(Moo 20).Many Bible scholars believe that the book was written by the Lord’s brother because of the references to the teachings of Jesus. There are different references especially to the Sermon on the Mount such as James 4:11 compared to Matthew 7:1-2 and James 1:22 compared to Matthew 7:24-27. In other places there are other references to the oral teachings of Jesus that help suggest that this book would be written by the brother of Jesus (Lea 520). There is external evidence also. The early church leaders such as Origen and Eusebius identified this James as the author of the epistle. This is partly because of the Jewish flavor of the book. The Jewish atmosphere of the epistle and the references of the Old Testament present the that the book was most likely written by someone with a Jewish background such as this James (Davids 14).Intended Readers and HearersJames addressed his letter to “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”(1:1). This reference leads one to believe that James was writing to a Jewish audience that was leaving Jerusalem because of the persecution of Christians found in Acts 11:19 (Lea 524). James wrote to a generally Jewish audience. This is evident in the references to the Old Testament and the use of the Greek word for synagogue (Moo 31-32). Also, it is believed that the recipients were poor and oppressed by wealthy landowners (5:4-6).DateAssuming that James the Lord's brother is the author, he was martyred in A.D. 62 so this sets the terminus ad quiem at this date. Many scholars favor a date in the forties. There are two possible reasons indicating an early date around A.D. 45 to 47. The first and most important is the misunderstanding of the teaching of Paul on ‘justification by faith’ in Antioch around A.D. 45. James, as the head of the Jerusalem church ,would attempt to address the misunderstanding in James 2. This indicates then that James would have been w...
