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Who is the Author?
James,1 the brother of Jesus, is likely the author of the letter bearing his name.2 James grew up with Jesus and probably received the same Jewish education as Jesus, but we are told that he began as a skeptic of Jesus’s ministry (John 7:5). By the post-resurrection Pentecost celebration in Jerusalem (Acts 1:13–14), however, James must have had a change of heart, because he was among the brethren in the upper room. As a member of the early Jesus movement, James soon became an authoritative voice in the early church’s formation. Luke describes James as overseeing the first important church council—the Jerusalem Council (Acts 14:27–15:29). According to Paul, James was an apostle and “pillar” of the primitive church (Gal 1:19; 2:9). It is even possible that James garnered more authority than Peter, which is why some have referred to James as the first pope.3
James was a devout Jew and made it clear in his letter that he considers following Jesus to be a very Jewish thing to do. A substantial portion of his letter addresses proper observance of Torah (James 1:22–25, 2:8–13; 4:11–12). He performs midrash (a Jewish form of biblical interpretation) on the Hebrew Bible (James 2), critiques the rich in the way Israel’s prophets did (namely Isaiah, 5:1–6), and writes like a Jewish sage (c.f. Wisdom of Sirach). Paula Fredriksen points out that he even had a good relationship with unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem—likely because he saw them as brethren.4
The way James identifies himself in his letter is critical for understanding his letter. James begins his letter by introducing himself as a doulos, or “slave,” of God and the Lord Jesus Messiah. This designation aligns James with other “slaves” of God in the Old Testament, including Moses, David, Amos, Jeremiah, and Daniel.5 Furthermore, James identifies himself with other slaves in Palestine and the greater Roman Empire. Though slavery in the ancient world was by no means the same as the slavery of the Antebellum South, slavery in the early Roman period was still brutal and dehumanizing.6 By designating himself a slave, James identified himself with the lowest economic and social strata of Roman society, people who often suffered at the hands of another.