A Brother's Wisdom 2
Tuesday February 17, 2009
Categories: James
James, brother of Jesus, offers us wisdom. He opens his letter with a very typical greeting and then dives right in with these words: 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know...
Filed Under: Faith and Spirituality, James
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Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986). Click to continue reading Scot McKnight's Bio...
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Scot,
Stress of poor in the face of oppressors or stress of faith in the face of persecution? I would have thought the latter would be the kind of trial that tests faith and builds perseverance.
Amen, amen, amen. I'm really glad to see that context plays a role in how you interpreted this scripture. I can't count how many times I've seen/heard someone teach a lesson that was way out of context.
Remember this: If your interpretation wouldn't make sense to a 1st centruy audience, your interpretation isn't Biblical.
I look forward to hearing more discussion on this
Matt
Christian2.0
A graded test - or pass/fail?
Very smart discussion.By the way, what is your fovorite gospel(mine's Luke).
James is one of my favorite books. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts!
A great post! Love what you said regarding trials and dealing with the context. I read through this and made a mental note to come back to this post again.
Hey Scott. Interesting thoughts about interpretation here. I agree that the meaning of James needs to be rooted in its historical context but also think that our social contexts and therefore our spiritualist interpretation may not necessarily be that far off. Many, who are in poverty or suffering, can read this text too. I remember reading 1:27 as a 14 year old. My dad had died the year before. We were in a financial bind and with scant resources. That is stretching the analogy but it seems my context and the historical meaning of that text are not too far off (in my 14 year old mind anyway).
I do cringe at bourgeois interpretive practices that are highly self invested. One of my biggest concerns in ministry within the evangelical sub-culture is how self-invested our teaching and preaching is. It is often more therapeutic than ethical. Can you suggest some reading on this subject? (although maybe the book of James is a great place to start!) Certainly historical critical method helps with this process though.
I wonder if there is any value of connecting 1:2-3 with virtue ethics? That is the concept of character formation? Or does that run too close to what you are calling stoicism?
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