James 2:18-24

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The letter of James has many discussions surrounding it, starting from the composition and the author to the contents of the writing as dependent on Jewish traditions. It is quite evident that Christological expressions are almost lacking in this letter.

Johnson considers chapter one the epitome of the whole letter, which anticipates themes developed later in the letter (174-175). Nevertheless, the main theme of James is the importance of a steadfast righteousness as the only way to prove one's faith: "... let endurance produce a perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (1:4). A steadfastness that leads to perfection "is certainly the major thrust of this letter. Wholeness comes through the testing of faith in a variety of ways. The letter itself will illustrate different examples of the testing of the community's faith by advocating that it seek friendship with God as opposed to friendship with the world" (Hartin, 64). Other arguments are in support of this.

In other words, a tested faith that leads to perfection, which could be individual or community, is the central issue in James. In fact, faith is important for James just as it is for Paul. The word "pistis" (faith) occurs several times in this letter. This leads us to our passage. According to the normal division and structure of James' letter, the pericope is 2:14-26 and 18-24 should be read within this context, because the discussion brought forward by 18-26 started in verse 14. The thesis of 2:14-26 is therefore: faith is demonstrated through works. These two words: faith and works are objects of verse 18's discussion. Right from verse 14, the author of the book asks of what use it is claiming to have faith ...