James: “wisdom from above” Genre”
“let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger”
James 1:1: Charein (“Greetings”)
Introduction
We all speak French! Ce la vie! Vive la différence! When we use the word “genre” we are speaking French.
In French genre means “gender, kind, sort, species, manner, style,” a word that has traveled into English with the meanings of “kind” or “sort.” Its most well known meaning is as “a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.”
Reading is both a science and an art. To grasp the meaning of anything we read is a complex procedure. Whether we are reading an ancient document, like James, or a recent e-mail from your grandchild, our minds have to organize what we read within meaningful frames of reference. These have been set forth particularly as
historical and social frames of reference; literary frames of reference; and personal frames of reference.
One of the “literary frames of reference” is the matter of genre: what kind or sort of literature are we reading? Intelligent reading demands that we attempt that judgment whether unconsciously or deliberately. In our contemporary time and culture you and I take genre for granted; we automatically discern that we are reading a novel, not a biology textbook, a utility bill rather than a bank statement, or a letter from a friend of many years, not a fundraising letter from our political party. We determine from the form within which the documents are cast how they are to function, how we are to understand their function and meaning.
But with ancient literature discerning genre is not an automatic or simple task. This holds true for any part of our Bible, that collection of books we identify as the canon of Holy Scripture, the Word of God as inspired (in-breathed) by the Holy Spirit for our lives. Discerning the genre of what we read in the Bible as we read is no light matter.
Years ago my sister, Maurine Hoffman, gave herself to searching out our family genealogy. She came across a book about a branch of our ancestry with the last name of Farwell, my maternal grandmother’s people. In this book, there is a half-page paragraph about one Solomon Spaulding (died 1816) who lived in New York State. As I remember, one winter he was said to be sickly and to amuse himself during recovery he wrote a historical novel. Later he showed it to, and left it with, a printer friend. The book disappeared, but later re-appeared twenty years later as part of the Book of Mormon.
If there is any truth to this brief paragraph, we would have a religious novel written for self-entertainment becoming sacred literature for a world-wide religious movement! A mistaken identification and use of literary genre! Meaning has been determined 100% by the mind of the reader, not by the nature of the literature or the author’s intent! But the account is questionable, and Joseph Smith himself was no doubt the actual “human” author of the book of Mormon. Yet discernment of genre is all-important!
I. The Bible
The importance of genre holds true as well for our reading of Holy Scriptures. We do not automatically judge accurately the literary genre of any part of it—we have to think! So let us think a little. In our Old Testament the books of Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings are labeled the Historical Books in the Christian Canon. But in the Jewish Canon they are called the Former Prophets. Which are they? Or both? How do we read them? As literal history objectively written, or as history with a theological/prophetic agenda? Why did the makers of the Jewish canon mean by calling them “prophecy”? Certainly not the future-telling of historical events to come!
Is Jonah a whale of a tale? A parable? Or an account of an event in the life of a historical figure whose name was Jonah? All have been proposed.
A crucial example is the Book of Revelation. What kind of literature is it? Does it belong to the weird and fanciful apocalyptic literature of its day (Apokalypsis Iōannou)? It calls itself a prophecy (1:3), but what is biblical prophecy? Does Revelation lay out in detail end-time events as literal history? Does it sketch for us the historical epochs of the Christian Church from then until now? Or through the literary trappings of apocalyptic writing does it interpret (forth-tell) the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus for an oppressed and persecuted church? You have heard most of these differing interpretations; they all go back to a decision about literary genre-—so what kind of literature is it? How are we to read it?
Or another most significant example: What is a gospel? We have four so-called gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They all contain story or narrative about Jesus, but why do they differ so from one another? Especially, for example, the Gospel of John tells the story much differently than the Gospel of Mark in style, in content, and in theology. To what extent are the gospels history, theology, or testimony? Or to what degree are they penetrated by later early church perspectives, or even by legendary details? Again, how you judge these questions determines how you read the gospels.
But let’s have even more fun with this question. What about Genesis, with its creation narratives, the patriarchal stories, the unified account of Joseph’s career which differs radically in style and theology from the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
How should we read, for example, the first three chapters of Genesis, the accounts of Creation and the Fall? Are there two quite different creation narratives—chapter 1 appears to be one genre, and chapter 2 another, or are they one complementing narrative? Can we read them as a literal scientific or actual historical account? Or do we see them as a somewhat legendary story like that of the rest of the Babylonian mythic creation stories? Do we hear their witness as a poetic, theological formulation of mature Israelite faith about the meaning of the world they find themselves in? We are all aware of the varied readings of these chapters and the resultant controversies in the contemporary church and its educational institutions, not to exclude PLNU.
So, one the one hand, we declare that the discerning of genre is all important in the reading of Scripture, but on the other hand, we admit that we can never be certain about the precise genre of any of it! Where does that leave us? What does that mean for the life of the Church and the lives of Christians, for your life and mine for that matter?
My personal response: We are to intelligently listen—“Hear, O Israel!” God in his unique wisdom and in his great mercy does not intend that we can ever fully grasp even the human aspect of his Word—like the Incarnation of his Son—“a God comprehended is no God”! Our faith is not designed to be reduced to our human reason, to be domesticated--captured or controlled within our categories. In the final analysis “we live by faith, not by sight.” We read with the best of our study and knowledge as we seek to grasp the Truth with our minds, but just as importantly, we listen with open ears and sincere heart, and God does speak! To that we all can testify.
Now back to James. In our opening lesson we called James a letter. But is it simply a letter? The only indication that it is a letter is the presence of “the traditional salutation of a Greco-Roman letter.” The greeting is that of a secular Greek letter, charein, not a Christianized form as in Paul’s letter to Philemon: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v 1). Compared to Philemon, James as an early Christian letter lacks
the thanksgiving: “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers . . .” (v 4); final greetings: “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner for Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. . . ” (v 23); closing benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (v 25).
Scholars in their efforts to define the literary genre of James have employed several different terms from ancient literature. Luke Timothy Johnson, for example, writes that “every reader recognizes that James is some variety of moral/religious exhortation.” But into what conventional form of exhortation of its time does it fit? Johnson mentions such ancient forms as diatribe, paraenesis, logos protreptikos, and letter. Some use the Jewish category midrash “insofar as it interprets an earlier text as part of its own redaction and argumentation for a new audience and their particular situation.” So we come now to how Jeanne Serrão handles this issue in her forthcoming commentary on James.
II. Form and Genre
James claims to be an epistle and is clearly a literary epistle intended for publication or a wide audience; it was not a personal letter like Paul’s epistle to the Galatians or Philemon. Davids describes the characteristics of a literary epistle:
the epistle will reflect the Sitz im Leben [life situation] of its place of publication, not that of its ‘recipients; the form of the epistle will differ from that of the actual letter, especially in its lack of personal detail.
Because of this, some scholars describe James as a “word of exhortation” (sermon) with an added salutation.
Bauckham calls James an “encyclical addressing any Jewish Christian Community anywhere in the Diaspora” and that “it is unlikely to have been occasioned by any specific exigencies [urgent needs].” He points out that ”James will reflect the context in which he writes, but living in Jerusalem and in constant contact with Jewish pilgrims from the Diaspora, he will not be ignorant of conditions in the Diaspora or of the Jewish Christian communities in the Diaspora.” Form criticism finds two types of material in James: “(1) oral discourses and (2) sayings, including proverbs, which may be joined into series of sayings.” The oral discourses are usually referred to as diatribes. W.W. Wessel argues that
the features of the diatribe are in fact the features of the Jewish synagogue homily . . . dialogue (including such features as rhetorical questions, questions, and answers, and an imaginary opponent); the direct address of the auditor (e.g. “my brethren”); variety in subject matter; and harsh speech” (We saw Paul’s use of diatribe in our study of the early chapters of Romans).
James certainly would have been familiar with the sermons given in the synagogues. In his position he would likely have delivered many sermons or “words of exhortation” in the Jewish Christian community.
The technical rhetorical style of James is “paraenesis” or exhortation (encouragement and confrontation on issues of right and wrong). This indicates that James is not telling his readers anything new. He is encouraging them to follow what they have been taught and to keep that faith pure. James discusses Jewish wisdom literature topics (testing, wisdom, wealth, speech, generosity and action) that are important to a “clean and undefiled” religion (Jas 1:27). Thus “the overarching interpretive strategy” or umbrella theme of James may be viewed as biblical wisdom, “wisdom from above.”
Although some scholars see very little structure in James, it is apparent that the themes in ch 1 are discussed in depth throughout the rest of the book. Davids says, “The major block of material in the book takes up the themes in reverse order [from chapter 1], giving a chiastic effect.” For instance the introduction ends with a command to do what the word says (followed by two important, but transitional verses defining true religion). Chapter 2 begins with an example of what it means to keep the royal law, Love your neighbor as yourself (Jas 2:8). Thus “to do what the word says” is “to keep the royal law.” The last theme mentioned is the first to be expanded upon.
Scholars differ on whether James is heavily influenced by Jewish wisdom literature or not. Ropes comments that James “breathes a different atmosphere” in relation to the wisdom literature of the OT. “Some of the ideas, however, of Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom are found repeated in James.”
Ropes suggests that the Wisdom of Jesus Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) “offers better parallels [than Proverbs], but it is doubtful whether the common view that James unquestionably used it can be maintained.” The similar topics in James and Ecclesiasticus include the tongue, wisdom as a gift of God, praying with a divided heart, uncertainty of life, blaming God, humans made in the image of God and given dominion over the animals and the eclipse of the sun as well as changes in the moon.
Bauckham refers to the genre of James as “wisdom paraenesis” (1999, 29). He sees James
as a disciple of Jesus the sage . . . a wisdom teacher who has made the wisdom of Jesus his own, and who seeks to appropriate and to develop the resources of the Jewish wisdom tradition in a way that is guided and controlled by the teaching of Jesus.
Conclusion
On our question of the literary genre of James, L. T. Johnson concludes:
the analysis of James’ language, structure, and literary form support the conclusion that this is a literarily coherent composition written in a correct koine [common] Greek with significant rhetorical dimensions (both stylistic and argumentative), and that it can be appropriately considered a protreptic [persuasive] discourse in the form of a letter.
And Robert Wall writes:
Most scholars accept with some qualification [the] conclusion that James is a paraenesis—a genre of ancient moral literature characterized by various collections of moral sayings and essays, and loosely held together by common themes and linking catchwords but without literary rhyme, theological reason, or specific location. . . .
Even if one allows that James exhibits the conventions of paraenetic literature, its final shape frames a carefully scored witness to God that compels a faithful (and Christian) response to its claims. . . .
[The] function [of James like the Pauline letters is] to provide its readers with a commentary on their present spiritual crisis and to offer them a practical solution that encourages their future salvation.
Thus our consideration of the literary genre of James testifies to the rich and challenging literary spiritual heritage we have in this book, an inspired means for us to hear afresh for our Christian lives this day, “wisdom from above”!
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Dr. C. Jeanne Serrao jeanne.serrao@mvnu.edu (740) 397-9000 Ext. 3602
James 3:17, NRSV. C. Jeanne Orjala Serrão, James: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City), unpublished manuscript. Greeting 1:1 Introduction 1:2-27: James’ Opening Statement on the Christian Life A. Statement of Key Themes: Perseverance, Wisdom and Status B. Statement of Key Themes: Temptation, Anger, Listening and Doing and Pure Religion Exposition: 2:1-5:20 Partiality and the law of love: 2:1-13 Faith and Actions: 2:14-26 The Tongue Reveals One’s True Nature: 3:1-12 Earthly and Heavenly Wisdom: 3:13-18 The Double-minded must Humble Themselves: 4:1-10 Do not Judge your Neighbor: 4:11-12 Do not Boast about Tomorrow: 4:13-17 Warning to the Corrupt Rich: 5:1-6 Patience in Suffering: 5:7-11 The Simple “Yes” and “No”: 5:12 Prayer Offered in Faith: 5:13-18 Turning back the Wanderer: 5:19-20 James 1:19, NRSV. According to Robert W. Wall, Community of the Wise: The Letter of James, The New Testament in Context, Howard Clark Kee and J. Andrew Overman, eds. (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 1997), 192, following a thesis statement (1:2-21) and before the concluding exhortations (5:7-20), the main body of James consists of three essays (chs 2, 3, 4) on “wisdom from above” which the author summarizes in 1:19. Thomas E. Phillips, Acts Within Diverse Frames of Reference (Mercer University Press, 2009), 34. Phillips is utilizing the work of Wolfgang Iser, particularly his The Act of Reading (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978). I e-mailed my sister’s sons for conformation of this paragraph. One confirmed the account in the book and put me on to a more scholarly accurate account of the issue by a professor of history at UCLA who died in 1981. She was raised a Mormon but drifted away during graduate school at the University of Chicago. Brodie was a credible scholar as proved by her works on Thomas Jefferson (1974) and Richard Nixon (1981). The book is Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Vintage Books [Random House], 1945, 2nd ed., 1971). Without doubt the Book of Mormon was written in period September 1827-June 1829. No evidence arose for the Spaulding theory until August-September1833, twenty years after Solomon wrote his novel (Spaulding was a Dartmouth College graduate and an ex-preacher who had hoped to publish the novel and solve his financial embarrassments). The so-called evidence was obtained by a Philastus Hurlbut, and enemy of Joseph Smith, who took (and wrote down himself) affidavits from Solomon’s brother John, his wife Martha, and a few of Solomon’s neighbors. They were all recalling by memory what that had read twenty years earlier. As Martha said, “I have read the book of Mormon, which has brought fresh to my recollection the writings of Solomon Spaulding; and I have no manner of doubt that the historical part of it, is the same that I read and heard read, more than twenty years ago” (444). But the one large Spaulding manuscript that was found did not justify the assertions. A second manuscript, however, according to at least one affidavit entitled “Manuscript Found,” which was said to have been used by Joseph Smith, was never found. The above sketch, has of course, greatly simplified a complex account. Another source that I became aware of but have not seen is Wayne L. Cowley, Who Really Wrote the Book of Morman? The Spaulding Enigma. And they are quite different yet from 1 & 2 Chronicles which cover much of the same historical period. NRSV and NASB translate this title as “The Revelation to John,” but it could also be translated as “The Revelation of or by John.” See for example, Darrel Falk, Coming to Peace with Science: Bridging the Worlds Between Faith and Biology. (InterVarsity Press, 2004). The battle lines have to do with Creationism, Intelligent Design, Progressive Creationism, Theistic Evolution, and of course Atheistic Evolution. Deuteronomy 6:4. "Ein begriffener Gott ist kein Gott" [Terstegen]. Quoted from Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, tran. John W. Harvey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923), 39. Das Heilige (1917), 28. 2 Corinthians 5:7. The use of Jeanne (Orjala) Serrao’s commentary on James is indicated by a change in type. Luke Timothy Johnson, The Letter of James, A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible, Vol.ume 37 A (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 17. A form of argumentation or dispute. Moral or ethical discourse. Protreptic (persuasive) discourse. Wall, 21. Used with her permission. My additions will be in a different type. Minor changes in wording are not indicated. All footnotes are mine. We will eliminate her documentation but quotation marks will indicate that she is quoting an authority.. That is, the community of Jews scattered throughout the Hellenistic world. Form criticism is the attempt to identify forms imbedded in a biblical document, analyze their structure, locate their setting and function in the culture of their day, and determine how they are transformed and used in the document at hand. Wall, 20. One of the wisdom books in the intertestamental literature(Apocrypha) not included in most but not all Protestant Bibles. These books are included in Roman Catholic Bibles and in the Anglican (Episcopal) liturgies. Johnson, 24. Wall, 18-19.
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