Authorship and Date

• Traditionally attributed to have been written by James the Just, who is claimed to
be the brother of Jesus
o Died around 62CE

Three Main schools of thought about authorship:

1. Dates the Epistle of James after the lifetime of James the Just, sometime in the last
quarter of the first century. Was written by a pseudonymous author, b/c:
• Good Greek
• Greek form based on Greek thought (use of rhetoric, etc.)
• Dependence on some version of Paulinism
2. Epistle depends on the material coming from James the Just (oral or written), but
in it’s final form represents a reworking of and adding of new material, however
there is little evidence.
3. Jewish origin, later taken over by Christian reworking and interpretations.
• Only later do we see a divide between Christian thought and Jewish

Theory Original Author Edited Later?

1 Pseudonymous ------------------------
2 James the Just (oral tradition?) Yes, written down
and reworked later.
3 Pseudonymous Jewish author Yes, to match
Christian views.

The best way to confirm authorship and date is to have a contemporary author mention
his name and the work, but this does not happen.

External Sources
The earliest that his letter is mentioned is in Origen (Christian theologian who lived
around 250 CE).

Internal Sources
The greetings and introductions are very simplistic, and there is a lack of exalted titles. A
pseudonymous author would very likely identify his James better, and stress his authority.

Language is one of the best in the New Testament

Anti-Pauline polemic 2:12-26, might mean that if James relies on Romans or Galatians to
refute them, then we must date James later than those, and give ample time for
circulations of R&G.

Conclusion. Material deeply embedded in the text of James refutes Jewish origin. Some
of the material suggests early date, b/c of things like lack of self-designation. However,
some things like the excellent greek and lack of external references until 250 C.E. favour
a later date.