it was
promulgated would not of necessity take any notice of it. Indeed, to
have revived the question again might have been impolitic, as implying
either that there was still some doubt on the point, or that the
Apostolic decision had proved futile.
In deciding between the two periods (A.D. 45-49 and 53-62) for the
date of the Epistle of St. James, we have not much to guide us if we
adopt the view that it is independent of the writings of St. Peter and
of St. Paul. There is plenty in the letter to lead us to suppose that
it was written before the war (A.D. 66-70) which put an end to the
tyranny of the wealthy Sadducees over their poorer brethren, before
controversies between Jewish and Gentile Christians such as we find at
Corinth had arisen or become chronic, and before doctrinal
controversies had sprung up in the Church; also that it was written at
a time when the coming of Christ to judgment was still regarded as
near at hand (v. 8), and by some one who could recollect the words of
Christ independently of the Gospels, and who therefore must have stood
in close relationship to Him. All this points to its having been
written within the lifetime of James the Lord's brother, and by such a
person as he was; but it does not seem to be decisive as to the
difference between _c._ A.D. 49 and _c._ A.D. 59. We must be content
to leave this undecided. But it is worth while pointing out that if we
place it earlier than A.D. 52 we make it the earliest book in the New
Testament. The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written late in
A.D. 52 or early in 53; and excepting our Epistle, and _perhaps_
1 Peter, there is no other writing in the New Testament that can
reasonably be placed at so early a date as 52.
* * * * *
"Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold
temptations." "My brethren," with or without the epithet "beloved," is
the regular form of address throughout the Epistle (16, 19; ii. 1, 5,
14; iii. 1, 10, 12; v. 12), in one or two places the "my" being
omitted (iv. 11; v. 7, 9, 19). The frequency of this brotherly address
seems to indicate how strongly the writer feels, and wishes his
readers to feel, the ties of race and of faith which bind them
together.
In "Count it all joy," _i.e._ "Consider it as nothing but matter for
rejoicing,"[33] we miss a linguistic touch which is evident in the
Greek, but cannot well be preserved in English. In saying "joy"
(χάραν) St. James is apparently carrying on the idea just started
in the address, "greeting" (χαίρειν), _i.e._ "wishing joy." "I wish
you _joy_; and you must account as pure _joy_ all the troubles into
which you may fall." This carrying on a word or thought from one
sentence into the next is characteristic of St. James, and reminds us
somewhat of the style of St. John. Thus "The proof of your faith
worketh _patience_. And let _patience_ have its perfect work" (i. 3,
4). "_Lacking_ in nothing. But if any of you _lacketh_ wisdom" (4, 5).
"Nothing _doubting_: for he that _doubteth_ is like the surge of the
sea" (6). "The lust, when it hath conceived, beareth _sin_; and the
_sin_, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death" (15). "Slow to
_wrath_: for the _wrath_ of man worketh not the righteousness of God"
(19, 20). "This man's _religion_ is vain. Pure _religion_ and
undefiled before our God and Father is this" (26, 27). "In many things
we all _stumble_. If any man _stumbleth_ not in word" (iii. 2).
"Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a _fire_! And the
tongue is a _fire_" (iii. 5, 6). "Ye have not, because ye _ask_ not.
Ye _ask_, and receive not" (iv. 2, 3). "Your gold and your silver are
_rusted_; and their _rust_ shall be for a testimony against you"
(v. 3). "We call them blessed which _endured_: ye have heard of the
_endurance_ of Job" (v. 11).
It is just possible that "_all_ joy" (πᾶσαν χάραν) is meant exactly
to balance "_manifold_ temptations" (πειρασμοῖς ποικίλοις). Great
_diversity_ of troubles is to be considered as in reality _every kind_
of joy. Nevertheless, the troubles are not to be of our own making or
seeking. It is not when we inflict suffering on ourselves, but when we
"fall into" it, and therefore may regard it as placed in our way by
God, that we are to look upon it as a source of joy rather than of
sorrow. The word for "fall into" (περιπίπτειν) implies not only that
what one falls into is unwelcome, but also that it is unsought and
unexpected. Moreover, it implies that this unforeseen misfortune is
large enough to encircle or overwhelm one. It indicates a _serious_
calamity. The word for "temptations" in this passage is the same as is
used in the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer; but the word is not
used in the same sense in both places. In the Lord's Prayer all kinds
of temptation are included, and especially the internal solicitations
of the devil, as is shown by the next petition: "Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the tempter." In the passage before us
internal temptations, if not actually excluded, are certainly quite in
the background. What St. James has principally in his mind are
_external_ trials, such as poverty of intellect (ver. 5), or of
substance (ver. 9), or persecution (ii. 6, 7), and the like; those
worldly troubles which test our faith, loyalty, and obedience, and
tempt us to abandon our trust in God, and to cease to strive to please
Him. The trials by which Satan was allowed to tempt Job are the kind
of temptations to be understood here.[34] They are material for
spiritual joy, because (1) they are opportunities for practising
virtue, which cannot be learned without practice, nor practised
without opportunities; (2) they teach us that we have here no abiding
city, for a world in which such things are possible cannot be a
lasting home; (3) they make us more Christlike; (4) we have the
assurance of Divine support, and that no more will ever be laid upon
us than we, relying upon that support, can bear; (5) we have the
assurance of abundant compensation here and hereafter.
St. James here is only echoing the teaching of his Brother: "Blessed
are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be
exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven" (Matt. v. 11, 12).
In the first days after Pentecost he had seen the Apostles acting in
the very spirit which he here enjoins, and he had himself very
probably taken part in doing so, "rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer dishonour for the Name" (Acts v. 41. Comp.
iv. 23-30). And as we have already seen in comparing the parallel
passages, St. Peter (1 Peter 1, 6) and St. Paul (Rom. v. 3) teach the
same doctrine of rejoicing in tribulation.
As St. Augustine long ago pointed out, in his letter to Anastasius
(_Ep._ cxlv. 7, 8), and Hooker also (_Eccl. Pol._ V. xlviii. 13),
there is no inconsistency in teaching such doctrine, and yet praying,
"Lead us not into temptation." Not only is there no sin in shrinking
from both external trials and internal temptations, or in desiring to
be freed from such things; but such is the weakness of the human will,
that it is only reasonable humility to pray to God not to allow us to
be subjected to severe trials. Nevertheless, when God, in His wisdom,
has permitted such things to come upon us, the right course is, not to
be cast down and sorrowful, as though something quite intolerable had
overtaken us, but to rejoice that God has thought us capable of
enduring something for His sake, and has given us the opportunity of
strengthening our patience and our trust in Him.
This doctrine of joy in suffering, which at first sight seems to be
almost superhuman, is shown by experience to be less hard than the
apparently more human doctrine of resignation and fortitude. The
effort to be resigned, and to suffer without complaining, is not a
very inspiriting effort. Its tendency is towards depression. It does
not lift us out of ourselves or above our tribulations. On the
contrary, it leads rather to self-contemplation and a brooding over
miseries. Between mere resignation and thankful joy there is all the
difference that there is between mere obedience and affectionate
trust. The one is submission; the other is love. It is in the long run
easier to rejoice in tribulation, and be thankful for it, than to be
merely resigned and submit patiently. And therefore this "hard saying"
is really a merciful one, for it teaches us to endure trials in the
spirit that will make us feel them least. It is not only "a good thing
to sing praises unto our God;" it is also "a joyful and pleasant thing
to be thankful" (Ps. cxlvii. 1).
And here it may be noticed that St. James is no Cynic or Stoic. He
does not tell us that we are to anticipate misfortune, and cut
ourselves off from all those things the loss of which might involve
suffering; or that we are to trample on our feelings, and act as if we
had none, treating sufferings as if they were non-existent, or as if
they in no way affected us. He does not teach us that as Christians we
live in an atmosphere in which excruciating pain, whether of body or
mind, is a matter of pure indifference, and that such emotions as fear
or grief under the influence of adversity, and hope or joy under the
influence of prosperity, are utterly unworthy and contemptible. There
is not a hint of anything of the kind. He points out to us that
temptations, and especially external trials, are really blessings, if
we use them aright; and he teaches us to meet them in that conviction.
And it is manifest that the spirit in which to welcome a blessing is
the spirit of joy and thankfulness.
St. James does not bid us accept this doctrine of joy in tribulation
upon his personal authority. It is no philosopher's _ipse dixit_. He
appeals to his readers' own experience: "Knowing that the proof of
your faith worketh patience." "Knowing" (περιπίπτειν), _i.e._ "in that
ye are continually finding out and getting to know." The verb and the
tense indicate progressive and continuous knowledge, as by the
experience of daily life; and this teaches us that proving and testing
not only brings to light, but brings into existence, patience. This
patience (ὑπομονή), this abiding firm under attack or pressure, must
be allowed full scope to regulate all our conduct; and then we shall
see why trials are a matter for joy rather than sorrow, when we find
ourselves moving onwards towards, not the barrenness of Stoical
"self-sufficiency" (αὐτάρκεια), but the fulness of Divine perfection.
"That ye may be perfect and entire,[35] lacking in nothing," is
perhaps one of the many reminiscences of Christ's words which we shall
find in this letter of the Lord's brother. "Ye therefore shall be
perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. v. 48).
[28] _Introduction to the N.T._, pp. 509-10, 4th Ed.
[29] It is quite possible that both St. Paul and St. James derive the
phrase "a transgressor of the law" from the remarkable addition to the
canonical Gospels which is found in Codex D (Beza) after Luke vi. 4:
"The same day He beheld a certain man working on the Sabbath, and said
to him, Man, if thou knowest what thou art doing, blessed art thou;
but if thou knowest not thou art accursed and _a transgressor of the
law_." Note that in Rom. ii., where the phrase occurs twice (vv. 25,
27), the address "O man" also occurs twice. Comp. Gal. ii. 18, and see
A. Resch, _Agrapha; Aussercanonische Evangelienfragmente_ (Leipzig,
1889), pp. 36, 189-92.
[30] In order to do justice to these coincidences one must look at
them in the original Greek; but to those who cannot read Greek the
accuracy of the Revised Version gives a very fair idea of the amount
of similarity.
1. γινώσκοντες ὅτι τὸ δοκίμιον ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως κατεργάζεται ὑπομονήν
(James i. 3): εἰδότεσ ὅτι ἡ θλίπσις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, ἡ δὲ ὑπομον
δοκιμήν (Rom. v. 3).
2. γίνεσθε δὲ ποιηταὶ λόγου καὶ μὴ ἀκροαταὶ μόνον (James i. 22): οὐ
γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ νόμου δίκαιοι παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, ἀλλ' οἱ ποιηταὶ νόμοι
δικαιωθήσονται (Rom. ii. 13).
3. ἐκ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὑμῶν τῶν στρατευομένων ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑμῶν (James
iv. 1): ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μελεσίν μου ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῳ νόμῳ τοῦ
νοός μου (Rom vii. 23).
[31] B. Weiss, _Introduction to the N.T._, vol. ii., pp. 106, 150
(Hodder and Stoughton, 1888).
[32] Beyschlag's revision of Meyer's _Brie des Jacobus_ (Göttingen,
1888), p. 22.
[33] This rendering has been questioned; but it is justified by such
expressions as πᾶσαν ἀληθείην μυθήσομαι, "I will tell nothing but
what is true" (Hom. Od. xi. 507). See _Pastoral Epistles_ in this
series, p. 392.
[34] See F. D. Maurice, _Unity of the N.T._ (Parker, 1854), p. 318.
[35] On the strength of the word for "entire" (ὁλόκληρος), which
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, excepting 1 Thess. v. 23, it
has been asserted that the writer of this Epistle must have seen that
passage. The adjective is used in the Septuagint of whole, unhewn
stones, _saxis informibus et impolitis_ (Deut. xxvii. 6), and in
Josephus of entire animals used for sacrifice (_Ant._ III. ix. 2). It
is fairly common in Plato and Aristotle. The substantive ὁλοκληρία
occurs in Acts iii. 16, of the "perfect soundness" given to the
impotent man, and in the Septuagint (Isa. i. 6), of the "soundness"
which was wholly wanting in Israel. If St. James did not get his
knowledge of the word simply from his knowledge of the Greek language,
which is manifestly very complete, he probably derived it from the
Septuagint. It is absurd to base an argument as to acquaintance with
1 Thessalonians on so common a word.