James

[Michael Prahm]

AUTHORSHIP OF THE BOOK OF JAMES

The epistle of James has been the subject of controversy both as to regards the identity of the writer, and as to the time of the writing. There is little doubt, however, that the writer was James, the “Lord’s half-brother”. ( Gal. 1:19) he who was one of the “pillars” (Gal. 2:9), he who gave the “judgment” of the apostles and elders of the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13,19). Page 1847, The Companion Bible.
There is one problem with this thinking. What James wrote in Acts 15, what James subscribed to in Acts 15 is completely different than what is written in the book of James.
Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things offered strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.”
Acts 21:25 As touching the gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Further, in each of the address, it is explicitly to gentiles,, and the epistle of James; James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the 12 twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. There is no way they can be made the same. The fact there is no surviving epistle of James to the gentiles speaks loudly.
In the book THE WORLD BEFORE THE FLOOD, AND THE HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCHS it says” in later times the Jews have been wont to speak of what they called the seven Noahic commandments, which according to them, were binding upon all Gentile proselytes. These were a prohibition
1. Of idolatry
2. Of blasphemy
3. Of murder
4. Of incest
5. Of robbery and theft
6. Of eating blood and strangled animals, and
7. An injunction of obedience to magistrates ( comp. also of Cats 15:20)
This is singulary significant, because James and the elders do not then welcome in with open arms the gentiles any different than their fathers had since the days of the inception of the law. It s not the new way that James is addressing in Acts 15, but simply redressing an old tradition.
Acts 21:20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said unto him thou seest how many thousands of Jews there are which believe and they are all zealous of the law. 25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication
James the Half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, was without during our Lord’s ministry John 7:3 His brethren therefore said unto Him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things shew thyself to the world. 5. ( For neither did His Brethren believe in Him) Also see Matthew 12:47, and when viewed with Mark 3:21 and when his friend heard of it, they went out to lay hold of him: for they said, He is beside himself. James actions may have helped to have Paul arrested in Jerusalem, and remember Paul was warned a number of times and in a variety of ways not to go to Jerusalem.
To conclude this first point. There is nothing remotely similar to what James said he wrote, and what is written in the Book of James. There is absolutely no evidence, that the half-brother of the Lord, James is the writer of the Epistle of James. James in Acts is found writing to and speaking of gentiles, while the Epistle of James is written to the twelve tribes.

THE SONS OF THUNDER
Mark 3:16 And Simon he surnamed Peter: 17 And James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, the Sons of thunder:
The word Boanerges, is Aramaic, and means thunder, and thunder means thunder.
The word thunder is used 11 times in the new testament, and aside from this, every reference is to God.. bullinger in the Companion Bible says of “SONS OF” that it is a pure Hebraism, used with reference to origion, destination, or characteristic. Here thunder. The name is Aramaic (ap.94.III.3) allied to Hebrew In Hebrew thunder is KOL=voice of God (Exodus 9:23, Psalm 29:3, Heremiah 10:13)
In the old testament Thunder is strongs number 7481, RA’AM used 13 times
I Samuel 1:6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret(thunder), because the LORD had shut up her womb.
I Samuel 2:10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them.
! Samuel 7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and discomfited them; and they were smitten before the LORD.
II Samuel 22:14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the MOST HIGH uttered his voice.
I Chronicles 16:32 Let the sea roar(thunder) and the fullness therof.
Job 37:4 After it a voice roareth: He thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his Voice is not heard.
Job 37:5 God thundereth marvellously with His voice; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend.
Job 40:9 Hast thou an arm like GOD? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like Him?
Psalm 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the HIGHEST gave His voice; Hails stones and coals of fire.
Psalm 29:3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: The GOD of glory thundereth: The LORD is upon many waters.
Psalm 96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad: Let the sea roar(thunder), and be glad.
Psalm 98:7 Let the sea roar(thunder) and the fullness thereof; The world and they that dwell therin.
Ezekiel 27:35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled(thunder) in their countenance.
In the new testament the word thunder is the Greek word Bronte Strong’s number 1025. Used 12 times in scripture. Of the 12 uses, this refernce to the nickname the Lord gave to the sons of Zebedee is the only one of the 12 that does not refer to God.
Here Mark 3:17, John 12:29 Revelations $:5,6:1, 8:5, 10:3,4, 11:19, 14:2 16:18, 19:6
In the Old, and in the new it is seen that thunder is used in reference to God’s great and mighty voice. The Lord nicknaming these two the sons of thunder points to the perspective that here again would be men would again declare God’s word as the prophets of old. There had not at that point been a writer of scripture for over 400 years. James the son of Zebedee is the best candidate as the writer of the book of James, sometimes after Acts 8:1, but before Acts 12 when his killed by the sword. It may have been that a copy of the Book of James, was why the Jews were so pleased, to have Herod Kill him.
Now the point is this:
The nature of the epistles sent by James and the brethren in Acts 16 is different than that of the Book of James. The book of James assumes an Hebrew audience, knowledgable of the law, and the prophets( chap 5). James is fundamentally foundational. The footings of the first century church. Clearly seen is the very heart of the message of our Lord Jesus spoke while on earth. Compare sermon on the mount with passages in the book of James. The writer or scribe of God’s great recorded message is one who had been an eye-witness of our Lord. The book of James ties the Hebrew of the new testament, in light of the reality of the resurrected Lord, to lf the Old Testament Law.
In James we see Abraham Justified by believing thru works in light of his walk, the royal law.
In Romans we wee Abraham justified by believing without works in light of his relationship to God.
OR
James is the walk of what the believer can do. Romans is what God did for the believer

[Michael Prahm]

David

 

God'sblessing.

 

Yes by all means  the rightto change is reserved to and for the people of whom it is concerned, but I maintain simply that Jamesthe half borther of the Lord maintain his same stance towards the epistles he had written, from the times of Acts 15 thru Acts 21. 

 

James the half brother of the Lord was at least an unwitting accessory to the arrest of the Apostle Paul and he re-iterates his doctrine which is not the doctrine of the epistle of James.  All you say may be true and altogether right, but it is not true concerning James the half-brother of the Lord.  If contextual evidence means anything.  If his own testimony of what it is he wrote means any thing.

 

I doubt very much that that stone is the stone of which they say it is. Luther remarks that if all the pieces of the original cross were brought together, he would have enough lumber to build the ark.  The king and queen also trace their blood line from the Lord, and from the Mohammed.  One has to wonder,  are they hedging their bets?

 

[David & Linda (Smith) Scovel]

Where I believe that you might be mistaken is that the "twelve tribes is twelve tribes” and the gentiles are gentiles.” Firstly, just because it doesn’t show the change in the Lord’s brother James in Scripture does not mean that one cannot and did not change his belief structure. We all have the right to change when we see a greater truth and we don’t always have to proclaim it openly as a show. As I showed previously, the uses of Greek words clearly define the relationship between the James in Acts and the writer of the Epistle of Jacob (James).

 

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all promised by YHWH that their descendents would become a multitude of nations and that a company of nations would come out of them.  Joseph in the form of his two sons (half Egyptian) were blessed by Jacob to become these.

But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations." Gen 48.19

It was also said of Joseph.

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall… (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), Gen 49.22,23

Ezekiel prophesies of this tribe in chapter 17.4-6,8;

4  "He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders. 5  "He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil (Joseph’s new land being the fruitful bough). He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow (by waters). 6 "Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.  8 "It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine."’

When we follow the Diaspora (the dispersion) of Israel we can track them from their captivity in Assyria. Especially the tribe of Dan which like to name places after their father.

Jos 19:47 The territory of the sons of Dan proceeded beyond them; for the sons of Dan went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and possessed it and settled in it; and they called Leshem Dan after the name of Dan their father.

Jud 18:12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

Jud 18:29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

When they left Assyria they left a serpent’s trail in the River called the Danube and named placed such as Dunaújváros, Donji Milanovac, Donauwörth, Dunkirk, and ultimately settling in Dan-mark and Swe-dan. Even the crests of these countries show their origin in Israel. The most famous being the Dannebrog, which references it’s Israelites origins in a multitude of ways.

 

Meanwhile the Iberian peninsula gets its name from Iberu or Haiberu. This is derived from the word where we get Hebrew from the name Eber, those who crossed over. Remember that Abraham was called a Hebrew because he came from Eber who had crossed over. The city in Spain called Zaragosa is derived from Pharez’s brother Zarah. Both were sons of Judah except that the kingly line came from Pharez. Zarah’s family went west to Spain and ultimately ended up in Hibernia or Ireland as we know it. Look at all the names for Irish towns and see where Baal is prevalent (Bally) or the Torah (Tara) and we can see who was scattered there.

 

Of course there are the Brit-Ish (Hebrew for “men of the Covenant”) These were original the Celts as in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Celts were from the Cimmerians which came out the Middle East region. The Celtic language has of its roots the Hebrew language. Very similar indeed. The book, The Story of the Irish goes into great detail about its origins and beliefs. The Isles of the west, Great Brit-ain were invaded by the “sons of Issac” or the Saxons, therefore adding more ancestry to the mixture. By the way, the Kings and Queens of England are crown while sitting upon an ancient chair under which is the Stone of Destiny called Jacob’s Pillar. This is referencing the Stone which Jacob got at Bethel and gave to Joseph’s sons, called the Shepherd’s Stone(Gen 49.24). Interesting?

 

I said all this to say that “the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad” are in actuality the gentiles that had settled all over Europe and had mixed among the nations and had become a multitude of nations.

 

Food for more thinking to get us out of our boxes and fences that we build. The Lord is soooooo much bigger and way more sovereign that we can even comprehend, “setting the end from the beginning”. It is the glory of the Lord to conceal a matter and the honor of kings to search it out. So much more here, yet so little time. But, now we know why it's good to be Irish!

 

Shalom,

David

[Michael Prahm]

David and Linda

 

The brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, James may have tempered or aged as you say, but in Acts 21, he still is highlighting his epistle, which is different than the book of James in scripture, so no he lays no claim to the content of the book of James.

 

so I do not know when he would have made such a change, nor is there a clue in scripture.  scripture suggest by the repeating of his own stance that it was an established one.  Isn't there a biblical principle about things repeated are established?

 

The linguistics are to be counted above context, content, and who the writer in both cases is addressing?

Clearly James wrote to Gentiles, Nations, grk-ethnos.  the writer of the book of James is addressing the twevle tribes spread...................and twelve tribes is twelve tribes, and gentiles are gentiles.

 

they are not the same, cannot be made the same, and James the half-wit brother of the Lord is not the author of the book of James, nor would he claim to be.

 

The Apostle Paul leaves that meeting in Acts 15 with a letter stating he doesn't have to circumcise, and bang he goes and circumcises Timothy.  Was it frustration, was it protest,  we know it wasn't out of a secret desire to fulfill the law.  why.  Interesting where it occurs, and how hard it fought the issue, for it to occur where it did. One thing we do know, Paul leaves this council, and I say he circumcised Timothy for  more of a protest, than anything, because these Noahidic principles of the gentiles are true, and James the halp brother of the Lord, even though he probably looked like the Lord, acted more like a pharisee even through out his ministry.

Law is so much easier than believing.

 

Love you guys,  bless ya big.

 

Remember Jesus nicknamed these two, the sons of thunder

 

[David & Linda (Smith) Scovel]

James could have changed his belief as he aged as we all might do as we get to know the Lord more.

Here is something from http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/NTIntro/Jas.htm that might assist us finding out more.

 

"James the son of Zebedee was martyred in c. 44 CE (Acts 12:2), so that he is not probably the author, since the letter was probably written after that date. This leaves only James the brother of Jesus, who was a recognized leader of the Jerusalem church. He could have written such a letter.

1.1.4. Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, includes a condensed version of a speech delivered by James the brother of Jesus at the so-called Jerusalem council (Acts 15:13-21); in addition, Luke includes a copy of a letter sent by "the apostles and elders" in Jerusalem to gentile believers in Antioch and in Syria and Cilicia generally (Acts 15:23-29). (James the brother of Jesus would have been included among the Jerusalem "apostles and elders.") A comparison of the language used in James' speech and the letter sent by "the apostles and elders" with the Letter of James reveals some remarkable parallels.

• The letter sent from the "apostles and elders" uses charein ("Greetings") in the salutation as does the Letter of James (1:1) (This usage only found elsewhere in the New Testament as part of the letter sent by Lysias to Felix in Acts 23:26.)
• In Acts 15:16-17, James quotes from Amos 9:11-12 and in that quotation the Hebraism eph' hous epikeklêtai to onoma mou ep' autous (lit. "on whom is called my name upon them" or, more idiomatically, "who bears my name") occurs. The same usage is found in Jas 2:7 to kalon onoma to epiklêthen eph' humas ("the good name called upon you" or "the good name that you bear").
• The phrase akousate adelphoi mou ("Listen, my brothers"), which only occurs in Jas 2:5, is similar to the phrase andres adelphoi akousate mou ("Men brothers, listen to me") found in Acts 15:13.
• Acts 15:14 and Jas 1:27 both contain the relatively uncommon verb episkeptesthai ("to show concern for").
• Acts 15:19 and Jas 5:19, 20 both have the verb epistrephein ("to turn back").
• Jas 1:27 has the verb têrein (to keep) followed by the reflexive pronoun (heautos) and the preposition apo (from) and Acts 15:29 has the related verb diatêrein (to keep) also followed by the reflexive pronoun (heautos) and used with the preposition ek (from).
• The word agapêtos ("beloved") occurs in the letter sent from the "apostles and elders" (Acts 15:25), this one time in the Book of Acts, ("With the beloved Paul and Barnabas"), and it also occurs three times in the Letter of James (1:16, 19; 2:5).
• The word adelphoi ("brothers") occurs repeatedly in Jas 4:11, which is similar to its use in Acts 15:23, in the salutation of the letter.
• Both the Letter of James (2:7; 5:10, 14) and the James' speech in the Book of Acts 15 use the idea of "name" (onoma).

What do these linguistic parallels imply about the authorship of the Letter of James?

These linguistic parallels imply that the author of the Letter of James is the same person who delivered the speech in Acts 15:13-21 and had a hand in composing the letter sent by "the apostles and elders" in Jerusalem to gentile believers , a copy of which is found in Acts 15:23-29. In other words, the linguistic evidence suggests that James the brother of Jesus wrote the Letter of James.

1.1.5. A problem in attributing authorship to James the brother of Jesus, is the high literary quality of the Greek of the Letter of James, suggesting that the author had a thorough Hellenistic education. Some assume that a Galilean Jew whose first language was Aramaic and who probably would not have had access to a Hellenistic education could not have written such a letter."

 

Yet if Joseph of Arimathea, a supposed Roman Senator and Minister of Mines for Brittannia was the adoptive uncle of Mary was around the family, they all would have known and understood Aramaic, Greek and Latin, since all these languages were common to the area. Greek was the language of choice for commerce. Jesus shows this when He is before Pilate. Pilate would never be speaking to Jesus in Aramaic or Hebrew but Latin. The Passion of the Christ portrays this in a most excellent fashion. Jesus' response to Pilate would have been in Latin also.

 

Shalom,

David