Sayings of Jesus in James Chapters 4-5

This book is my doctoral dissertation from the Vrije Universiteit (Free University) in Amsterdam. I still have about ten copies left if you would like to purchase one for $30.

Frequently in a New Testament Introduction you will read the statement that there are more sayings of Jesus in the Epistle of James than all the other epistles put together. However, the form of the sayings is not very close to the sayings found in the Synoptic Gospels. In fact, sixty authors have discovered over 180 parallels with the Sayings of Jesus but two-thirds of these scholars only agree on six specific parallels. This book attempts to discover the reason for the similarities and the diversity.

Two scholars in particular have postulated literary dependence upon the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 4 I examine their arguments and attempt to refute their hypothesis. In its place I suggest that the presence of beatitudes, the use of imagery and examples, and the common concepts of the law, righteousness, faith and works, perfection, and wealth and poverty explain the similarities between these two documents.

In chapter 5 I examine how James fits into the history of the transmission of the Sayings of Jesus. I argue against the postulation of progressive stages in the Jesus tradition as well as a fixed, static transmission. Instead I argue for a fluid transmission of Jesus' sayings especially with regard to the genre of paraenesis. Therefore the book of James should really be entitled The Paraenesis of James.

Click the download button to read this file.