A Theology of James: Wisdom for God’s People by Christopher W. Morgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When P&R sent me a copy of A Theology of James to review, I expected a good book from which I could learn. What I did not expect was such exegetical and theological dynamite; and in such a small (218 pages including bibliography) package.
Christopher Morgan has done a masterful job with this book.
Subtitled “Wisdom for God’s People”, this book does show that there is an indisputable link between James and Old Testament Wisdom literature. Morgan highlights common themes and shows how James builds upon Old Testament Wisdom literature in an effort to show us how to be wise today. Morgan shows us that James’ desire is for the people to be wisely consistent in their attitudes, behavior, suffering, words, and they ways in which they interact with one another.
There is an interesting chapter on James and Paul. I honestly didn’t have great expectations for this chapter simply because I felt that Morgan was going to throw out the obligatory discussion of how that James and Paul are not contradicting each other, etc, ad nauseum. I was gratified to find that Morgan not only took the issue much further than that, but that Morgan feels that James did not even have Pauline writings in mind as he wrote. Morgan would have us believe that James is simply telling the folks that faith is only genuine if it demonstrates its authenticity by works. I must say that his argument is compelling, and that I am inclined to agree. In fact, there is a good reason to continue further by connecting faith and wisdom here, because wisdom also shows up in our lives, and we only get wisdom by faith (James 1:5-8).
The deepest section of the book is the section on James’ theology. Honestly, I knew that James had a theology, but never dreamed of how much could actually be seen. James has a high view of God, and a well-developed Christology. Though there is no obvious doctrine of the Holy Spirit, James’ theology is never the less deep. In fact, Morgan asserts that James’ practical teachings are rooted in his theology, just as the practical teachings of the Old Testament are rooted in the nature of God.
Though brief, Morgan also gives us a chapter on how the theology of James is relevant today. All I can say is that it is indeed relevant, because I don’t want to give away all that he says.
In the end, I must give this a five star rating only because five is the limit.
Thanks to P&R for this free review copy that was provided with no expectation of a positive review.
