AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N
S,
OF THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF
J
A
M E S
THE
writer of this epistle was not James the son of Zebedee; for he was put to
death by Herod (Acts xii.) before Christianity had gained so much ground among
the Jews of the dispersion as is here implied. But it was the other James, the
son of Alpheus, who was cousin-german to Christ, and one of the twelve
apostles, Matt. x. 3. He is called a pillar (Gal. ii. 9), and this
epistle of his cannot be disputed, without loosening a foundation-stone. It is
called a general epistle, because (as some think) not directed to any
particular person or church, but such a one as we call a circular letter.
Others think it is called general, or catholic, to distinguish it from the
epistles of Ignatius, Barnabas, Polycarp, and others who were noted in the
primitive times, but not generally received in the church, and on that account
not canonical, as this is. Eusebius tells us that this epistle was
"generally read in the churches with the other catholic epistles."
His. Eccles. page 53. Ed. Val. Anno 1678. James, our author, was called the
just, for his great piety. He was an eminent example of those graces which he
presses upon others. He was so exceedingly revered for his justice,
temperance, and devotion, that Josephus the Jewish historian records it as one
of the causes of the destruction of Jerusalem, "That St. James was
martyred in it." This is mentioned in hopes of procuring the greater
regard to what is penned by so holy and excellent a man. The time when this
epistle was written is uncertain. The design of it is to reprove Christians
for their great degeneracy both in faith and manners, and to prevent the
spreading of those libertine doctrines which threatened the destruction of all
practical godliness. It was also a special intention of the author of this
epistle to awaken the Jewish nation to a sense of the greatness and nearness
of those judgments which were coming upon them; and to support all true
Christians in the way of their duty, under the calamities and persecutions
they might meet with. The truths laid down are very momentous, and necessary
to be maintained; and the rules for practice, as here stated, are such as
ought to be observed in our times as well as in preceding ages.
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