The Epistle of James - Wednesday Evening Studies, Fall 2017

This page provides access to the handouts from the study, and also to my annotations of the text, leader's notes, and links to some relevant sources on the web.

THE INVITATION

Study Leader:  Scott Inrig

Martin Luther was probably the most famous detractor of the letter of James, calling it “an epistle of straw.”  For some reason, that phrase brought to mind the house of straw in the children’s story, The Three Little Pigs.  But is the letter of James really like that – insubstantial and unimportant?  Or is it more like the house of brick – solid and enduring?  Explore this letter and decide for yourself.

Resources used in the Study

• Handouts
• Annotated NRSV Text
• Leader's Notes
• James: Holman Concise Bible Commentary
• James: International Standard  Bible Encyclopedia

WEB Links

• Commentary on James (InterVarsity Press)
• Notes on James (Dr. Thomas Constable)
• Albert Barnes' Notes
• Video Series: The Epistle of James
• James of Jerusalem: Bishop and Martyr
• The Canon of the New Testament (F.F. Bruce)
• Epistle of Straw—or a Book of Faith?
• Hearing the Voice of Jesus in the Epistle of James

for further reading

Johnson, Luke Timothy, and Jakobus. The Letter of James: a New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Yale Univ. Press, 2008.
Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.
Motyer, J. Alec. The Message of James. Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.