The Letter of James

Scattered believers. "The twelve tribes in the Dispersion" is Israel's own name for God's people living far from home. James takes it up for those who believe in Jesus. Their meeting place is called a "synagogue" in the Greek of 2:2 (the NRSV says "assembly"), which shows how close to its Jewish roots this community still was. Abraham is "our ancestor" (2:21). The Law is honoured as "the law of liberty" (1:25). Job and Elijah are the models for patience and prayer (5:11, 17).

Rich and poor. The readers knew hunger and hard labour. Field workers were cheated of their wages (5:4). Rich people dragged the poor into court (2:6). In the assembly a man with gold rings could be given the best seat while a poor man was told to stand (2:2 to 3). Merchants made big plans without a thought for God (4:13). James speaks about this as sharply as the prophets of Israel did.

Quarrels within. The community also had trouble inside it: teachers with sharp tongues (3:1), envy and ambition (3:14), conflicts and disputes (4:1), and people who spoke evil of one another (4:11).

Waiting. They were waiting for the Lord's coming and they were tired of waiting. James tells them to be patient as a farmer is patient, watching for the early and the late rains (5:7).

Which James? The New Testament knows several men of this name. James the son of Zebedee, brother of John, was killed under Herod about the year 44 (Acts 12:2), too early for this letter. James the son of Alphaeus is one of the Twelve (Mark 3:18). James "the Lord's brother" led the Church in Jerusalem (Gal 1:19; Acts 15:13; 21:18), and the risen Lord appeared to him (1 Cor 15:7).

Tradition takes the letter to be his. The writer calls himself only "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1:1). In the Latin West this James has been identified with the son of Alphaeus; the Catechism speaks of "James the apostle and brother of the Lord" (1511). Benedict XVI (28 June 2006) reports that experts debate whether the two are the same man.

"Brother of the Lord." This does not mean another child of Mary. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary; James and Joseph, called "brothers of Jesus", are "the sons of another Mary" (Catechism 500). Benedict XVI notes that a relative could be called "brother" according to Semitic custom.

His life and death. Peter sent word to James after escaping from prison (Acts 12:17). At the Council of Jerusalem he proposed the solution by which Gentiles who believed were received without circumcision, a proposal all the Apostles present accepted (Acts 15:13 to 21; Benedict XVI, 28 June 2006). Paul visited him (Gal 1:19; Acts 21:18). The Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 20.200 to 203) reports that in 62, in the gap between two Roman governors, the high priest Ananus had James and some others condemned and stoned. Josephus adds that fair-minded citizens were offended and that the king removed Ananus from office. This was the act of one official, and it must never be turned into a charge against the Jewish people. A later and more colourful account from Hegesippus, preserved by Eusebius (Church History 2.23), tells how James earned the name "the Just", how his knees grew hard from praying in the Temple, and how he died praying for his killers. This is tradition, and its details cannot be checked.

How the letter came to be received. Acceptance came slowly in some places, and the Church's Fathers are open about it. Eusebius lists it among the disputed writings, for "not many of the ancients have mentioned it", and yet he says it was read publicly "in very many churches" (Church History 2.23). St Jerome reports that some thought another man had published it under James's name, and that it "gradually" gained authority (Illustrious Men 2). Origen quotes it as Scripture. The Council of Trent (1546) names it among the sacred books: "one of the apostle James". The Catechism lists it in the canon (120).

Martin Luther. In a preface of 1522, Luther compared it unfavourably with other New Testament books and called it "an epistle of straw". Lutheran and other Christian readers today commonly read it with much more respect. Catholics and Lutherans have together spoken of what they hold in common on this question (see below).

A scholarly note. Traditionally the letter is by James of Jerusalem. Some scholars ask whether a Galilean would write such good Greek, and they think that a later disciple or a helper gave it its final form, drawing on his teaching. Others point to its early Jewish tone as evidence for James himself. None of this touches its place as inspired Scripture (Dei Verbum 11).

His feast. The Latin Church keeps St James with St Philip on 3 May. Byzantine Christians keep James the Brother of the Lord on 23 October. The West Syriac Holy Qurbono, used by the Syro-Malankara Church, bears the name of St James of Jerusalem.

James does not argue in a straight line as Paul does. Like the book of Proverbs or Sirach, it moves from one piece of wisdom to the next, and returns to its themes.

• Do what you hear. "Be doers of the word" (1:22). Hearing and forgetting is like glancing in a mirror and walking away (1:23 to 24).
• God is good and gives without reproach. He gives wisdom to all who ask (1:5). All good gifts come down from him, with no shadow of change (1:17; Catechism 212). He himself tempts no one (1:13; Catechism 2846).
• Trials can grow into endurance. Testing, met with faith, makes us mature (1:2 to 4). The crown of life is promised to those who love God (1:12).
• God's love for the poor, and ours. God has "chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith" (2:5). True religion cares for orphans and widows (1:27; Catechism 2208). Favouritism is a sin against the royal law, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (2:8 to 9). Words of comfort to the hungry, with no food, are worth nothing (2:15 to 16; Catechism 2447).
• Justice in money and work. James 5:1 to 6 is one of the strongest passages in Scripture on unjust wealth, and the Catechism quotes it in full (2445). The cry of cheated workers reaches the Lord's ears (5:4).
• The tongue. A small part of the body can set a forest on fire (3:5). With it we bless God and curse those made in his likeness (3:9). Do not speak evil of one another (4:11).
• Wisdom from above. It is pure, peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy (3:17).
• Humility and conversion. Friendship with the world is enmity with God (4:4). Submit to God, resist the devil, draw near, and he will draw near to you (4:7 to 8, 10).
• Praying rightly. We may ask and not receive when we ask wrongly, with a divided heart (4:3 to 4; Catechism 2737). Elijah was a human being like us, and his prayer was powerful (5:16 to 18; Catechism 2582).
• Everything in God's hands. "If the Lord wishes" (4:15). Benedict XVI draws from this that we should abandon ourselves into God's hands in all that we do.
• Care for one another's souls. Whoever brings back a sinner does a great work of mercy (5:19 to 20).

Faith and works

"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (2:24). Paul writes that "a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law" (Rom 3:28). Both also cite the same verse about Abraham, Genesis 15:6 (Jas 2:23; Rom 4:3). Do they disagree? The Catholic Church reads them as two Apostolic voices of the one Spirit.

• They answer different questions. Paul is asking how we first come into right standing with God, and his opponents are those who rely on their own observance of the Law. James is asking what real faith looks like afterwards, and his opponents are those who say they believe and do nothing. Even demons "believe" in James's sense, and they shudder (2:19).
• Grace comes first, always. "Our justification comes from the grace of God" (Catechism 1996). "No one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification" (Catechism 2010). The Council of Trent teaches that faith is the beginning, the foundation and the root of justification, and that nothing which comes before it, "whether faith or works", merits that grace (Session 6, chapter 8; 1547). Paul and James would both say amen.
• Then grace bears fruit. Justification is not a bare label. The same Council, quoting James 2:24, teaches that the justified grow in holiness, "faith co-operating with good works" (Session 6, chapter 10). James says the same of Abraham: "faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works" (2:22). Paul too speaks of "faith working through love" (Gal 5:6), and of good works prepared by God for us (Eph 2:8 to 10).
• What "dead" means. "Faith apart from works is dead": when it lacks hope and love, faith "does not fully unite the believer to Christ" (Catechism 1815, citing 2:26). A person can have faith and still fail to love. Such a person is not without faith, but that faith needs to come alive by repentance and grace.
• Merit is itself grace. When the Church speaks of merit, she says it is due first to God's grace, then to the faithful (Catechism 2008). "The saints have always had a lively awareness that their merits were pure grace" (Catechism 2011). The whole teaching runs from Catechism 1987 to 2029.
• Paul and James complete each other. Benedict XVI (28 June 2006) says that the two sentences, correctly interpreted, "actually complete each other". Paul opposes the pride of thinking we can justify ourselves without grace. James asks for what follows from faith: love of neighbour, above all the poor.
• Catholics and Lutherans. In their Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (Augsburg, 31 October 1999), the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation said together, in substance, that we are accepted by God by grace alone and not because of any merit on our part, and that good works follow from justification as its fruits. Some questions of language remain, and the Declaration says so.

The anointing of the sick

"Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven" (5:14 to 15).

• What James describes. A sick person calls. The elders, in Greek presbyteroi, come as officers of the Church, not as private healers. They pray over the person and anoint with oil, in the Lord's name, for it is the Lord who acts. And there is forgiveness.
• The Church's faith. "The apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James", and "Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven sacraments" (Catechism 1510). The Council of Trent, in its fourteenth session (1551), teaches that it was instituted by Christ our Lord and "promulgated by the blessed apostle James", having been alluded to by Mark (Mark 6:13; Catechism 1511).
• From early times. Origen quotes the passage in his second homily on Leviticus. Pope Innocent I, writing to Bishop Decentius in 416, explains that it concerns the sick faithful. St Bede, in his commentary on James, says that the sick are to be anointed by priests with consecrated oil. Testimonies come from the liturgies of both East and West (Catechism 1512).
• Not only for the dying. Over the centuries it was given more and more to those at the point of death, and so it came to be called Extreme Unction. Yet the liturgy never stopped asking for the sick person's recovery, if this would help his or her salvation (Catechism 1512). It "is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death" (Catechism 1514). Anyone beginning to be in danger from sickness or old age may receive it. It can be received again in a new illness, or if the illness grows worse, and it is fitting before a serious operation (Catechism 1515). So do not wait until the last hour to call the priest.
• Who gives it. "Only priests (bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick" (Catechism 1516).
• What it gives. Strength, peace and courage in illness; healing of the soul, and of the body too if such is God's will; forgiveness of sins (Catechism 1520). Union with the Passion of Christ (1521). A share in the good of the whole Church, which prays with the sick person (1522). And preparation for the final journey (1523).
• What it is not. It is not magic, and not a promise that the sick will always recover. It is Christ's own touch through his Church. In East and West the rites differ; the Latin rite was renewed by St Paul VI's constitution Sacram Unctionem Infirmorum (Catechism 1513).

"Confess your sins to one another" (5:16). This is a call to honesty and prayer among believers. The Sacrament of Penance rests on what Christ gave to his Church (Catechism 1441 to 1445). St Bede and others link this verse with confession, and the verse is a reminder that sin and healing concern the whole community.

• Named only twice, and present everywhere. The name Jesus Christ occurs only at 1:1 and 2:1, yet his words sound through the letter. "Do not swear" and let your "Yes" be yes (5:12) echoes Matthew 5:34 to 37. God's choice of the poor (2:5) echoes Luke 6:20. Doers and not only hearers (1:22) echoes Matthew 7:21 to 27. Joy in trial (1:2) echoes Matthew 5:11 to 12.
• "Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ" (2:1). In this most practical of letters he is the Lord of glory. To honour him and to shame the poor cannot go together.
• The Lord who is coming. "The coming of the Lord is near" and "the Judge is standing at the doors" (5:8 to 9). The same Lord who judges is "compassionate and merciful" (5:11).
• The Lord who heals. The sick are anointed "in the name of the Lord" and it is the Lord who raises them up (5:14 to 15), as Jesus touched the sick and sent the Twelve to anoint them (Mark 6:13).
• The law of love he fulfilled. The "royal law" (2:8) is the commandment Jesus himself placed at the centre (Mark 12:31). The Catechism speaks of the New Law as a law of love and a law of liberty (1972).

In the Catechism. God's constancy, 212. Faith alive through love, 1815. Anointing of the Sick, 1510 to 1511, 1519 to 1520. The poor, 2208, 2445, 2447. Keeping the whole Law, 578. The name of God, 2148. Prayer, 2582, 2737. Temptation, 2846.

The Fathers, in substance. Origen quotes 5:14 in speaking of the forgiveness of sins (Homilies on Leviticus 2). St John Chrysostom uses the passage in On the Priesthood 3.6 when he speaks of priests and the forgiveness of sins. Eusebius honestly tells of early doubts about the letter and of its public reading in very many churches.

Benedict XVI. His audience on James the Lesser (28 June 2006) treats James's part in Jerusalem, the Council and the letter. He calls James a teacher of life who urges us not to reduce faith to words, and to put it into practice "above all, in love of neighbour and especially in dedication to the poor".

In the liturgy.

• Latin. James is read on the Twenty-second to Twenty-sixth Sundays of Year B, running through the letter from 1:17 to 5:6, and on the Third Sunday of Advent of Year A (5:7 to 10). On weekdays it is read in the Sixth and Seventh Weeks of Ordinary Time in Year II.
• Syro-Malabar. In the 2025 to 2026 calendar we found it at the Holy Qurbana on weekdays, not on Sundays, and especially in the Great Fast: 1:12 to 18 on the First Friday, 2:1 to 9 on the Second Monday, 2:10 to 17 on the Third Thursday. Saints' days and others have it too: 2:14 to 17 on the memorial of St Teresa of Calcutta, 1:22 to 27 on a First Friday of Annunciation, and 5:13 to 20 on the Fourth Tuesday of Denha.
• Syro-Malankara. Its calendars of readings for the Holy Qurbono include James among the Sunday readings: 2:14 to 26 on the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, and 4:7 to 10 and 1:2 to 8 on the First and Fifth Sundays after the Transfiguration.

James takes only about fifteen minutes to read aloud. It is better not to read it fast. Read a small part each day for a week, and stop to do something about each one.

• Day 1: chapter 1:1 to 18. What trial am I in? Ask for wisdom.
• Day 2: 1:19 to 27. Choose one person in distress and go to them.
• Day 3: 2:1 to 13. Whom do I treat as less important in church?
• Day 4: 2:14 to 26. Read it with Romans 4 and Galatians 5:6.
• Day 5: chapter 3. Watch your tongue for one whole day.
• Day 6: chapter 4. Say "if the Lord wishes" over your plans for tomorrow.
• Day 7: chapter 5. Think of someone sick who has not yet called the priest.