The Moral World of James: Setting the Epistle in its Greco-Roman and Judaic Environments (Studies in Biblical Literature)

"In The Moral World of James, James Riley Strange compares the moral system in the Epistle of James with other Greco-Roman and Judaic texts. The author of the epistle prescribed moral practices in a world in which other people, both pagan and Jewish, had long been expressing similar concerns, and more would continue to take up the task centuries after Christianity was well established in the Roman Empire. In this fresh and thick analysis, Strange's systemic comparison of texts (among them works of Plato, Plutarch, Epictetus, and Aelius Aristides, as well as Greek Magical Papyri, tractates of the Mishnah, and the Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls) reveals how James's vision of a distinctive way of community life was both part of and distinct from the moral and religious systems among which it emerged."--Publisher's description Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Editor’s Preface Acknowledgments Abreviations Part One: Morals, Religion, and James’s Community Vision Chapter One. Introduction: The Epistle of James as Community Instruction The Unity of James 5:13-20 The Religious Practices of 5:13-20 What Do “Moral” and “Religious” Mean? Comparing the Epistle of James with OtherTexts Diagnostic Categories for Comparison Notes Chapter Two. James’s Community Vision: Life, Death, and Restoration Making Community: Giving Life Threats to the Community: Causing Death Community Preservation: Restoring Life The Community at Prayer The Elders’ Prayer for Healing Confessing Sins to One Another Returning a Wandering Member Summary: Morality and Religion in James’s Communities Notes Part Two: Morals and Religion in the Greco-Roman World Chapter Three. Ways Not Taken by James: Greco-Roman Visions of Corporate Life Prayer in Two Treatises of the Platonic Tradition Piety and the Moral State: Plato’s Laws The Immorality of Foreign Religions: Plutarch’s On Superstition Correction in Two Moralists Telling the Truth: Plutarch, How to Tell a Flatterer from a Friend The Moral Commentator: Epictetus, “On the Calling of a Cynic” Notes Chapter Four. Ways Not Taken by James: The Everyday Practice of Greco-Roman Relgion Divine Healing Through Magic and Shrines Taming Divine Powers in the Greek Magical Papyri The God Powerful and Benevolent at Epidauros The God Who Directs Destinies: Asklepios and Aelius Aristides Confession of Sins in Asia Minor The Confession Inscriptions Conclusion: Morality and Religion in James and Select Greco-Roman Texts Notes Part Three: Morals and Religion in the Judaic World Chapter Five. Ways Not Taken by James: Judaic Visions of Corporate Life Prayer The People of Israel Before God: m. Berakhot The Exceptional Individual Before God: m. Ta‘anit Healing Healing Through Prayer and the Physician’s Hands: Sirach Restoring the Household Through Healing and Exorcism: The Story of Tobit Correction The Good Man in The Testament of Benjamin Notes Chapter Five. The Way Taken by James? The Deeds of the Community in 1QS The Community at Prayer Confessing the Sins of the Children of Israel Correction: Reproof, Isolation, and Exile Conclusion: Morality and Religion in James and Select Judaic Texts Notes Chapter Six. Conclusion: The Moral World of James Notes Bibliography of Ancient Sources Bibliography of Modern Authors Index of Ancient Texts General Index Ccompares the moral system in the Epistle of James with other Greco-Roman and Judaic texts. In this analysis, the author's systemic comparison of texts reveals how the author's vision of a distinctive way of community life was both part of and distinct from the moral and religious systems among which it emerged.