Toward a Postcolonial Reading of the Epistle of James offers an interpretation of Jas 2:1-13 putting the text in the midst of the Roman imperial system of rank. This study shows that the conflict of the text has more to do with differences of rank than poverty and wealth. The main problem is that the Christian assemblies are acting according to Roman cultural etiquette instead of their Jewish-Christian heritage when a Roman equestrian and a beggar visit the assembly. The members of the assemblies are accused of having become too Roman. From a postcolonial perspective, this is a typical case of hybrid identities. Additional key concepts from postcolonialism, such as diaspora, ‘othering’, naming of oppressors, and binarisms such as coloniser/colonised, centre/margin, honour/shame and power/powerless, are highlighted throughout the study.

Foundational essays for students of New Testament epistles This accessible introduction to contemporary scholarship on the Epistle of James begins with chapters that consider possible sources and backgrounds used by the author of James, the genre and literary structure of the book, and its major theological themes. Building on this foundation, subsequent chapters examine James through social-scientific readings, perspectives of Latin American immigrants and the marginalized, and major recent developments in textual criticism. The final chapters in the volume address the relationship between the epistle and the historical James, reception of the epistle in the early church, and major Catholic and Protestant interpretations of the book in the Reformation era. The contributions in this volume distill a range of important issues for readers undertaking a serious study of this letter for the first time. Features An introduction to contemporary scholarship on this important but often-overlooked text Clear explanations of all technical terms and themes In-depth discussions of the importance of Jewish Scripture and interpretative traditions, Greco-Roman philosophy and Jewish wisdom motifs, and biblical perspectives on justice, wealth, and poverty

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 letters recipients; and condemns those who would transgress the boundaries between purity and impurity, God and world.

Jobymon Skaria, an Indian St Thomas Christian Scholar, offers a critique of Indian Christian theology and suggests that constructive dialogues between Biblical and dissenting Dalit voices – such as Chokhamela, Karmamela, Ravidas, Kabir, Nandanar and Narayana Guru – could set right the imbalance within Dalit theology, and could establish dialogical partnerships between Dalit Theologians, non-Dalit Christians and Syrian Christians. Drawing on Biblical and socio-historical resources, this book examines a radical, yet overlooked aspect of Dalit cultural and religious history which would empower the Dalits in their everyday existences.

The Letter of James is the focus of the latest commentary in the Belief series. In the Letter of James, the writer sends encouragement to the early church, in the midst of the struggles and strife that marked its early days. Theologian Martha L. Moore-Keish guides the reader through the brief but important letter, most known for its discussion of the importance of actions to make a true life of faith. The volumes in the Belief series offer a fresh and invigorating approach to all the books of the Bible. Building on a wide range of sources from biblical studies and the Christian tradition, noted scholars focus less on traditional, historical and literary angles in favor of a theologically focused commentary that considers the contemporary relevance of the text.

A comprehensive analysis of the New Testament from the perspective of postcolonial criticism, this title enables readers to relate biblical texts more sharply to the perennial geopolitical issues of imperialism and colonialism.

The T & T Clark Social Identity Commentary on the New Testament is a one-of-a-kind comprehensive Bible resource that highlights the way the NT seeks to form the social identity of the members of the earliest Christ-movement. By drawing on the interpretive resources of social-scientific theories-especially those related to the formation of identity-interpreters generate new questions that open fruitful identity-related avenues into the text. It provides helpful introductions to each NT book that focus on various social dimensions of the text as well as a commentary structure that illuminates the text as a work of social influence. The commentary offers methodologically informed discussions of difficult and disputed passages and highlights cultural contexts in theoretically informed ways-drawing on resources from social anthropology, historical sociology, or social identity theory. The innovative but careful scholarship of these writers, most of whom have published monographs on some aspect of social identity within the New Testament, brings to the fore often overlooked social and communal aspects inherent in the NT discourse. The net result is a more concrete articulation of some of the every-day lived experiences of members of the Christ-movement within the Roman Empire, while also offering further insight into the relationship between existing and new identities that produced diverse expressions of the Christ-movement during the first century. The SICNT shows that identity-formation is at the heart of the NT and it offers insights for leaders of faith communities addressing these issues in contemporary contexts.

This book gives attention to the language and style of the letter of James, with a hypothesis about its rhetorical purpose in mind. It focuses on what we can learn about the author of James, by reading the text in light of a guiding research question: How does the author establish and assert authority? The letter builds literary authority for a number of purposes, one of which is to address socioeconomic disparity, a major concern for the author. The author of James presents a speech-in-character in the shape of a letter to establish his ethos (Ch. 2), employing vocabulary and style to signal his education implicitly (Ch. 3 & 4) and includes himself in the categories of sage, teacher and exegete explicitly (Ch. 5). From this standpoint, the author can address the rich as equals, rebuke them and admonish both rich and poor to receive God's wisdom (Ch. 6). The comparison with ancient literary criticism shows that the categories at play are the same. The insight that language and ethos are inseparable categories in antiquity provides us with renewed ways to interpret the literary production of early Christianity. Both James and 'the Classicists' present a competing epic in the context of the early imperium, the former with an Israelite piety that is superior to contemporary economic and moral categories and the latter with the supremacy of Greek culture as a foundation for Rome. The letter of James emerges as a document that builds educational ethos as a balance against the rich and powerful, a strategy that calls for a revision of both its rhetoric and socio-economic situation.

Paul’s letter to the Romans has a long history in Christian dogmatic battles. But how might the letter have been heard by an audience in Neronian Rome? James R. Harrison answers that question through a reader-response approach grounded in deep investigations of the material and ideological culture of the city, from Augustus to Nero. Inscriptional, archaeological, monumental, and numismatic evidence, in addition to a breadth of literary material, allows him to describe the ideological “value system” of the Julio-Claudian world, which would have shaped the perceptions and expectations of Paul’s readers. Throughout, Harrison sets prominent Pauline themes‒‒his obligation to Greeks and barbarians, newness of life and of creation against the power of death, the body of Christ, “boasting” in “glory” and God’s purpose in and for Israel‒‒in startling juxtaposition with Roman ideological themes. The result is a richer and more complex understanding of the letter’s argument and its possible significance for contemporary readers.