The Ethical Implication Of Holiness In James 2

Abstract

"The text of James 2:1–13 is a self-contained pericope concerned with the preferential treatment of one group of people (the rich) to the detriment of another group of people (the poor). The passage has been interpreted in multiple ways, including a concern for egalitarianism,1 Christian brotherhood,2 or the believer’s obligation to obey a particular statute of the law.3 Apart from its OT connections, one or several of the above options would be legitimate. However, when its OT underpinnings are considered, one moves away from interpretations that emphasize reciprocity in communal relationship to an interpretation that is theocentric, leading toward a concern for functional purity within the community of faith. On the basis of the OT infrastructure of this text, it shall be argued that James is asserting that favoritism within the community of faith is a violation of the holy name of God himself. While Jas 2:8 is a direct quote from Lev 19:18, it is evident that the whole of Jas 1:27–2:13 is tied to Leviticus 19 in many other ways as well. It is to Leviticus, then, that this essay must first turn its attention"