James 1:19-27

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does. If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

— ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭27‬‬

 I love James, and I know so many people do because of its practicality. Although, we still need to understand its historical and social context. Several of its passages can still be easily understood and there are still some very difficult passages, like ch 5. 

The one major theme is works supporting one’s faith, especially in the face of famine and persecution ransacking the early church. Helping others would be a visible sign of inner faith. 

I’m sure v. 19 finds a better home in this context as well. But it also applies in nearly every human situation. Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger/wrath. We could probably spend all day reflecting on these implications. Send a lifetime trying to live it out. 

God’s righteousness in v. 20 is debated. Could be a characteristic of God, or that which comes from God, a moral standard, or something eschatological. I’ll leave it to scholars to sort out those details and come to a conclusion later.

Message implanted probably goes back to Jeremiah 31 when law is written on the hearts. External law does no good except points out our failures and shows us our imperfections. Law on hearts allows us to live in light of love.

We cannot just receive the law. We have to live it out. This is the whole message of James. Saying to have faith and not doing anything about it is not only pointless, it’s hypocrisy. It’s deceitful. 

A mirror has a purpose. To show us imperfections so that we can (hopefully) fix them. Not the time for a self esteem lesson. Comb your hair. The point is not to look at the mirror more. The point is to allow the looking to prompt a response. Mirror= internal law. It must move to external actions.

He then gives two examples. Use of the tongue and helping those in need. Tongue will be revisited in ch 3. Have to control speech (see v. 19)—perhaps just not talk if we can’t.

And then help the most needy in society, in 1st century (and still mostly in 21st) it’s the orphans and widows. These would have little status, support system, money, etc. Not exactly outcasts, but in middle of famine, there would be little hope. To say we have faith in 1st century context and ignore them is just silly. 

Not sure if the unstaining is related to the care for others or if it’s separate. “And” can sometimes have a result affect. Need to do more research here. Since he does mention “filth” and “excess” previously, he could just be talking about moral living. 

In either case, the point here is that claiming faith and not showing works toward others doesn’t add up. He’ll dig deeper into this in chapter 2.

66 Books in 1 Canon

 How many times have you heard something similar to the following:

The Bible is composed of 66 books written over the span of 1500+ years across three continents in three languages by 40+ authors from various backgrounds/education levels/socio-economic standing---and yet, it contains no errors, inconsistencies, but has one unifying theme. (And whoever's speaking can word the theme however they want, whether "Jesus" or "God's redemption of the world" etc)

This is not a post about inerrancy. I'll save that for another day. (Yes, I believe the Bible is true, but there are so many nuances to this discussion that, well, it requires discussion. Too often we are set in our interpretations, where there are errors and contradictions, and we put all that pressure on the Bible itself. But again, another day).

As it stands, I have no real problem with the above statement. I've said it and probably will say something like it again in the future. The purpose is to show the Bible's uniqueness from all other books. To prove (or give evidence) for the divine character and influence behind its composition. I see the intention. I understand the truth here.

Yet, even in the statement, we air out some dirty laundry (which I am all about), and at the same time try to shove everything back under the rug. I don't think anyone considers time span, the number of authors, the languages, or various geographical locations to be a negative to the Bible's composition. But as soon as we recognize it, we shift focus immediately to the "one book."

I would rather focus on the 66. Yes, of course, each book was recognized as inspired pretty close to its time of writing. The Hebrew Bible was recognized as canonical with its Torah, Writings, and Prophets not too long after Malachi was complete (there were some stragglers). The same process occurred with the NT, and five or six books were not accepted into the canon until the third or fourth century. This does not mean they weren't inspired. There was simply debate according to the church's criteria for canonicity (apostolicity, catholicity [widespread use], orthodoxy). I have absolute confidence that we have all the inspired books. None were excluded that were inspired, and none were accepted that aren't.

So yes, one canon. Complete. And there is a unified theme of Jesus or restoration of creation. 

But without a balanced view of that opening statement, we can fall into missing the human element of the Bible. Focusing on the divine, the miracle of Scripture, lends to an attitude that borders on worship of the revelation and not the One who revealed it. I've seen it. I've experienced it. There is no fourth member of the Trinity.

I like to at least have an equal emphasis on the diversity among the books. I can't study Hosea the same as Luke. Or Revelation the same as Ruth. They are not just different genres, but the backgrounds of the authors, grammar, time periods/history, that we listed above. These are individual books written for specific audiences with a particular purpose at that time. 

I've talked to many people where you think they assume the leather-bound copy of any English version just fell from the sky in one neat volume (even including study notes for us). Individual books on scrolls written to unique audiences at various times for specific purposes. And our goal when studying must be to uncover as much of that original setting as possible. Our 21st century milieu means nothing when we first approach the text.

I let individual authors speak for themselves. I want the situation of the original readers to surface. I don't want to lump everything together or level everything out to all be read the same way. 

1 Canon. But 66 books. Humans writing to humans. Spirit leading the entire way. 

And we get to eavesdrop on their initial communication. It's pretty incredible.