Arguing against restricting the meaning of purity language to the individual moral sphere (as many commentaries do), the central argument of Purity and Worldview in the Epistle of James is that purity language both articulates and constructs the worldview in James's epistle. Lockett offers a taxonomy of purity language, applied as a heuristic guide to understand the function of purity and pollution in the epistle. Through this analysis the study concludes that James is not calling for sectarian separation, but rather demonstrates a degree of cultural accommodation while calling forth specific socio-cultural boundaries between the readers and the world.

In this volume, A. Boyd Luter initially makes the case that the Letter of James was the first New Testament document and that it was written for a primarily Messianic Jewish audience in the Diaspora. Its early origin places James as the foundational Messianic Jewish Scripture of the new covenant era. That, however, is a drastically different take on the letter’s dating, audience, and purpose from the long-held supersessionist view in which Israel is replaced by the church. In the supersessionist understanding, James is one of the later New Testament books, originating supposedly at a time when it was already expected for the church to be symbolically “the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” And, since a common first impression of the letter is that its style is reflective of Old Testament wisdom literature, it was taken as dealing with practical issues of the Christian life through a staccato format much like Proverbs. Instead, through the elegant literary vehicle of an overarching inverted parallel structure, the Letter of James communicates its author’s approach to issues among his Messianic Jewish audience related to spiritual growth and purity, as well as putting away class-based favoritism and the relationship between faith and works.

Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. General Editor: D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Managing Editor: Brian Tabb, Bethlehem College and Seminary Consulting Editor: Michael J. Ovey, Oak Hill Theological College Administrator: Andrew David Naselli, Bethlehem College and Seminary Book Review Editors: Jerry Hwang, Singapore Bible College; Alan Thompson, Sydney Missionary & Bible College; Nathan A. Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Dane Ortlund, Crossway; Jason Sexton, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary Editorial Board: Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul Paul House, Beeson Divinity School Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary James Robson, Wycliffe Hall Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary

This book is an explanation of the author’s investigation into James’ concept of God, using the historical-critical approach as a hermeneutical tool to find out how it was important to different realms of the early Messianic community and its significance to Christians today. The Epistle of James faced lot of struggles to be included in the New Testament. For various reasons, the book was not considered for early canonization. The main reason was the view that there were less theological aspects in the content of the book. Martin Luther described this book as “an epistle of straw.” Respectively, scholars like Martin Debelius, J. H. Ropes, E. J. Goodspeed and A. M. Hunter also underscore the nature of its relatively limited theology by highlighting other aspects of the Epistle of James. Therefore, this book attempts to investigate James’ theological concepts by looking into his use of the concept of God in the socio-political, religious and economic settings of the people in the text.

James confronts the exploitive wealthy; it also opposes Pauline hybridity. K. Jason Coker argues that postcolonial perspectives allow us to understand how these themes converge in the letter. James opposes the exploitation of the Roman Empire and a peculiar Pauline form of hybridity that compromises with it; refutes Roman cultural practices, such as the patronage system and economic practices, that threaten the identity of the letter’s recipients; and condemns those who would transgress the boundaries between purity and impurity, God and “world.”

This reference volume aims to be a kind of comprehensive status quaestionis for the Catholic Epistles. Here Darian Lockett has collected some of the highest quality scholarship concentred upon the Letters of James, Peter, ohn, and Jude, creating an introduction and orientation to the wide ranging avenues of scholarly investigation into these New Testament texts all in a single-volume. Divided into four distinct sections, the volume begins with an analysis of the Catholic Epistles as a collection, before moving to discuss historical-critical and theological studies, methodological approaches, and, finally, reception history. Taking care to situate foundational essays in the history of scholarship that may be hard to find or contextualize, Lockett offers a brief introduction to each section and draws each section to a close by providing a list of annotated readings which prompt further study and engagement with some of the last literature to be settled upon in the New Testament canon.

The letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude are among the most neglected letters of the New Testament. Thus, methodological advances in New Testament study tend to arise among the Gospels or Pauline letters. But now these letters are beginning to receive increased attention in the scholarly community. Reading James With New Eyes is the first of four volumes that incorporate new research in this area. The essays collected here examine the impact of recent methodological developments in New Testament studies to the letter of James, including, for example, rhetorical, social-scientific, socio-rhetorical, ideological and hermeneutical methods, as they contribute to understanding James and its social context. Each essay has a similar three-fold structure, making them perfect for use by students: a description of the methodological approach; the application of the methodological approach to James; and a conclusion identifying how the methodological approach contributes to a fresh understanding of the letter.