11-16-2024, 04:12 PM
On the one hand, this letter was published in Greek because that was the best way for James to reach former Diaspora Jews who had converted to Christ. On the other hand, the Greek language was easily the poorest vehicle for Hebrew thoughts. It was bad enough that even Jews in their native land had become Hellenized in their reasoning, despite still using their Hebrew language. Even more so did former Diaspora Jews struggle with restoring the ancient Hebrew mysticism undergirding the teaching of Christ.
Talmudism had abstracted the concept of "faith" from its original feudal submission to God into a kind of Aristotelian rational idealism. This became the trademark of Hellenism's influence on biblical religion. James called his Hebrew brethren back to genuine faith by demanding that, if they must use Greek, then they must also invest Greek terms with Hebrew meaning. Reason and logic are not God. Feudal submission to God does not mean getting better ideas. Faith means obeying and living right.
Thus, a Greek rational "faith" cannot save you. Without the physical obedience, whatever you have is not the Hebrew brand of faith.
Faith shows itself in how you treat people. If someone walks in wearing expensive clothing, don't bow and scrape to ingratiate yourself. If anything, be suspicious of their motives. What James implies without saying directly is that, on average, wealthy people got their wealth by being the kind of people who put wealth first, and people somewhere below that. By contrast, faith in God means you put His people above your personal material comfort.
Jesus said that He went to the poor because they didn't struggle with faith; they had so little to lose. He rejected the Talmudic prejudice against the poor, in which Pharisees claimed that poverty was a curse, a mark of God's disfavor. But rich people were instinctively worried about keeping their wealth, not blessing their covenant brothers and sisters. Had the nation maintained a proper grip on God's priorities, there would not be the predatory practices that oppressed the poor, nor would there be such a wealth disparity in their society as was evident in Christ's day. Showing partiality is a sin; it violates the Law of Christ. It's not a church if there isn't some measure of sharing.
People of faith, by definition, will treat their fellow Christians as family. They will be eager to share whatever gifts they have from God to build up the body. What models of faith do we have in Scripture?
The princely Abraham did not hesitate to offer his son; his faith was obvious, and he was called a "friend of God". At the other extreme was the prostitute Rahab, whose faith was manifested in her handling of the Israeli spies. She knew what submission to Jehovah required and it meant treating the spies as her family. How hard is this to understand?
Unlike the Talmud, which turned ritual acts into "salvation", the genuine Hebrew faith of ancient times drove people to do things that raised Jehovah's reputation. Faith means you are determined to discover and perform whatever it is that makes God smile.
Talmudism had abstracted the concept of "faith" from its original feudal submission to God into a kind of Aristotelian rational idealism. This became the trademark of Hellenism's influence on biblical religion. James called his Hebrew brethren back to genuine faith by demanding that, if they must use Greek, then they must also invest Greek terms with Hebrew meaning. Reason and logic are not God. Feudal submission to God does not mean getting better ideas. Faith means obeying and living right.
Thus, a Greek rational "faith" cannot save you. Without the physical obedience, whatever you have is not the Hebrew brand of faith.
Faith shows itself in how you treat people. If someone walks in wearing expensive clothing, don't bow and scrape to ingratiate yourself. If anything, be suspicious of their motives. What James implies without saying directly is that, on average, wealthy people got their wealth by being the kind of people who put wealth first, and people somewhere below that. By contrast, faith in God means you put His people above your personal material comfort.
Jesus said that He went to the poor because they didn't struggle with faith; they had so little to lose. He rejected the Talmudic prejudice against the poor, in which Pharisees claimed that poverty was a curse, a mark of God's disfavor. But rich people were instinctively worried about keeping their wealth, not blessing their covenant brothers and sisters. Had the nation maintained a proper grip on God's priorities, there would not be the predatory practices that oppressed the poor, nor would there be such a wealth disparity in their society as was evident in Christ's day. Showing partiality is a sin; it violates the Law of Christ. It's not a church if there isn't some measure of sharing.
People of faith, by definition, will treat their fellow Christians as family. They will be eager to share whatever gifts they have from God to build up the body. What models of faith do we have in Scripture?
The princely Abraham did not hesitate to offer his son; his faith was obvious, and he was called a "friend of God". At the other extreme was the prostitute Rahab, whose faith was manifested in her handling of the Israeli spies. She knew what submission to Jehovah required and it meant treating the spies as her family. How hard is this to understand?
Unlike the Talmud, which turned ritual acts into "salvation", the genuine Hebrew faith of ancient times drove people to do things that raised Jehovah's reputation. Faith means you are determined to discover and perform whatever it is that makes God smile.