James In Recent Study
JAMES IN RECENT STUDY
As we have seen, there has been renewed interest in the compositional history of James, with several scholars proposing that the present form of the letter is due to a redactor who worked over earlier material (see above, "Nature/Genre”). James’s very strong condemnation of the rich (esp. Jas. 5:1-6) has naturally made his letter a favorite of those who are propounding various forms of liberation theology. 37 Perhaps the most interesting development, however, has been the attention given to the social setting of the letter. In keeping with a renewed interest in this matter in New Testament studies generally, scholars have sought to identify the historical and social setting of the letter and then to use this reconstruction as a hermeneutical key in their interpretation. One such reconstruction views James as directed to oppressed and impoverished Jewish Christians who are attracted by the revolutionary philosophy that eventually led to the zealot movement. James champions their cause (e.g., 5:1-6) and the rights of oppressed poor people, at the same time as he cautions them about using violent means to ease their situation (4:1 -3). 38 Such reconstructions can be illuminating, but we must be careful not to be more definite than the text allows us to be, lest we force the letter into a single mold that it was not meant to fill. 39