James

God willing (* see James 4:15) I will be speaking on an "Unlocking the Bible" weekend at Otford Manor, the fine home of the fine Oak Hall Expeditions, next weekend (November 18-20).

A very striking observation from Alec Motyer on James 3:13-14:

“James does not yet tell us anything that we must actually do, any course of conduct to follow. He offers us an ethic not of verbs (do this), nor of nouns (naming this or that item of good conduct), but of adverbs (about the sort of people we are to be whatever we do). Everything (his good life … his works) is to be done in the meekness of wisdom, or, to unwrap the phrase slightly, ‘in a wisdom which always bears the mark of meekness.’.” (Page 131)

A few quotations from Douglas Moo's Commentary on the book of James to fill in a bit more background to the material we looked at during Kemsing's Useful! service on the second half of James 2.

“ ¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ² For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. ³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.