Betwixt and Between: The Letter of James and the Human Condition

 James’s letter does not concern itself with the nature of humanity in the abstract. His message regarding the trials of Jewish messianists distributed outside the land of the Jews leads him rather to explore the perplexing paradox of the human predicament—called to faithful life patterns, to love of God and neighbor, on the one hand, overwhelmed by craving and sin, on the other hand. This undergirds a pro­found analysis of the human condition as well as its remedy in God’s true word.