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The Book Of James The Diaspora

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Introduction The book of James was written by none other than James himself, surprising right? According to this letter, James was a faithful servant of God and Jesus Christ, so we know that the information within it is coming from a reliable source (James 1:1). This book of the Bible was originally composed sometime between 30 AD and 60 AD with the Jews being affected by the Diaspora in mind. The Diaspora was the dispersion of the Jews to places outside of Israel. The primary teaching of James that will be touched on later in this paper is the importance of not only believing in the Christian faith, but also practicing the faith. Throughout James, the readers learn how to combine their faith with works and live a bold Christian life.
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At first glance, one of its main messages seems to contradict that of Paul’s ideology found in Romans and other of his books. James places an emphasis on work, while Romans focuses more on faith. However, upon analyzing the verses found in both books and taking them into context, it becomes clear that both Paul and James believe that “Authentic trust in Christ results in good works” (Elwell and Walter, 336). James moves on from the theme of faith and actions and starts to discuss other important topics such as taming the tongue and the two kinds of wisdom in chapter three. James teaches the readers to be quick to listen and slow to speak, as well as understanding what wisdom comes from God in this chapter (Moss). The last few chapters focus more on encouragement and instructions for readers to turn toward God and away from evil. James also places an emphasis on prayer at the very end of the …show more content…

There were multiple sections in James that stood out to me; however, I felt especially convicted by the primary teaching found within the book, which communicates that faith without action is dead. I took notice of this particular teaching because I often fall prey to having faith, but not doing anything with it. It is quite easy for me to be a lazy Christian. What I tend to do, and I am sure many other people at this campus struggle with this, is take what I learn from church or chapel or what I read in the Bible, and do nothing with it. What happens is this: I leave church and say “Wow, that was a great message today!” Then I will continue on with my day and forget everything I just learned about within a few short hours. This needs to be changed in my life and I pray that God can help me have a meaningful shift in my behavior. What I need to start doing is write down notes during church or chapel so that I do not forget about what I learned very quickly. Once I have this, I can actually begin to take my faith out into the world and do something with it. This will definitely be a challenge, but I am sure that if I put my faith in God and not in my own abilities, He will utilize me for great things and perhaps I can evangelize to people who do not have a personal relationship with

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