definite Christian tone and teaching on the other; it has reminded us that the social persecutions to which reference is made may be fairly regarded as Jewish in their character, as inflicted by Jews upon Jews; it has furnished us with a valuable and fresh proof from the papyri of the widespread knowledge of the Greek language, and of the likelihood of the possession of such knowledge by St James; it has shown us this Epistle standing as it were between preChristian and Jewish literature on the one hand, and the postApostolic Christian writings on the other', occupying a position unique in the commanding personality of its author, and in the originality and weightiness of its contents.

XIV. Modern Life, and some Aspects of the Teaching of St James.

It is customary to speak of the practical morality of St James, and to note this as one of the chief characteristics of his Epistle. What is the bearing of this practical tone upon our modern social surroundings? A very close one; and this closeness may be seen to be none the less important whilst we fully recognise at the same time the social conditions in which St James actually wrote.

We have already described (Introd. p. xxxiv.) the nature of these conditions, and there is no difficulty in supposing that St James from his position in the metropolis knew what was going on in the various Churches of Palestine and Syria, and that the peculiar

1 Dr Eric Haupt, in a review of Spitta's book which has attracted much attention, Studien und Kritiken, 1896, confesses himself at a loss about our Epistle. He cannot agree with Spitta, although he is much inclined to do so, nor can he adopt the early and pre-Pauline date for the letter which he had formerly advocated. His reason is that some of the expressions cannot, in his opinion, be ascribed to St James, the Lord's brother. Amongst these he notices the whole of v. 6 in ch. iii. and such phrases as 'the engrafted word,' and 'the wheel of nature.' To these expressions special attention is directed in the notes of this commentary, as also to others upon which Dr Haupt dwells, e.g. the face of his birth,' 'variation,' and 'shadow cast by turning.' Feine, Jakobusbrief, p. 142, well points out how many of the hapax legomena in St James, so far as the N. T. is concerned, are found also in the LXX, and he gives us a list of some fifteen words which may be thus explained.

2 Amongst the older commentaries which have been found useful in preparation those of Schneckenburger, Kern, Theile, Schegg, Cellérier, Gebser (valuable patristic references), and of Euthymius Zigabenus, may be mentioned. The practical lessons of the Epistle are well drawn out in Dr Dale's Epistle of St James; in a series of articles by Dr S. Cox in the Expositor, 1. p. 65, Iv. p. 441, 4th series; by Mr Adderley in his Notes for General Readers; by Ethel Romanes, Meditations on the Epistle of St James, 1903; and by R. Kögel, Der Brief des Jakobus in fünfundzwanzig Predigten ausgelegt, 2nd edit. 1901. The Bishop of Ripon's Wisdom of James the Just contains many striking and interesting illustrations.

Jewish sins which St James condemns could scarcely fail to appear wherever Jewish communities were formed or existed'.

With St James's knowledge of his countrymen and of the social life of the Jewish capital it is no wonder that he speaks in tones of indignation against the rich and their misuse of wealth, and the words which describe the estimation of poverty and riches current amongst the Hebrew people in the days of Jesus may be employed no less forcibly of the social environment of St James. "There came to exist among them what has been called a "genius for hatred" of the rich. "Woe unto you," says the Book of Enoch, "who heap up silver and gold and say, We are growing rich and possess all we desire." "Your riches shall not remain for you, but shall suddenly disappear; because you have gained all unjustly, and you yourselves shall receive greater damnation" (Enoch, xcvii. 8 ff.)': Professor Peabody, Jesus Christ and the Social Question, p. 206.

But it may be doubted whether this writer does not go too far in describing St James's language as that of unsparing attack and bitter irony and of positive indictment against the prosperous as sinners. It may be rather said that his remarks on the teaching of Jesus are singularly applicable to the teaching of St James: The desire of the nation should be turned altogether away from the thought of wealth as a sign of piety, or of poverty as a sign of divine disfavour.

...There is but one supreme end for the life of rich and poor alike -the service of the kingdom; and there is but one fundamental decision for all to make the decision whether they will serve God or Mammon' (u. s. pp. 207, 221). The truth is that St James like his Lord refuses to lay down any social plan, or to draw up any definite programme, or to say a word to alter the existing conditions of society by any violent or revolutionary scheme2.

But if it be correct to say that the Gospel takes what is best in socialism and individualism alike, this is also a correct estimation of the social teaching of St James. No one is more sensible of the evils arising from respect of persons, and of the hollowness of a faith

1 Zahn, Skizzen aus dem Leben der alten Kirche, pp. 44, 45.

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2 Jesus laid down no social programme for the suppression of poverty and distress, if by programme we mean a set of definitely prescribed regulations. With economical conditions and contemporary circumstances He did not interfere. Had He become entangled in them, had He given laws which were ever so salutary for Palestine, what would He have gained by it? They would have served the needs of a day, and to-morrow would have been antiquated. To the Gospel they would have been a burden and a source of confusion'-Harnack, What is Christianity? p. 97; and Zahn, u. s. pp. 50–58.

claiming reality without the love which is 'life's only sign'; no one is more keenly alive to the need of embracing rich and poor alike in a common brotherhood; but no one is less 'careless of the single life'; philanthropy does not exhaust 'religion'; the 'religious' man must fulfil, it is true, the royal law of love, ii. 8, but he must not forget the virtues which concern so intimately his own inmost life; love, for example, cannot survive the loss of purity, for impurity is selfishness. St James no less than St Peter would have us honour all men, and that honour must be extended even to those who provoke us and stir our anger, since in each fellow-mortal we see not merely a man taken from the same common clay, but a man made in the image of God, iii. 9.

Again, it is noticeable that whilst St James is not writing to Churches in which organisation was unknown, whilst he is not writing to fellow-countrymen who were unacquainted with organised charity and practical relief', he lays stress upon personal service as due from all alike within the Christian community2; and here again St James catches the spirit of his Master, for He too in His relations with the poor teaches us the method and the blessing of individualised charity it is difficult to overestimate the significance of the fact that in the relation of Jesus to the poor He deals almost exclusively with individuals.'

The socialism then of St James is a Christian socialism, not only because it regards men's social instincts in the light of 'the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,' but also because it takes account of each man's worth, of each man's responsibility, in the sight of God. The Christian life is not only social, it is personal; the Christian is to visit the fatherless and widow, but he is also to keep himself unspotted from the world. In days when men are tempted to think lightly of what are sometimes called the self-regarding virtues, it is well to remember that both St James and St Paul enforce this same practical combination, and that the earliest Epistle of St Paul, like this Epistle of St James, lays the same stress upon social morality and personal purity; Christians were to support the weak, and to be long-suffering

1 The Hebrew race, throughout its entire history, has been endowed with a peculiar sense of responsibility for its weaker brethren, and in modern life is excelled by no element in any community in thoroughness and munificence of organised charity,' Peabody, u. s. p. 228.

2 On the importance of this factor of personal service see the remarks of President Roosevelt, Contemporary Review, Nov. 1902; and on the danger of losing it if social settlements become nothing more than 'centres of organisation,' see Mr C. F. Masterman's Essay in The Heart of the Empire, 1901.

towards all men, but each one of them was to know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honour, 1 Thess. iv. 3-8.

But, further, the socialism of St James is a Christian socialism, not only because it would have us act in the spirit of Christ, but because it would have us remember Christian, supernatural motives, and because it appeals at every turn to a supernatural life. The wisdom which men are to seek is derived not from man, but from God; it is gained by prayer; it is not of the earth, earthy, but from above, iii. 17; not only the poor, but the rich are to seek the honour which cometh from God only, i. 9, cf. ii. 5; endurance of temptation is to be rewarded not by earthly success, but by the crown of life promised to those who are lovers not of themselves but of God; by the word of truth we are begotten to a new and divine life, and the salvation of our souls is wrought by this engrafted word; pure 'religion' is to consist in the visitation of the fatherless and the widow, but the 'religion' of the Christian is not exhausted by the practice of morality, it is a religion which binds us to a Person, 'our God and Father.'

'There is a vastly prevalent idea,' says a recent writer in a widely read journal, 'that the chief good thing in connection with religion is "Christian work," this distinctly lessens any interest in religion, being really a mere patting of religion on the back on the score of its philanthropic appendages'.' But, however this may be, one thing is certain that the Epistle of St James, while it insists so strongly upon practical Christianity, never allows us to forget that religion is the root, of which morality and philanthropy are the fruit, and that Christian work is the outcome of faith and prayer. Moreover, the exhortation to the simplest duties of brotherhood, ii. 1, is based upon words which remind us irresistibly of the grace and the beauty of Him, Who although rich, yet for our sakes became poor, 2 Cor. viii. 9; the entire surrender of self which God demands is to be gained, and can only be gained, by fresh bestowals of a supernatural gift, 'He giveth more grace,' iv. 6; far above the reference to any earthly tribunal ranks the appeal to the one Judge and Lawgiver, iv. 12; God rules the world, not chance; a will, a Divine will directs the affairs of men, the will of the Lord and Father, iii. 9, iv. 13; the motive to patience lies in the recollection of the future coming of the Judgean appeal to that side of the teaching of Jesus, in which modern

1 Hibbert Journal, Jan. 1900, p. 245.

socialism only sees an attempt of the Christian Church to cajole the poor into contentedness with the poverty and sufferings of this present evil world'—the Judge standeth at the door, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, v. 8, 9. Whatever else criticism may effect it cannot rob the Epistle of the appeals to these supernatural elements; they are bound up with it, they are apparent throughout it; their constraining power is involved from first to last; the presence of God, the love of God, the judgment of God; these three thoughts are to pervade and sanctify all human life, in its seasons of crisis and peril, but no less in the daily round and common task; trial is to be welcomed and rewarded, selfishness is to be expelled, and murmurings are to cease, v. 9; the inequalities of life, its poverty and wealth, its joys and sorrows alike, are to be viewed in the leading and in the light of God; and lo! the crooked will be made smooth, and the rough places plain; 'is any suffering? let him pray; is any cheerful? let him sing praise'; 'give what Thou wilt, without Thee we are poor; and with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away.'

And in these three characteristic thoughts of St James we may further see the foundation and strength of the virtue which is also so characteristic of him, the virtue of patience. If St John may be called the Apostle of Love, and St Peter the Apostle of Hope, St James may be called the Apostle of Patience. He would have us learn patience in temptation, in good works, under provocation, in persecution, in waiting still upon God. And here again he has a word of exhortation to which a modern world might well give heed. St James's outlook was very different from our own, but whether we are studying the world of nature, or the world of history, we have need of this same virtue of patience. The words of Bishop Butler have certainly not diminished, but have rather gained in strength since he wrote them, and they may still be of use to those who are tempted to wonder that if Christianity comes from God, its progress should be so slow: 'Men are impatient, and for precipitating things, but the Author of Nature appears deliberate, accomplishing His natural ends by slow, successive steps.' Or we turn to the world of history, and even where we can only see a part of His ways, we may learn a lesson of faith and trust that God's own patience will also have its perfect work: 'Small as our subject was (the history of Cyprus and Armenia) it was a part of that which touches all, the world's government and

1 See the valuable paper on the Social Teaching of Jesus,' Dr Stalker, Expositor, Feb. 1902.