Interpretation of the Council Epistle of the Holy Apostle James

About the Council Epistle of the Holy Apostle James Writer of the message. Purpose and readers of the message. Time and place of writing. Authenticity of the message. The general nature of the message and its brief content. The writer of the first, in canonical order, Council Epistle, without calling himself an apostle in the greeting (James 1:1), humbly calls himself: “James the servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” However, this silence about the apostolate of the writer, who addresses his message to “the twelve tribes in dispersion,” not only does not deny the apostolic dignity of the writer, but also speaks of his great and undoubted authority both among Judeo-Christians and among Jews in general. At the same time, the writer places above all praise the humble title and consciousness of himself as a servant of God and Christ, and this mood precisely distinguishes the true apostles of Christ from persons who have illegally arrogated to themselves apostolic authority. This leads to the assumption that James, the writer of the epistle, was an apostle of Christ, one of the primates of the apostolic church, who was in charge of the Judeo-Christian communities outside Palestine. Such a person is the first and most famous representative of the Jerusalem Church, St. James, brother of the Lord, called Righteous from among the seventy apostles (Acts XII:17, 21:18; Gal I:19). Church tradition assimilates the writing of the epistle specifically to this James, and not to Jacob of Zebedee and not to James of Alphaeus (brother of the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew). Jacob Zebedee died very early (about 44 AD) as a martyr at the hands of Herod Agrippa (Acts XII:2); Moreover, there is no historical data in favor of his being famous in the areas of scattering. Meanwhile, the entire content of the message assumes that its writer is well known throughout the Judeo-Christian diaspora. According to legend, Jacob, the brother of the Lord, who entered the field of activity after the death of St., enjoyed such fame in Judeo-Christianity and Judaism. Jacob of Zebedee (Acts XV:13, 21:18; Gal I:19). This is precisely Jacob Ap. Paul puts Peter and John on an equal footing with the Apostles, calling all three pillars of the Church (Gal II:9). If, at the initiative of Blessed Jerome (Prot. Gelovid. Ch. XIII), many Catholic scientists (Cornelius a-Lyapide, Min, Corneli, etc.), Protestant (Baumgarten, Lange) and some Russians (Metropolitan M. Filaret, Archbishop of Chernig. Filaret, Prof. I.V. Cheltsov, Prof. M.D. Muretov) identified James, the brother of the Lord, with James Alpheus - the Apostle from among the 12, then both the New Testament data and the evidence of church tradition speak against this identification. In the Gospel, the brothers of the Lord according to the flesh - James, Josiah, Simon and Judas - clearly differ from the apostles or the first and closest disciples of the Lord, for example, in John 2:12: “After this He came to Capernaum, Himself, and His mother, and His brothers, and His disciples.” If here and in some other places of the Gospel (Matthew 12:48; Mark III:31; Luke VIII:19) the brothers of the Lord stand apart from the disciples or apostles of the Lord, then John 7:5 definitely says that at first the brothers of the Lord did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, they could not be among the apostles - and this is all the more remarkable because the Evangelist John made this remark about the unbelief of the brothers of the Lord almost immediately after mentions of the already formed and existing circle of 12 apostles (John 6:70–71). Even after the resurrection of the Lord, when the Lord’s brothers believed in Him, they still differ from the apostles (Acts I:13–14), although sometimes they are compared with them (1 Cor. IX:5). And the ancient church tradition, with all its ambiguity regarding the brothers of the Lord, still in most cases confirms that James, the brother of the Lord, is a person different from the Apostle James Alpheus. Thus, in the “Apostolic Constitutions” James, the brother of the Lord, is clearly distinguished from the 12 apostles. “We are twelve,” says the Lent. Ap. VI:12, having gathered in Jerusalem, they appeared to James, the brother of the Lord,” and below, VI:14, first the apostles of the 12 are named as those who proclaimed the Catholic teaching (including the Apostle James Alphaeus), and then they add “James, the brother of the Lord and bishop of Jerusalem, and Paul, teacher of languages.” Clement of Alexandria in Eusebius says: “Peter, James and John, although they were preferred by the Lord Himself (to other disciples), however, after the Ascension of the Savior, they did not compete about the word, but chose James the Righteous as Bishop of Jerusalem” (Church Ist. II: 1). Eusebius himself in I:12 of his Ts. East. counts James, the brother of the Lord, among the 70 apostles, and in VII:19 says that James, the brother of Christ, “was the first to receive the bishopric over the Jerusalem church from the Savior Himself and the apostles,” which, in both cases, makes James, the brother of the Lord, definitely stand out from the circle of the 12 apostles. Finally, in Chetya-Minea on October 23, James, the brother of the Lord, is counted among the 70 apostles. We will not go into a detailed consideration and solution of the difficult question: who were the Lord’s brothers in the flesh? 1. Let’s just say that the most justified and more based on ancient church tradition is the view according to which the Lord’s brothers are the children of Joseph the Betrothed from his first marriage. Of the four brothers of the Lord mentioned in the Gospel (Matthew XIII:55; Mark VI:3), Jacob was undoubtedly the eldest and stood out from them for his special righteousness. He accompanied Joseph and the Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus in their flight to Egypt from the persecution of Herod. Growing up with his brothers in the pious family of Joseph in the spirit of true piety, Jacob stood out from among his brothers precisely because of his righteousness, which gave him the name “Righteous.” According to the testimony of Egesippus (in Eusebius, C. East II:23), St. James was a Nazirite from his mother’s womb: “he did not drink wine or strong drink, did not eat any animal, did not cut his hair, did not anoint himself with oil, and did not wash himself in a bath.” But precisely because of the special devotion of James and his brothers to his law, they remained unbelievers throughout the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and only at the beginning of the book of the Acts of the Apostles we find (Acts I:14) the first mention of the brothers of the Lord among the believers, along with the 11 apostles and the Matter of the Lord. Such a transition of Jacob from unbelief to faith was accomplished thanks to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and His appearance to Jacob (1 Cor. IX:5, XV:5). The conversion of Jacob, the eldest of the brothers, to Christ entailed the conversion of other brothers. Having believed with all his heart in the Lord Jesus, James, the brother of the Lord, both in his life and work, and in his views, represents an example of a true Judeo-Christian in the best sense of this concept; in his personality we have the best example of the unification of the Old and New Testaments on a practical basis. Treating with great respect the Law of Moses as a whole and observing its ritual instructions, even advising the Apostle Paul to perform the rite of purification (Acts XXI:18-26) for the sake of pacifying the members of the Jerusalem Church, James, however, was the first to raise his voice at the Apostolic Council about the liberation of the Gentile believers from the yoke of the Mosaic Law (Acts XV:13-21). Christianity for St. James is not only a converted Judaism, but a new way of salvation in Christ, beginning with regeneration through the Gospel (James I:18). Without breaking the national-historical connection with Judaism, as the centuries-old heritage of the fathers, St. James, however, allows the fulfillment of Old Testament customs and rituals only insofar as they did not acquire dogmatic, enduring meaning, and they were transformed by the Christian spirit. The moral life of a Christian, according to the teachings of St. James, is regulated by the royal law of Liberty (James I:25, II:12); all perfection and justification of a Christian is accomplished only through union with Christ in a living and active faith (James II: 14–26), and only active Christian love does he recognize as the common duty of everyone (James I: 27). In no antagonism with St. Apostle Paul - the great evangelist of Christian freedom to St. James (contrary to the opinion of Farrar and other Western researchers) was not found, and only the enemies of the great apostle of languages ​​- the Judaists and Ebionites - used the name and authority of the first Bishop of Jerusalem to cover up their Judaistic tendencies and plans. The Nazirite itself of St. Jacob, being Jewish in form, was Christian in spirit: it is not without reason that he can be considered the prototype of Christian asceticism (and monasticism). Christian asceticism is St. Jacob sealed it with his own blood. Enjoying the great respect of all believers and non-believers, he lived hopelessly in Jerusalem until his martyrdom (maybe around 64 AD). X.), in the circumstances of which both the high respect that even unbelievers had for him, as a great righteous man, and the truly Christian character of his faith and life were expressed. Egesippus (in Eusebius, Cer. Ist. II:23) talks about the martyrdom of the Apostle James like this: “When there were many who believed (according to the word of the Apostle James) - even among the elders - the Jews, scribes and Pharisees began to shout and say that in this way, perhaps, all the people in Jesus would begin to wait for Christ. Therefore, having come to Jacob, they said to him: “We ask you, restrain the people; because he, in error, recognizes Jesus as the Christ. Now everyone has gathered for Easter; We ask you to enlighten them regarding Jesus. We trust you with this because we ourselves, together with the people, testify to your righteousness and impartiality. So convince people not to be mistaken in the reasoning of Jesus. Everyone will listen to you, and we are with everyone. Stand on the wing of the church, so that you can be seen from above by everyone and your words can be heard by the whole congregation...” The mentioned scribes and Pharisees, indeed, placed Jacob on the wing of the church and then shouted to him: “Righteous! we all must believe you. These people are in error and will follow Jesus crucified: tell us, what is the door of Jesus crucified?” James answered loudly: “Why do you ask me about Jesus, the Son of Man? He will sit in heaven at the right hand of great power, and will come to earth again on the clouds of heaven.” By this testimony of Jacob, many were completely convinced and began to praise Jesus, exclaiming: Hosanna to the Son of David! And the scribes and Pharisees said to each other: “We have done something bad in preparing such a testimony for Jesus; Let’s go up and throw Jacob down, so that others, at least out of fear, will not believe him” - and they began to shout: “Oh! O! and the righteous man goes astray...” They got up and, throwing the righteous man down, said to each other: “Let us kill him with stones,” and began to throw stones at him. The overthrown one did not suddenly die, but rose up, knelt down and said: “Lord God the Father! let them go; they don’t know what they are doing.” While stones were flying at him, a certain priest, one of the sons of Rechab (mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah), shouted: “Stop, what are you doing: the righteous is praying for us.” But at that very time one of them, a cloth worker, grabbed the rolling pin on which cloth is wound, hit the righteous man with it - and he died.” From this story it is obvious that St. James was a true apostle of Christ, who preached Jesus to the Jews as Christ, the Savior and the future Judge, and who believed salvation only in Christ, and not in the Old Testament law. And, according to the testimony of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, XX: 9, 1), St. Jacob, according to the judgment of the high priest Anan, was stoned precisely as a lawbreaker. This means that following St. Jacob carried out the rituals and customs of his people in a Christian spirit. Message of St. The Apostle James was originally appointed and sent, as it is written (James I:1), "to the twelve tribes that were scattered abroad." Contrary to the opinion of some researchers (Hoffmann, Jahn, Golpmann, Jülicher), who gave this expression an allegorical meaning and saw in it the designation of “new or spiritual Israel”, which does not have an abiding city in this world, but is seeking one to come, the expression “twelve tribes” is an ancient theocratic designation of the entire Jewish people, as one people of God, in contrast to other nations of the pagans (Acts XXVI: 6 ); the addition “in dispersion” (έν τή διασπορά) primarily indicates that the readers of the message were outside Palestine. Moreover, the entire content of the message, which is purely Christian in nature, says that they were actually Jewish Christians or Judeo-Christians. Not without reason, however, they pointed out (for example, Weiss) that the writer’s speech often addresses non-believing Jews, which is quite natural in view of the fact that at first and for quite a long time, believers and non-believers were not very sharply separated from each other and had common meetings, and also in view of the well-known very great authority of the Apostle James both among believers and among non-believing Jews. Likewise, the restrictive increase “in dispersion” does not exclude Judeo-Christians and Jews in general, living in Palestine itself; the contents of the message are quite applicable to them, although the recipients of the message were primarily non-Palestinian readers, most likely the Christian communities of Trans-Jordan, Damascus and Syria (see Acts IX: 1). Like all apostolic epistles, the epistle of St. Jacob was prompted by the immediate needs and conditions of the religious and moral life of Christian communities; These features in the life of the latter to a very significant extent determine the content of the message, although other thoughts of the message could have been expressed by the apostle and regardless of the current state of the readers of the message, just as in general in the Holy Scriptures, next to the data of history, there are the eternal truths of dogma and moral teaching. Jewish Christians, according to the instructions of the message, suffered much oppression from the outside and experienced many internal disorders. Thus, poor Judeo-Christians suffered numerous persecutions from their rich fellow tribesmen (James 2:2–7, 5:1–6) and, amid these and similar external disasters, they often shied away from a true view of the source of these disasters and temptations (James I:12–21), and were in danger of wavering in their faith and even betraying it (James V:7–11, etc.). From sensual motives and addiction to earthly goods, discord arose among them (James IV: 1-12); brotherly love has cooled in many (James IV:13–17, V:13–20); out of conceit, many wanted to be teachers of others, without having the ability and preparation for this (James III: 1 seq.). From here stemmed such important and disastrous errors of Judeo-Christians as incorrect views on prayer (James I: 5–8, V: 17–18), on faith and good works in their mutual relation (James I: 26–27, II: 14–26). These and similar disorders in internal and external life, to which Jews and Jewish Christians have always been especially prone and which St. The apostle calls temptations, and served as the reason for writing the epistle. The purpose of the latter was, as is self-evident, to eliminate the above-mentioned moods and shortcomings from the life of Judeo-Christians, to console the suffering and to indicate to all Christians in general the true path of moral perfection (see James I: 4, 3: 2). It is possible to assume, in view of the well-known high authority of the Apostle James even among unbelieving Jews, that by organizing the moral life of Judeo-Christians according to the highest Christian principles, the apostle had in mind to attract their unbelieving fellow tribesmen to Christianity. The time and place of writing of the epistle is not indicated in it, just like the time and place of origin of other New Testament writings. Therefore, in particular, the time of origin of the message is determined only tentatively and guesswork. In favor of the early origin of the epistle, precisely before the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem (51–52 AD), they pointed to the very purpose of the epistle to the Judeo-Christians, which was supposedly clear only in the early days before the Council of Jerusalem - to the failure to mention in the message controversial points from the time of the Apostolic Council (ritual law, the attitude of linguistic Christians to Judeo-Christians), also - on the predominant moralizing nature of the message with the relative poverty of the doctrinal element, and this was seen as a sign of the proximity of the message, in terms of the time of writing, to the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord’s conversations in general. These arguments have only relative value, and each of these provisions can be countered by considerations of the opposite nature. In favor, on the other hand, of the relatively late writing of the epistle, in addition to the wide spread of Christianity among the Jews of the Diaspora, they pointed, among other things, to the sad picture of the religious and moral state of the Judeo-Christian churches according to the data contained in the epistle: Christianity among many had become completely worldly, from which it was concluded that the epistle appeared at a later time in the life of St. Jacob. It is easy, however, to see the weakness of this foundation: is it even possible within two decades (within these limits the definition of the time of writing the epistle fluctuates) to indicate the chronological line when the original light and purity of the faith and life of Christians darkened? Even more controversial is the argument of the late origin of the message, borrowed from the alleged acquaintance of Ap. James with the Epistles of St. Peter and Paul. But the question of the mutual relationship of the messages of all three apostles cannot be resolved. In particular, regarding the Apostles James and Paul, even Western European researchers of their messages now agree that Apostle. James in his letter does not at all oppose the teachings of Ap. Paul’s worldview does not at all argue with him on the issue of justification, as the rationalist researchers of earlier times liked to claim. Thus, we leave the question of the year the message was written open, limiting ourselves to only attributing the origin of the message to the mid-50s AD. All the more decisively we must reject the attempts of rationalist criticism to push back the composition of the epistle to the second Christian century, attributing (in the person of, for example, Harnack, Pfleidrer, Jülicher, etc.) the writing of the epistle to 125-130. according to R. X. Here we are already dealing with a denial of the authenticity of the message, doubts about which are known to Christian antiquity. But the grounds for denying the authenticity of the message among the newest researchers: the alleged, but completely imaginary polemic with Ap. Paul, the imaginary influence of Esseneism or Gnosticism, etc., are completely absurd and do not require deliberate analysis and refutation. The reference to the similarity of some passages of the epistle with passages from the 1st Epistle of St. Clement of Rome (chap. 10 and 31, cf. James 2:21, ch. 17, or ch. 38 see James 3:13) and from the “Shepherd” of Hermas (Vision III:9, cf. James I:27; Similarity IX:23, see James IV:12) proves exactly the opposite, namely: perfect fame and generally accepted authority messages of St. James at the time of the lives of both of these church writers. A very important proof of the authenticity of the message of St. James is the fact that this epistle, precisely as belonging to the Apostle James, is found in the Syriac translation of the 2nd century Peshito. This is all the more important because this translation originated in a country bordering the country where the message was written. Eusebius of Caesarea, like Blessed Jerome, classifies this epistle as disputable, αντιλεγόμενα, but he himself testifies to the social, public use of the epistle in many churches (C.I. III:25). The authenticity of the message is also confirmed by testimonies about it, in addition to those already mentioned by St. Clement of Rome and Hermas, as well as other ancient church writers: St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, also Clement, Didymus and Dionysius of Alexandria, etc. “The late acceptance into the canon testifies only to the caution with which the church established the apostolic origin of those writings that were not assigned to any particular church, and, therefore, could not find support for their canonicity in the authoritative voice of this church, but required a broad and comprehensive acquaintance with their origin” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). After Eusebius, all doubts about the authenticity of the message cease forever in the church, and it invariably remains in the canon of inspired books. Only Luther, finding in the epistle of St. James's refutation of his false teaching about justification and salvation by faith alone did not initially even include this epistle among the sacred New Testament writings. But this view, due to a gross misunderstanding of the high moral and Christian dignity of the message, was soon abandoned by the Protestants themselves. There is no disagreement about the place where the message was written. Since the message belongs to the pen of St. Apostle James, the brother of the Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem, the place where the letter was written was precisely Jerusalem or Palestine in general, where, according to legend, Jacob lived continuously until his death. And the general flavor of the content speaks for the Palestinian origin of the message. Many images of the apostolic speech are explained only from the characteristics of Palestine. The mention of the early and late rain (James V:7), of the fig tree, olive and vine (James III:12), of salty and bitter springs (James III:11–12), of the burning wind that dries up the vegetation (James I:11), suggests the writer’s close, direct acquaintance with Palestinian nature. The very purpose of the message for all Judeo-Christians of the diaspora, naturally, points to Jerusalem, as that focal point of Judeo-Christianity, in which the priest. the writer of the epistle could most conveniently learn about the state of the Judeo-Christian communities of the dispersion. The message is almost exclusively didactic in nature; The moral and practical content in it decisively prevails over the dogmatic one, which appears in the epistle not often, and precisely as the basis of moral teaching (for example, James I: 18, 2: 1). "If St. Paul is the apostle of the faith, St. Peter is the apostle of hope, St. John is the apostle of love, then James the Righteous and in his writings is the apostle of righteousness. The restoration, on the basis of the Gospel law, of the violated truth in the relations of the rich to the poor is, one might say, the main goal of the message, penetrating it from beginning to end” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). In revealing the concept of truth and moral truths in general, St. The Apostle James, as is natural to expect, very often comes into contact with the Old Testament moralizing books: book. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon, Jesus son of Sirach. In tone, strength and ascetic rigor in revealing the concept and demands of truth, as well as in the directness and strength of its denunciation of rich rapists, the message of St. James is most related to the book of St. the prophet Amos (cf., for example, James II: 6–7, 5: 1–6 and Am II: 6, 8; IV: 1, etc.) But even closer in spirit and in the letter itself is the message of St. James is adjacent to the Lord’s conversation on the mount, for example, in the name of the New Testament revelation “the law of om” cf. Matthew V and see James I:25, 2:12. A special spirit of love agrees with this, permeating all the exhortations of the apostle and making it possible to see in the epistle a purely Christian work, although clothed in the form of Old Testament gnomic wisdom. And in the doctrinal side of the epistle, next to the general, Old Testament idea of ​​God as the purest Being (James I:13), the one God (James II:19), the Father of lights and the source of all good (James I:17), the Lord of hosts (James V:4), the only Lawmaker and Judge (James IV:12), etc., there is a teaching the apostle about Jesus Christ as the true God (James I:1) and the Lord of the word (James II:1), whose second coming is the limit of the expectations and hopes of believers (James V:7-8), and whose teaching or Christianity in general is the “word of truth” with which God in Christ regenerated us (James I:18), is the “perfect law of freedom” (James I:25, 2:12). In view of this, the strange opinion of one modern German scholar (Spitta) that the Epistle of James is a purely Jewish work, written by a Jew for Jews around the time of Christ, must be decisively rejected. The original language of the message was, in all likelihood, Greek; The Jews of the diaspora spoke this language, and the apostle, both in the oral conversation that he had with them, according to the testimony of Egesippus, before his death, and in the epistle, could only address himself in Greek. Quotations from the Old Testament in the message are given according to the Greek translation of the LXX (James II:11, 4:6). Moreover, the Greek language of the epistles, although not classical, is, however, quite pure, and apparently says that St. Jacob spoke Greek from childhood. The inspiration of the apostle’s speech and the aphoristic form of presenting his thoughts allow the content of the message to be divided not so much into logically defined parts, but only into separate groups of thoughts. The first group of instructions of the apostle is formed by the speech of James I: 2-18 “about the temptations that befall Christians.” Next follow groups of thoughts: James I: 19–27 “on the correct attitude towards the word of truth”, James II: 1–13 “reproof of partiality”, James II: 14–26 “the doctrine of justification” - three sections of one, in essence, group of exhortations, the main idea of ​​which is the unity of Christian word and deed, the teaching of life, faith and works. Thus this second group of thoughts embraces James I:21-II:26. The third group of instructions is formed by the third chapter, James III: 1-18 - “about teaching, about false and true wisdom.” The fourth group of thoughts is chapter four, James IV:1-17 - about the true attitude towards God and the world. The fifth and last group is formed by Art. Chapter five 1–11 – “reproof of the rich and comfort to the poor and humble.” The letter ends with final instructions to all Christians, James V:12–20. In Russian about the Epistle of James, in addition to journal articles and comments in general guides to New Testament books, there are several special works: 1) priest. I. Kibalchich - St. James, Brother of the Lord. The experience of reviewing the conciliar epistle of James, the brother of the Lord. Chernigov, 1882. 2) N. Teodorovich - Interpretation of the conciliar epistle of St. Apostle James. Vilna, 1897. 3) Hieromonk, now Bishop, George (Yaroshevsky) - Cathedral Epistle of St. Apostle James. Experience of isagogical-exegetical research. Kyiv, 1901. 4) Archbishop Nikanor (Kamensky) - The Explanatory Apostle, Part I. St. Petersburg, 1905. The best of all is the work of the Right Reverend George, both in the thoroughness of the isagogical information, and in the breadth and depth of exegesis, evenly and in the strict consistency of the scientific method. In the work of Rev. George (pp. VI-VIII Preface) there is also extensive literature, foreign and Russian, about the message of St. Apostle James. Excellent article about “St. The Apostle James and his epistle" with an exhaustive bibliography about them belongs to the pen of Prof. prot. D.I. Bogdashevsky in the “Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia” published by the magazine “Strannik”, vol. VI. St. Petersburg 1905, column. 42–55. The same prof. prot. D.I. Bogdashevsky in the aforementioned “Experiences in the Study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament” (issue I. Kyiv, 1909), in addition to introductory questions about the epistle (pp. 153–178), concisely, but fully and deeply correctly set out the “main features of the theology” of the epistle of St. James (pp. 178–201), and much earlier, in a separate brochure, “explanatory notes on the most difficult passages of the conciliar epistle of St. Apostle James." Kyiv. 1894. For literature and main points on the question of the “brothers of the Lord,” see the Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia (St. Petersburg, 1906), vol. VI (columns 55–91). The best work on this issue is the work of the late prof. A. P. Lebedeva - “Brothers of the Lord: review and analysis of ancient and new opinions on the issue.” Moscow, 1904. You might be interested in: