Au In the beginning was the Word
 

1. – Facts are more valuable that words: “Be doers of the Word and not just hearers” (James 1, 22), says the Letter of James. It is necessary to listen and to actuate. James (Saint Jacob), “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” addresses “to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations” (1, 1), id est, to the Judeo Christians communities that live amidst a pagan society. According to Eusebius of Caesarea (+ 339), the letter “is not considered authentic”, but it is publicly read “in most of the churches” (HE II 23, 25). It is written in Greek. It could have been drafted in the Jerusalem community Greek language group (Acts 6, 1). In any case, it reflects the Gospel’s original experience and oral tradition.

2. – According to the tradition, the author is James, Lord’s brother, who leads a Jerusalem community Aramean language group. Incorporated to the Christian community after Jesus death (Acts 1, 14), he is a witness of the Resurrected Lord (1 Co 15, 7), he has a decisive intervention in the council of Jerusalem, accepting that the Jewish law should not be imposed to the gentiles converted to God (Acts 15, 6-20). James, Peter and John are considered “columns” (Ga 2, 9). According to Eusebius, “when Paul appeals to the Caesar and he is sent by Festo to the city of Rome, the Jews, frustrated the hope that induced them to set him a trap, turned against James, the brother of the Lord”. He dies stoned and beat on the year 62 (HE II, 23, 1; Josephus, Jewish antiquities, XX. 9, 1; Hegesipus, Memories, V). James, John’s brother, died beheaded on the year 44 (Acts 12, 2). James, the son of Alphaeus, is one of the twelve (Mt 10, 3).

3. – The letter calls fortunate those who support all kind of tests: “Consider yourselves fortunate, my brothers, when you meet with ever kind of trial, for you know that the testing of your faith makes you steadfast. Let your steadfastness become perfect with deeds, that you yourself may be perfect and blameless, without any defect” (James 1, 2-4), “happy the one who patiently endures trials, because afterwards he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him” (1, 12). It is the Gospel’s experience: “Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are my followers. Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God” (Mt 5, 11-12), “be perfect as your celestial father is perfect” (5, 48).

4. – God gives the wisdom to that who asks it with faith. The prayer is effective: “If any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, and God will give it to him, because he gives to everyone easily and unconditionally. But he should ask with faith, not doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave driven and tossed on the sea by the wind” (James 1, 5-7). It is what Jesus says: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find”, your father who is in heaven gives “good things” to those who ask for it (Mt 7, 7-11).

5. – The option for the poor is fundamental: “Let the poor man boast, because he has been uplifted, and the rich one boast when he is humbled, because he will pass away like the flower of the field… fade away in their paths” (James 1, 9-11), “if you will truly believe in your glorified Lord, Jesus Christ, you will not discriminate between persons. Suppose a man enters the synagogue where you are assembled and he is dressed magnificently and wears a gold ring; at the same time, a poor man enters dressed in rags. If you focus your attention on the well-dressed man and say to him: Come and sit in the best seat; while to the poor man you say: stay standing or else sit down at my feet; have you not in fact, made a distinction between the two?. Have you not judged, using a double standard? Look brothers, did God not choose the poor of this world to receive the riches of faith and to inherit the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? … Is it not the rich who are against you and drag you to court? Do they not insult the holy name of Christ by which you are called? (2, 1-8). Jesus says it: “Fortunate are those who have the spirit of the poor” (Mt 5, 3) or (without any more) “fortunate the poor” (Lk 6, 20), “unhappy are you who have wealth” (6, 24), “you cannot at the same time serve God and money” (Mt 6, 24)

6. – The words against the rich people are very hard: “So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for the misfortunes which are coming upon you. You riches are rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths. Your silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having piled up riches in the last days. You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers´ complains have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world and felt happy while others were murdered. You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance” (James 5, 1-6).

7. – Every gift comes from God, He begets us with his word: “Do not be deceived, dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Light, in whom there is no change or shadow of a change. By his own will he gave us life through the Word of Truth, that he might be a kind of offering to him among his creatures” (1, 16-18). Jesus invites us to trust in God: “Look at the birds in the sky: they do not sow, they do not harvest and do not store food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Mt 6, 26). Those who receive his word become children of God (Jn 1, 12).

8. – It is necessary to listen the word and to accomplish it: “My dear brothers, be quick to hear but slow to speak and slow to anger, for human anger does not fulfil the justice of God. So get rid of any filth and reject the prevailing evil, and welcome the Word which has been planted in you and which has the power to save you. Be doers of the Word and not just hearers, lest you deceive yourselves”, “but he who fixes his gaze on the perfect law of freedom and holds onto it, not listening and then forgetting, but acting on it, will find blessing on his deeds” (James 1, 19-25). “Happy those who listen the word and accomplish it”, says Jesus (Lk 8, 21). It is necessary to hear the word and to place it into practice (Mt 7, 24-27). The sowed word produces fruit (Mk 4-20).

9. – We mind the Decalogue, and also the mercy, the compassion, the forgiveness: “Because if anyone keeps the whole law but fails in one aspect, he is guilty of breaking it all. For he who said: Do not commit adultery, also said: Do not kill. If then you do not commit adultery but you do commit murder, you have broken the Law. Therefore, speak and behave like people who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. There will be justice without mercy for those who have not shown mercy, for mercy is greater than judgment” (James 2, 10-13). Jesus assumes the Decalogue and takes it up to its plenitude: “Do not think that I have come to remove the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to remove but to fulfil them” (Mt 5, 17), “if you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours” (6, 14).

10. – The true faith is known by the works: “Brothers, what good is it to profess faith without showing works? If a brother or sister is in need of clothes or food and one of you says: may things go well for you; be warm and satisfied”, without attending to their material needs, what good is that? So it is for faith without deeds: it is totally dead. Say to whoever challenges you, “you have faith and I have good deeds; show me your faith apart from actions and I, for my part, will show you my faith in the way I act”. Do you believe there is one God? Well enough, but do not forget that the demons also believe and tremble with fair. You foolish man, do you have to be convinced that faith without deeds is useless?” (James 2, 14-20), pure and blameless religion lies in helping the orphans and widows in their need and keeping oneself from the world’s corruption” (1, 27). Jesus says: “You will know them by their fruit” (Mt 7, 20). And also: “Your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do ad praise your Father in Heaven” (Mt 5, 16). So it is “to have faith that works through love” (Ga 5, 6).

11. – Be careful with your tongue: “If anyone considers himself a religious person but does not restrain his tongue, his religion is in vain” (James 1, 26), “a person who commits no offence in speech is perfect and capable of ruling the whole self. We put a bit into the horse’s mouth to master it and, with this, we control its whole body. The same is true with the ships: however big they are and driven by strong winds, the helmsman steers them with a tiny rudder. In the same way the tongue is a tiny part of the body but is capable of great things”. It also can produce large ruins: “A small flame is enough to set a huge forest on fire” (3, 2-5). In conclusion, “do not criticize one another” (4, 11).

12: - The true wisdom: “If you consider yourself wise and learned show it by your good life and let your actions, in all humility, be and example for others. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and ambition, do not try to show off; that would be covering up the truth; this kind of wisdom does not come from above but from the world and it is earthly and devilish. Wherever there is jealousy and ambition, you will also find discord and all that is evil.” (3, 13-16).

13. – As the kingdom of God (Mk 1, 14), the Lord is near: “Be then patient, my brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the sower waits for the precious fruits of the earth, looking forward patiently… do not lose your heart, because Lord’s coming is near. Brothers, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be judged. See, the judge is already at the door. Take for yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the prophets who spoke in Lord’s name. See how those who were patient are called blessed. You have heard of the patience of Job and how the Lord dealt with him in the end, for the Lord is merciful and shows compassion. Above all, brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth, or make a habit of swearing” (James 5, 7-12). Do not take an oath for any promise, says Jesus (Mt 5, 34-36). Peter proclaims it in the Pentecost day: “God has make Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified” (Act 2, 36).

14. – Healing, reconciliation, conversion: Is anyone among you discouraged? Let him pray. Is anyone of you happy? Let him sing songs to God. If anyone is sick let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer said in faith will save the sick person: the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. There will be healing if you confess your sins to another and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has great power, provided he perseveres”, “if any one of you strays far away from the truth and another person brings him back to it, be sure of this: he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way will save his soul from death and he will win forgiveness for many sins” (James 5, 13-20).

15. – In dialogue with the Islam, the Judaeo-Christian influence in the Coram was first studied by Adolf von Harhack (1851-1930), German protestant historian and theologian. According to some present investigators, the Coram reflects, among others the ebionit influence (ebion, poor). In the Coram the “prophets” or the biblical predecessors are: Adam and Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Aaron, Elijah, David and Solomon, Ezra, Jesus. The famous expression “prophets stamp”, applied to Mahomet (about 570-632), is found in one of the Tertulian´s writings (Adversus Judaeus, before the year 200) applied to Christ. Jewish, Christians and Moslems acknowledge a common origin, carrying out God´s word to Abraham: “I will make you the father of many nations” (Gn 17, 5). Moslems, says the Council, “proclaiming they adhere to Abraham’s faith, adore with us only one God, merciful, who will judge men at the last day” (LG 16).

16. – The Arabic classic language was developed from the Aramean nabatean form. The old nabatean people, which have Petra as its capital, is situated to the south of Palestine. It is identified with the tribe of Nebayot, Ishmael’s first-born (Gn 25, 13). The Judaism was spread out in Arabia for centuries. The Pentecost narration shows the presence of Arabic pilgrims (Acts 1, 12). Ireneo of Lyon (about 130-200), in a non-differentiated way, includes the Judaeo-Christians among the heretic with de qualification of “ebionites”. Jerome (347-420) knows a small Judaeo-Christian community of “Nazarenes” in Aleppo (Syria), which uses an Hebrew version of the evangel of Mathews. In our time, the option for the poor is made present by the Liberation Theology. In the “doting mothers” (Koran schools) the poor find home and food, besides a religious and politic message

17. – Judaeo-Christian presence today in Arabia is acknowledged by the Moslem side too: “Such Judaeo-Christian, probably ebionites, were still present in Arabia at prophet Mahomet times… In Arabic they were known as nasara that was the same name that was given in general to the Christians. From the Koran we can gather that the authentical nasara confessed Jesus as Messiah… but they neither attributed divine features to his person, as other nasara did, nor acknowledged God one like Trinity” (Hassan bin Talal, archaeologist). The analogies between Jesus´ Koranic image  and the Judaeo-Christian one “are astonishing”, says Hans Küng (The Islam; Ed. Trotta, Madrid, 2007, 63-66, 55 y 60). There is, obviously, a fundamental difference: the acknowledgement of Jesus al Lord of the history. This is what Paul discovers in his way to Damascus (Acts 9, 5).

 

*        Dialogue: Is the Letter of James up to date?

-         Reflects the Gospel’s original experience

-         Do not fall into the legalism, or in the dogmatism

-         Listen the word and accomplish it

-         Fortunate the one who resisted the test

-         Prayer is effective

-         Option for the poor

-         Decalogue and Gospel

-         Faith is known by the works

-         Be careful with the tongue

-         The Lord is near

-         Healing, reconciliation, conversion

-         In dialogue with the Islam