Christology in the Epistle of James

Abstract

Though generally ignored as a source for New Testament theology, the Epistle of James is an excellent starting point for developing theology which is not pre-determined by theological systems. Influenced by the postmodern situation of Western culture, the call from both evangelicals and non-evangelicals today is for theology to be pastoral, character building, to change people, and for exegetical theologians to grapple with the text personally in the process of conveying its significance to others. As a NT book in the genre of Jewish wisdom literature, James shines as a source for discovering pastoral theology like this. In examining the Epistle of James from this perspective, three aspects of the author’s understanding of Christ are identified: (1). he is the church’s teacher; (2). he shares the quality and offices of God; (3) he remains functionally active in the church