WEBVTT

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Prof: We've reviewed
several times already,

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at least some of the stuff for
your paper this week,

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if you're writing a paper on
Judaism and the law in early

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Christianity;
different varieties.

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If you'll remember--and I've
reviewed this several times so

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this is just really briefly,
but one of the main themes of

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the whole course is the
diversity of early Christianity.

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How many different kinds of
early Christianities there were,

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and one of the important things
is--

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or ways to look at that,
is what were their different

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views of the law,
so of course with Matthew,

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as we've seen,
Matthew treats the law,

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the Jewish law,
as something that apparently he

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considers his--
the followers of his own church

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to continue to keep.

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There's no hint in Matthew that
the law would be abrogated.

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It's interpreted,
of course, so some of the

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aspects of Sabbath observance
Jesus interprets differently in

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Matthew than do say,
the Pharisees in Matthew or the

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Scribes in Matthew or other
Jews.

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Matthew tends to give us the
idea that the law is just there

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to be observed by everybody.

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When we got to Luke/Acts we saw
that the Noachide laws,

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that is the laws given after
the flood to Noah,

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which are only four of them,
right?

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You don't eat things that are
strangled,

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you don't eat blood,
you don't sacrifice idols and

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eat idol meat,
and I can't remember what one

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of them was,
but there are certain laws that

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the Jews considered were given
to Noah after the flood and that

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all peoples,
even Gentiles,

01:34.262 --> 01:36.172
were expected to follow those
rules,

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but the Jews didn't expect
Gentiles to keep other

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peculiarly Jewish laws.

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Jews never expected Gentiles
not to eat pork,

01:44.450 --> 01:47.060
to keep the Sabbath,
to circumcise their children,

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and they never thought there
was anything wrong with Gentiles

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doing those things.

01:50.340 --> 01:52.480
Of course that's one of the
things that separated them from

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the Jews.

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Luke/Acts seems to take that
kind of view of the law,

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that the law is an ethnic--the
ethnic customs of the Jews,

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similar to the ways that the
Romans would have their own laws

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and customs,
the Greeks would have their own

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laws and customs,
the Egyptians would have their

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laws and customs,
the Babylonians or the Persians

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would have their laws and
customs.

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So that seems to be the way the
Jewish law is treated in Luke

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and Acts.

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Paul, we've talked about Paul
in Romans and Galatians.

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He has a much more radical
teaching about the law,

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that the law is--Paul never
says that Jewish followers of

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Jesus shouldn't keep the law but
he certainly discourages--

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in fact he forbids--Gentile
converts to keep the law.

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In Galatians he says,
you would be justified by the

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law, you're cut off from grace.

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Paul has a much more radical
position and we could look at

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others.

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We talked about Marcion,
remember Marcion at the very

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beginning of the course,
the guy in the second century

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in Rome,
he taught a version of

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Christianity in which he only
recognized the Gospel of Luke

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and just the letters of Paul.

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He was the first one to come up
with a canon list,

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we think, and then he edited
those to where anything positive

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about the Jewish law or the God
of the Jews was taken out

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because he believed that was a
junior false bad god and not the

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Father of Jesus Christ.

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So Marcion threw out the whole
Hebrew Bible,

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the scriptures of Jews
entirely, and substituted for

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Jewish scripture his own edited
version of Luke and the letters

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of Paul.

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All of these are different ways
that early Christians talked

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about what to do about the law.

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We'll get to some of that again
in James today because we can--

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you can read James,
as Lutheran and some people

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read it,
as being basically a

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disagreement with Pauline
Christianity.

03:41.598 --> 03:44.318
We'll talk about whether that's
a good reading of James or not,

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but quite often especially in
Protestant Christianity,

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James has been read to be
arguing against Paul's law-free

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Gospel or justification by grace
through faith alone.

03:57.050 --> 04:00.630
Before we get to James I want
to highlight one other aspect

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that we have talked about a bit
but I want to review it again as

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another illustration of the
diversities of early

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Christianity,
and this is our wonderful

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favorite topic,
Christologies.

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We've talked about different
Christologies all along.

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We've looked at different ones
in John and that sort of thing.

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But let's just look at a few
texts and read them together.

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First look at Luke,
of course Christology,

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as you recall,
is what do you believe about

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Christ?

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What kind of nature is Jesus
Christ or was Jesus Christ?

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Luke 3:22:

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The Holy Spirit descended upon
Jesus in bodily form like a

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dove.

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And a voice came from heaven,
"You are my Son the

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beloved with you I am well
pleased."

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Now if you notice that's a
quotation from the Psalms,

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you can see it down in your
footnotes,

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if you have a study Bible,
Psalm 2:7,

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also it cites Isaiah 42:1.

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If you also note there are some
little words,

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little numbers that have
footnotes,

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probably if you--it's certainly
in the New Revised Standard

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Version,
the letter footnote numbers.

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There's one that says,
"Other ancient authorities

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read,
'You are my Son,

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today I have begotten
you.'" I've talked about

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this already in the class.

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Now the debate among scholars
would be was "today I have

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begotten you"
originally in Luke's Gospel,

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and then some scribe took it
out, because we do find it in

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some Greek manuscripts,
or was it not there originally

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in Luke's Gospel and other
scribes put it in?

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Nice question.

05:45.610 --> 05:49.030
Did the original Gospel of Luke
have "today I have begotten

05:49.033 --> 05:52.073
you" said by the voice from
heaven at the baptism of

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Jesus," or not?

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Now why would this be an
important issue?

05:56.579 --> 05:59.749
Because if the voice from
heaven is saying,

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"today I have
begotten you,"

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which is a quote from the Psalm
after all,

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then wouldn't that imply that
Jesus was not the Son of God

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yesterday?

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That's exactly the way some
Christians took it.

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They believed that Jesus
became the Son of God.

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He wasn't born the Son of God,
he was adopted as the Son of

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God.

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And some Christians said it was
at his baptism and they would

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cite some Greek version of this
text.

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Now scholars have debated about
whether it was originally in the

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text.

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If it's not in the text how
would it get there?

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Well a scribe would see this,
"You are my beloved

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son," and the scribe might
know the Psalms very well,

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and might know that the next
line of the Psalm was,

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"today I have begotten
you," and so just quoted it

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almost from memory from the
Psalm and therefore it got into

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the text.

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Or, as Bart Ehrman,
the author of your textbook has

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said, Bart actually became very
famous first as a text critic of

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the New Testament.

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That is, his profession was
trying to figure out what was

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the most likely original reading
of the Greek New Testament text

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by comparing all these different
manuscripts.

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He's argued that he thinks that
maybe the text originally said,

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"today I have begotten
you," and orthodox scribes

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took it out in the second
century.

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You can tell why orthodox
scribes may have taken it out.

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If they thought that that gave
weight to an adoptionist

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Christology, which they
considered heretical,

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they would take it out of the
text.

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It's an open question,
some scholars say they think

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that,
"today I have begotten

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you," was not there
originally,

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and therefore they agree with
the New Revised Standard Version

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in not putting it in the Bible,
but putting it in a footnote

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instead.

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And others would agree with
Bart Ehrman and say,

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no it probably was in the text
and orthodox scribes took it out

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because it didn't sound orthodox
for them.

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Anyway that's a clue that one
of the Christologies that was

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around and was debated in the
second century was precisely,

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was Jesus born Son of God or
did he become Son of God by

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adoption at his baptism?

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Psalm 2:7 is one that you can
look that up for also.

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Now look at Luke 9:35:
"Then from the cloud came

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a voice,"
this is at the transfiguration

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of Jesus.

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Remember when he's up on the
mountain and his clothing

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changes, his face changes,
he starts shining.

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Now here's what the voice from
the heavens says this time:

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"This is my Son,
my chosen, listen to him."

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"My chosen,"
again that sounds like God the

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Father chose Jesus,
maybe because of his special

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righteousness,
to be his Son.

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Look at Acts 2:36.

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Now Acts, of course written by
the same person who wrote Luke,

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so we're not changing authors
here we're just changing books.

08:56.928 --> 09:01.818
Acts 2:36, this is in a speech,
a sermon, one of the first

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sermons in Acts by Peter.

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From the day of Pentecost--you
know the story,

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the spirit and flames come down
and rest on the Christians and

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they all start speaking in
tongues and languages of

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everybody around the world,
and Peter gives a sermon.

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2:36: "Therefore let the
entire house of

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Israel…,"
now this is the way he ends the

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sermon so this is an emphatic
position in the text.

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This is the end of Peter's
sermon.

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"Let the entire house of
Israel know with certainty that

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God has made him both Lord and
Messiah,

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this Jesus whom you
crucified."

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"Has made him,"
again that idea.

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Look at Acts 13:33,
go back to verse 32:

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"And we bring you the good
news that what God promised to

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our ancestors he has fulfilled
for us their children by raising

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Jesus.

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As also it is written in the
second Psalm,

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'You are my Son,
today I have begotten

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you.'"
Now it's the today,

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but what is the day that
this text seems to be

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referring too?

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The resurrection.

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Is this a hint that there were
other Christians who believed

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that Jesus was human until he
was raised from the dead and

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that's when he became divine and
the Son of God?

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Look at Romans now.

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We're going to go to Paul,
Romans 1:3-4:

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…which he promised
beforehand through his prophets

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and the holy scriptures,
the Gospel concerning his Son

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who was descended from David,
according to the flesh,

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and was declared to be Son of
God with power according to the

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spirit of holiness by
resurrection from the dead.

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Now I would dispute that
translation.

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The Greek there that's
translated by your Bible as

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"declared,"
or at least by the NRSV,

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I think is actually better
translated as

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"appoint"
or "designate."

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Does anybody else have a
different word for

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"declare"
in that verse?

11:14.740 --> 11:18.880
Let me read it again;
you look at verses 3 and 4 of

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Romans 1,
"and was declared to be

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Son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by

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resurrection from the
dead."

11:26.298 --> 11:28.628
Anybody else have a different
word than declare?

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Yes?

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Student:  Designated.

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Prof:
"Designated,"

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see that's exactly the word I
would have used.

11:33.500 --> 11:35.200
Is there a difference?

11:35.200 --> 11:37.330
Well it could be,
there could be a slight

11:37.328 --> 11:38.658
difference in the idea.

11:38.658 --> 11:43.188
Did God just announce that
Jesus was divine at his

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resurrection,
or did he make him,

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designate him,
like when you designate someone

11:48.830 --> 11:51.920
to be the leader of the class,
to be the President of the

11:51.918 --> 11:53.938
United States,
you designate someone to an

11:53.936 --> 11:56.776
office and it's at the
designation of the office that

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the actual person becomes that
official.

11:59.129 --> 12:02.639
I think that's actually the
better translation of the Greek.

12:02.639 --> 12:06.959
That again, though,
would imply that Paul may be

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quoting a phrase that he maybe
gets from elsewhere that

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believed that Jesus became the
Son of God,

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divine, at his resurrection.

12:18.460 --> 12:21.450
Now of course I say Paul quoted
something because there are

12:21.453 --> 12:24.813
other indications in Paul that
he probably didn't believe that.

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Paul seems to give the idea in
other places that he had a

12:29.041 --> 12:32.971
Christology that Jesus was
preexistence as divine.

12:32.970 --> 12:35.550
In Philippians you get the
famous hymn where Christ

12:35.554 --> 12:38.714
descends into the body and he
suffers as a slave and is raised

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back up.

12:39.330 --> 12:42.590
There you almost get the idea
that Paul believed that Jesus

12:42.585 --> 12:45.275
was in a preexistent state as
the Son of God,

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so this may not be Paul's own
considered theology or

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Christology,
and therefore some scholars

12:51.831 --> 12:54.521
have said maybe he's quoting a
line that he gets from someplace

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else.

12:54.870 --> 12:58.380
It does show us that there may
have been other Christians who

12:58.379 --> 13:01.949
believed that Jesus became
divine only at his resurrection.

13:01.950 --> 13:05.000
In other words,
we can map out all these

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differences, and of course,
what was the Christology of the

13:09.533 --> 13:11.023
Gospel of John?

13:11.019 --> 13:14.179
When did Jesus become divine
according to the Gospel of John?

13:14.179 --> 13:16.439
Anybody?

13:16.440 --> 13:18.100
He always was.

13:18.100 --> 13:19.610
He was with God from the very
beginning.

13:19.610 --> 13:21.010
Everything was created through
him.

13:21.009 --> 13:24.699
The beginning of the Gospel of
John ends up having the

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Christology that now has become
orthodox Christianity.

13:28.590 --> 13:33.010
These other Christologies were
all declared heretical at some

13:33.011 --> 13:35.151
point in Christian history.

13:35.149 --> 13:38.339
Notice how what we've got.

13:38.340 --> 13:41.010
Let's say we've got the
historical Jesus,

13:41.010 --> 13:43.950
and we can say certainly he was
a prophet.

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He was recognized as a prophet,
he seems to accept himself as a

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prophet,
and it may be that he claimed

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to be a king or a Messiah,
but certainly by the time of

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his execution some people
thought he was a king because

13:55.113 --> 13:57.273
that's the charge on which he
was executed.

13:57.269 --> 13:59.679
This is Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews,

13:59.678 --> 14:02.688
so the Romans executed Jesus
because at least either he or

14:02.692 --> 14:05.232
other people were claiming that
he was a king.

14:05.230 --> 14:07.220
He's a prophet and he's a king.

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Does that mean Jesus is divine?

14:08.710 --> 14:09.980
No of course not.

14:09.980 --> 14:13.240
The Jews had lots of kings that
were not divine.

14:13.240 --> 14:14.840
The Jews had lots of prophets
that were not divine.

14:14.840 --> 14:17.760
Modern people sometimes get the
idea that the word

14:17.755 --> 14:20.135
"Christ"
or "Messiah"

14:20.135 --> 14:23.155
in itself signifies divinity,
but it doesn't.

14:23.158 --> 14:25.518
The "Messiah"
in Paul's day,

14:25.519 --> 14:28.809
in Jesus' day was simply some
Jewish figure who would rise up

14:28.811 --> 14:31.661
and take over the throne of
David and reestablish the

14:31.663 --> 14:32.873
Kingdom of Israel.

14:32.870 --> 14:36.260
Calling someone the Messiah in
the ancient world didn't mean

14:36.261 --> 14:37.471
that he was divine.

14:37.470 --> 14:40.180
It might, but it didn't
necessarily at all.

14:40.179 --> 14:43.809
Jesus is a prophet;
maybe he's even considered the

14:43.813 --> 14:44.233
Messiah.

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That doesn't make him divine.

14:45.610 --> 14:47.850
Some Christians therefore had
to make a decision.

14:47.850 --> 14:56.130
Is he human and only human?

14:56.129 --> 14:59.319
Is he human and divine?

14:59.320 --> 15:02.790


15:02.788 --> 15:06.288
This is the take that most
followers of Jesus end up

15:06.293 --> 15:07.993
taking,
although there were some

15:07.989 --> 15:10.389
followers of Jesus who existed
all the way into the second

15:10.388 --> 15:12.238
century who believed he was
purely human.

15:12.240 --> 15:14.670
They tended to be Jewish
followers of Jesus,

15:14.668 --> 15:16.208
they accepted him as a great
prophet,

15:16.210 --> 15:17.310
they even accepted him as a
Messiah,

15:17.308 --> 15:19.108
but that didn't mean they
thought he was God.

15:19.110 --> 15:22.110
They still wanted to be
complete monotheists and have

15:22.105 --> 15:22.965
only one God.

15:22.970 --> 15:25.910
So they said,
no Jesus can't be divine.

15:25.908 --> 15:28.488
So some followers of Jesus
chose this route.

15:28.490 --> 15:30.530
Others, as we've seen in the
New Testament,

15:30.528 --> 15:31.448
chose this route.

15:31.450 --> 15:37.630
Then, though you have to split
this up.

15:37.629 --> 15:41.289
Was he always divine or did he
become divine?

15:41.289 --> 15:43.039
Am I doing this right?

15:43.039 --> 15:44.469
Is this the next level?

15:44.470 --> 15:49.040
I had this chart in my notes by
I gave it to JanJan because I

15:49.038 --> 15:53.228
thought she might have to
lecture today and I forgot it,

15:53.225 --> 15:55.505
so we're winging it folks.

15:55.509 --> 16:00.679
If he became divine,
he always was divine.

16:00.679 --> 16:05.779


16:05.778 --> 16:09.598
If he became divine then when
did he become divine?

16:09.600 --> 16:12.780
You had different choices again
like we've said:

16:12.778 --> 16:15.648
at his birth,
because then you have the songs

16:15.653 --> 16:19.303
that all the angels sing and you
take some of those songs at the

16:19.297 --> 16:22.877
beginning of Luke and it sounds
like they're talking about he's

16:22.884 --> 16:25.764
divine now;
at his baptism,

16:25.764 --> 16:31.374
as we've seen some people tend
to believe;

16:31.370 --> 16:34.880
or at his resurrection.

16:34.879 --> 16:37.779
So, Christians again seem to
have divided up.

16:37.779 --> 16:40.259
Do you take him as becoming
divine at his birth,

16:40.255 --> 16:42.095
his baptism,
or his resurrection?

16:42.100 --> 16:45.400
We've seen other Christians
say, no he always was divine,

16:45.399 --> 16:51.539
but even then they split up
into different choices too

16:51.538 --> 16:58.948
because some of them said he was
divine but also fully human,

16:58.950 --> 17:06.100
so he was both divine but also
fleshly.

17:06.099 --> 17:07.179
Where have seen this?

17:07.180 --> 17:11.010
A letter in the New Testament
insisting that you can't have

17:11.012 --> 17:14.982
Jesus as divine without also
having him as come in the flesh,

17:14.978 --> 17:16.298
do you remember?

17:16.299 --> 17:19.079
1 John, exactly.

17:19.078 --> 17:21.138
The letters of John get into
this argument.

17:21.140 --> 17:23.940
Apparently some people in the
Johannine community were

17:23.936 --> 17:26.836
claiming that Jesus was fully
divine but not fleshly.

17:26.838 --> 17:31.768
Then you have--so this became
that position,

17:31.765 --> 17:37.255
flesh and divine,
and the other position I called

17:37.262 --> 17:41.962
it when I lectured on John,
Docetism.

17:41.960 --> 17:45.660
That is, what came to be a
heresy, remember,

17:45.660 --> 17:48.820
in the second century there was
no organized church that could

17:48.816 --> 17:51.866
be able to declare what counted
as orthodoxy and heresy,

17:51.868 --> 17:54.628
but this idea was Jesus was not
fully flesh.

17:54.630 --> 17:58.220
He was so divine he was God so
that when he walked along on the

17:58.219 --> 18:01.519
wet sand on the beach his feet
didn't leave footprints.

18:01.519 --> 18:03.709
That's how divine he was.

18:03.710 --> 18:05.410
He didn't have any weight about
him;

18:05.410 --> 18:06.790
he was not even fully flesh.

18:06.788 --> 18:11.248
Notice all of these are choices
that followers of Jesus had to

18:11.249 --> 18:14.319
make in the decades following
his death.

18:14.318 --> 18:17.038
Some of them took the human
route, some of them took the

18:17.035 --> 18:19.695
human and divine route,
some of them --believed that he

18:19.701 --> 18:20.591
became divine.

18:20.588 --> 18:23.288
This became declared as a
heresy.

18:23.288 --> 18:26.308
We call it adoptionism of some
sort.

18:26.308 --> 18:29.578
Then of those who took the
always divine route,

18:29.578 --> 18:32.708
which became orthodoxy,
some of them also took the

18:32.705 --> 18:35.505
docetic route:
that he wasn't fully human and

18:35.513 --> 18:36.283
fleshly.

18:36.279 --> 18:39.249
And than others took this
route, like the Gospel of John

18:39.250 --> 18:42.280
does and the letters of John,
that he is both fleshly and

18:42.275 --> 18:42.865
divine.

18:42.868 --> 18:47.688
Notice how what this shows is
that from simply the historical

18:47.689 --> 18:51.949
existence of Jesus and his
existence as a prophet or a

18:51.945 --> 18:54.345
king,
you had to make all these

18:54.349 --> 18:57.999
different choices to get down to
this one because which of

18:57.999 --> 19:00.679
these--
all these different--we have

19:00.678 --> 19:02.198
one, two,
three, four,

19:02.196 --> 19:04.646
five different possibilities
down here,

19:04.650 --> 19:06.130
six right there.

19:06.130 --> 19:10.490
Out of six choices,
only one of them is considered

19:10.490 --> 19:13.250
orthodox by the later church.

19:13.250 --> 19:18.630
I do this just to show these
diversities are there.

19:18.630 --> 19:22.240
If you're a Christian you
believe that,

19:22.240 --> 19:25.510
well, the Holy Spirit or God's
providence led the way through

19:25.509 --> 19:28.999
this history so that what we end
up with is the Nicene Creed,

19:29.000 --> 19:31.700
or the Creed of Chalcedon,
which is what we ought to

19:31.696 --> 19:34.486
believe as Christians,
but as a historian you can't

19:34.494 --> 19:35.554
make that judgment.

19:35.548 --> 19:39.678
As a historian you simply have
to point out that there were

19:39.679 --> 19:43.809
lots of complexities in early
Christianity that finally got

19:43.808 --> 19:48.578
whittled down into a more united
consensus view on Christology.

19:48.579 --> 19:52.809
Any questions about any of that?

19:52.808 --> 19:56.608
I'm doing this partly just to
show you how this happened

19:56.607 --> 20:00.337
historically and this actually
gets you into a post-New

20:00.337 --> 20:02.407
Testament kind of subject.

20:02.410 --> 20:04.760
You could easily take a course
after this,

20:04.759 --> 20:08.619
say the one taught by Bentley
Layton or Steven Davis,

20:08.618 --> 20:11.188
that analyzes--it's called
"From Jesus to

20:11.194 --> 20:13.604
Augustine,"
I think he's taken it past

20:13.598 --> 20:14.628
Augustine now.

20:14.630 --> 20:17.200
That covers a little bit of the
New Testament text but really

20:17.198 --> 20:18.998
that's a course on the
development of early

20:18.996 --> 20:20.876
Christianity in its first few
centuries.

20:20.880 --> 20:23.930
You could even take courses
that talk about the development

20:23.928 --> 20:26.818
of Christianity all the way up
from the beginning to the

20:26.817 --> 20:28.497
Reformation, or even beyond.

20:28.500 --> 20:31.440
In any of these historical
courses you're going to see this

20:31.438 --> 20:34.018
kind of diversity and the
shaping of this that comes

20:34.022 --> 20:34.532
about.

20:34.529 --> 20:37.779
Part of what I'm doing is just
illustrating the diversity of

20:37.778 --> 20:39.868
Christianity and how it came
about,

20:39.868 --> 20:44.398
but I'm also trying to model a
behavior for you of thinking

20:44.398 --> 20:48.848
historically about what are
actually theological texts.

20:48.848 --> 20:51.818
Thinking about the growth of
Christianity as if it didn't

20:51.817 --> 20:54.677
just plop out of the sky all in
one orthodox piece,

20:54.680 --> 20:59.510
but it took a historical
process of struggle to come

20:59.508 --> 21:01.778
about,
and it was a complicated

21:01.782 --> 21:02.972
historical process.

21:02.970 --> 21:06.710
Now where does that leave us
with James?

21:06.710 --> 21:10.810
James provides us another
example of differences in

21:10.813 --> 21:15.003
notions of faith and works when
compared to Paul.

21:15.000 --> 21:18.710
First, I'm going to take some
examples from Hebrew scripture,

21:18.710 --> 21:23.210
so if you've got your Bible,
now I haven't taught you a song

21:23.212 --> 21:26.902
for the Old Testament books,
the books of Hebrew scripture,

21:26.898 --> 21:29.228
so you'll just have to follow
along as best you can.

21:29.230 --> 21:34.000
Proverbs, in my Bible it's page
904 in the Hebrew Bible,

21:34.000 --> 21:39.120
but that's not the Bible you
have, I would hasten to say.

21:39.118 --> 21:42.168
The Proverbs of Solomon,
Son of David,

21:42.166 --> 21:46.496
King of Israel,
For learning about wisdom and

21:46.496 --> 21:49.066
instruction,
for understanding words of

21:49.067 --> 21:50.947
insight,
for gaining instruction and

21:50.950 --> 21:52.410
wise dealing,
righteousness,

21:52.406 --> 21:54.556
justice and equity,
to teach shrewdness to the

21:54.555 --> 21:56.365
simple,
knowledge and prudence to the

21:56.373 --> 21:58.333
young,
let the wise also hear and gain

21:58.330 --> 22:01.380
in learning and the discerning
acquire skill to understand a

22:01.377 --> 22:04.477
proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their

22:04.482 --> 22:05.012
riddles.

22:05.009 --> 22:07.629
The fear of the Lord [this is
one of my mom's favorite verses

22:07.634 --> 22:10.254
when I was a kid,
quoted all the time to us]

22:10.249 --> 22:13.989
is the beginning of wisdom,
fools despise wisdom and

22:13.992 --> 22:14.972
instruction.

22:14.970 --> 22:18.330
Kind of a motherly type verse
isn't it?

22:18.328 --> 22:23.918
What you've got in Proverbs is
a whole series of teachings,

22:23.920 --> 22:26.660
wisdom sayings,
and some of them are pretty --

22:26.660 --> 22:31.710
they're just like cover your
mouth when you cough type

22:31.707 --> 22:33.777
things,
there are some things that

22:33.776 --> 22:35.706
aren't particularly heavy or
philosophical,

22:35.710 --> 22:38.710
or theological,
but just sayings,

22:38.707 --> 22:40.297
wisdom sayings.

22:40.298 --> 22:42.828
Another one of my mother's
favorite ones was,

22:42.828 --> 22:45.658
there was a women's club at the
college she went too,

22:45.660 --> 22:46.870
the Christian college she went
too,

22:46.868 --> 22:50.328
and the quotation of it was
from this proverb where it's

22:50.328 --> 22:54.098
talking about a worthy woman and
the quotation from the Bible

22:54.103 --> 22:56.033
was,
"Her price is far above

22:56.034 --> 22:58.184
rubies,"
and that was the motto for this

22:58.176 --> 22:58.856
girls club.

22:58.858 --> 23:04.168
And my mother always said,
"I wonder how much Ruby

23:04.166 --> 23:05.736
charges."

23:05.740 --> 23:08.170
That's sort of--it's little
sayings--

23:08.170 --> 23:10.230
not "how much does Ruby
charge,"

23:10.228 --> 23:12.988
that's not part of the
scripture but the other part,

23:12.990 --> 23:14.510
is part of the scripture.

23:14.509 --> 23:17.199
These are wisdom sayings,
and this is wisdom literature,

23:17.200 --> 23:19.800
so in the Jewish scripture you
have whole books that are

23:19.796 --> 23:22.376
basically wisdom literature,
and scholars will use that term.

23:22.380 --> 23:24.780
They're sayings of wisdom kind
of sayings.

23:24.778 --> 23:29.198
You get it also in Job,
look at Job,

23:29.196 --> 23:33.106
it's before Psalms,
Job 14:1.

23:33.109 --> 23:37.379


23:37.380 --> 23:43.140
Job is also one version of
wisdom literature.

23:43.140 --> 23:46.200
A mortal born of woman,
few of days,

23:46.204 --> 23:50.234
and full of trouble,
comes up like a flower and

23:50.232 --> 23:54.702
withers, flees like a shadow and
does not last.

23:54.700 --> 23:58.850
Ah, how sad.

23:58.848 --> 24:01.968
Notice wisdom literature isn't
always very cheery.

24:01.970 --> 24:06.100
A lot of wisdom literature is
about how difficult life is,

24:06.098 --> 24:08.668
that life is fleeting,
that you just come up like a

24:08.673 --> 24:11.033
flower,
you're beautiful and young for

24:11.029 --> 24:14.159
two weeks and then you fade and
get old and ugly,

24:14.160 --> 24:15.710
and then you die.

24:15.710 --> 24:18.730
A lot of wisdom literature is
sort of like,

24:18.730 --> 24:22.410
life's a bitch so just enjoy it
while you can,

24:22.410 --> 24:25.450
and that's where you get some
of the sayings out of Job and

24:25.452 --> 24:26.242
the Proverbs.

24:26.240 --> 24:29.950
The Wisdom of Solomon,
that may be in your--I don't

24:29.954 --> 24:32.114
have the Wisdom of Solomon.

24:32.108 --> 24:35.118
In your Apocrypha,
if you have a Bible that has

24:35.115 --> 24:37.715
the Apocrypha in it,
you would find the Wisdom of

24:37.717 --> 24:40.847
Solomon,
which also has--if you look at

24:40.854 --> 24:45.794
the Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20
has some wonderful wisdom

24:45.792 --> 24:46.802
sayings.

24:46.798 --> 24:52.738
Sirach 4 has sayings about the
poor,

24:52.740 --> 24:55.370
about remembering the poor,
it's an admonition to rich

24:55.371 --> 24:58.891
people to remember the poor,
do not forsake the poor,

24:58.890 --> 25:02.520
and Sirach 6:5 has a warning
about speech,

25:02.519 --> 25:04.589
control your speech,
watch your tongue.

25:04.588 --> 25:08.108
Notice these sayings,
things about how life is

25:08.111 --> 25:10.521
fleeting,
you come up like flowers,

25:10.517 --> 25:12.727
like grass,
it fades, take care of the

25:12.730 --> 25:14.350
poor, don't forget the poor.

25:14.348 --> 25:17.378
Wisdom literature often seems
to be written within a context

25:17.376 --> 25:19.836
of people who are fairly well
off themselves,

25:19.838 --> 25:22.198
rich people,
and it's written to these rich

25:22.198 --> 25:25.678
people but in order to also get
them not to forget the poor.

25:25.680 --> 25:29.720
Then the saying about watch
your mouth, control the tongue

25:29.715 --> 25:32.685
that we see in Sirach 6:5 is
also there.

25:32.690 --> 25:41.500
Now, with that in mind,
all these other kinds of wisdom

25:41.501 --> 25:51.131
literature, turn to James and
look at chapter 3 of James.

25:51.130 --> 25:54.560
Not many of you should become
teachers my brothers [my

25:54.560 --> 25:56.830
translation says
"sisters"

25:56.827 --> 25:59.867
but in the Greek it's just
"brothers"]

25:59.868 --> 26:03.558
for you know that we who teach
will be judged with greater

26:03.558 --> 26:04.788
strictness.

26:04.788 --> 26:07.568
For all of us make many
mistakes.

26:07.568 --> 26:10.248
Anyone who makes no mistakes in
speaking is perfect,

26:10.247 --> 26:13.027
able to keep the whole body in
check with a bridle.

26:13.028 --> 26:16.698
If we put bits into the mouths
of horses to make them obey us

26:16.695 --> 26:18.525
we guide their whole bodies.

26:18.528 --> 26:23.238
Notice this is just folk
wisdom, right?

26:23.240 --> 26:26.840
Look how you control a horse,
you put a bit in its mouth,

26:26.844 --> 26:30.904
you pull the horse's mouth this
way, the horse goes this way;

26:30.900 --> 26:33.290
you pull the horse's mouth that
way, the horse goes that way.

26:33.288 --> 26:36.048
This is nothing really big
revelation type stuff right?

26:36.048 --> 26:38.958
This is not kind of revealing
secrets of God,

26:38.962 --> 26:42.342
or this is not even revealing
secrets of the Gospel,

26:42.338 --> 26:44.258
this is just folk wisdom.

26:44.259 --> 26:47.149
That's what a lot of wisdom
literature in the Bible also

26:47.154 --> 26:48.474
looks like folk wisdom.

26:48.470 --> 26:51.170
Or look at ships he says,
another example:

26:51.170 --> 26:51.500
...

26:51.500 --> 26:54.140
though they are so large that
it takes strong winds to drive

26:54.141 --> 26:56.061
them,
yet they are guided by a very

26:56.061 --> 26:58.211
small rudder,
wherever the will of the pilot

26:58.211 --> 27:00.821
directs,
so also the tongue is a small

27:00.819 --> 27:03.799
member yet it boasts of great
exploits.

27:03.798 --> 27:07.978
Almost--it just really echoes
that kind of stuff you can see

27:07.982 --> 27:11.672
in Sirach, in Proverbs,
and those kinds of things.

27:11.670 --> 27:15.750
One of the things that James
is, the letter of James is a

27:15.753 --> 27:19.623
representation of typical Jewish
wisdom literature.

27:19.619 --> 27:21.359
Why do I say Jewish?

27:21.358 --> 27:23.488
Because this is actually a very
Jewish document,

27:23.487 --> 27:25.477
there's almost no mention of
Christ in it.

27:25.480 --> 27:28.190
If you took out a few sentences
here and there,

27:28.190 --> 27:30.880
the letter of James could read
as a non-Christian document,

27:30.880 --> 27:33.520
because most of this stuff
about the tongue,

27:33.519 --> 27:35.779
how you control the tongue,
about remembering the poor,

27:35.779 --> 27:37.569
all these sorts of things,
this is stuff anybody--

27:37.568 --> 27:39.668
any Jewish person in the
ancient world could have said.

27:39.670 --> 27:41.160
It's not particularly Christian.

27:41.160 --> 27:45.550
So James is an example of
ancient typical Jewish wisdom

27:45.551 --> 27:46.611
literature.

27:46.608 --> 27:50.668
But, and here's where James
becomes very interesting for

27:50.669 --> 27:52.219
Christian readings.

27:52.220 --> 28:05.160


28:05.160 --> 28:19.060
Let's read Romans 4, Romans 4:1.

28:19.058 --> 28:21.568
Now you're familiar with this,
you've already talked about

28:21.571 --> 28:24.041
Paul, you've written about Paul,
you know about Paul:

28:24.038 --> 28:26.508
What then are we to say was
gained by Abraham,

28:26.506 --> 28:28.586
our ancestor according to the
flesh?

28:28.588 --> 28:32.628
For if Abraham was justified by
works he has something to boast

28:32.630 --> 28:34.390
about but not before God.

28:34.390 --> 28:36.440
For what does the scripture say?

28:36.440 --> 28:39.250
" Abraham believed God and
it was reckoned to him as

28:39.247 --> 28:40.347
righteousness."

28:40.348 --> 28:42.838
Now keep that scripture in
mind, that's a quotation from

28:42.836 --> 28:43.286
Genesis.

28:43.288 --> 28:45.788
Abraham believed God and it was
reckoned to him as

28:45.785 --> 28:46.595
righteousness.

28:46.598 --> 28:49.448
Now to one who works,
wages are not reckoned as a

28:49.454 --> 28:51.184
gift, but as something due.

28:51.180 --> 28:53.450
But to one who without work
trusts him who justifies the

28:53.452 --> 28:55.562
ungodly, such faith is reckoned
as righteousness.

28:55.558 --> 28:58.318
Then Paul goes on and takes his
argument further.

28:58.318 --> 29:02.098
Galatians 3 has a very similar
thing, it quotes the same kind

29:02.102 --> 29:05.882
of scriptures from Galatians,
and Paul in Galatians makes the

29:05.884 --> 29:06.834
same point.

29:06.828 --> 29:09.358
Abraham was not justified by
works,

29:09.358 --> 29:12.248
and he quotes some of this very
scripture to prove,

29:12.250 --> 29:15.570
according to Paul,
that Genesis shows that Abraham

29:15.567 --> 29:18.737
was not justified by works,
he was justified by faith.

29:18.740 --> 29:32.620
Now look back at James 1,
first chapter of James,

29:32.615 --> 29:39.395
verses 22-25:
But be doers of the word and

29:39.404 --> 29:42.734
not merely hearers who deceive
themselves.

29:42.730 --> 29:46.390
For if any are hearers of the
word and not doers they are like

29:46.394 --> 29:48.984
those who look at themselves in
a mirror.

29:48.980 --> 29:52.650
For they look at themselves and
on going away immediately forget

29:52.647 --> 29:53.927
what they were like.

29:53.930 --> 29:55.440
But those who look into the
perfect law,

29:55.440 --> 29:59.270
the law of liberty and
persevere, not being hearers who

29:59.271 --> 30:03.121
forgot but doers who act,
they will be blessed in their

30:03.119 --> 30:03.569
doing.

30:03.569 --> 30:09.769
Look at James 2:14:
What good is it my brothers if

30:09.770 --> 30:13.270
you say you have faith but do
not have works?

30:13.269 --> 30:14.649
Can faith save you?

30:14.650 --> 30:19.150
[Well I think Paul would say,
as a matter of fact James,

30:19.150 --> 30:21.470
yes.]
If a brother or sister is naked

30:21.469 --> 30:24.819
and lacks daily food and one of
you says to them,

30:24.818 --> 30:26.438
"Go in peace,
be warmed and eat your

30:26.442 --> 30:28.882
fill," and yet you do not
supply their bodily needs,

30:28.880 --> 30:29.880
what good is that?

30:29.880 --> 30:32.630
Faith by itself,
if it has no works,

30:32.625 --> 30:33.405
is dead.

30:33.410 --> 30:41.360
Look at 21-26 of the same
chapter, James 2:21-26:

30:41.358 --> 30:45.428
Was not our ancestor Abraham
justified by works when he

30:45.430 --> 30:48.220
offered his son Isaac on the
altar?

30:48.220 --> 30:51.160
You see that faith was active
along with his works,

30:51.160 --> 30:54.160
and faith was brought to
completion by the works.

30:54.160 --> 30:56.320
Thus the scripture was
fulfilled that says,

30:56.320 --> 30:59.200
"Abraham believed God,
and it was reckoned to him as

30:59.203 --> 31:00.443
righteousness."

31:00.440 --> 31:06.340
Notice this guy quotes the
exact same verse Paul quotes,

31:06.338 --> 31:09.878
but to make the opposite point.

31:09.880 --> 31:13.320
Paul had quoted this very verse
to argue that Abraham was

31:13.317 --> 31:15.647
justified by his faith not by
works;

31:15.650 --> 31:19.140
this writer quotes the same
verse from Genesis to say

31:19.143 --> 31:21.363
Abraham was justified by works.

31:21.358 --> 31:24.408
You see that a person is
justified by works and not by

31:24.413 --> 31:25.223
faith alone.

31:25.220 --> 31:27.840
Likewise was not Rahab the
prostitute also justified by

31:27.844 --> 31:30.664
works when she welcomed the
messengers and sent them out by

31:30.663 --> 31:31.493
another road?

31:31.490 --> 31:34.130
This is when the Israelites
were surrounding the city of

31:34.127 --> 31:36.957
Jericho before they marched
around it and made all the walls

31:36.958 --> 31:37.628
fall down.

31:37.630 --> 31:39.960
Two of the spies came into
Jericho and they were received

31:39.959 --> 31:42.359
by a prostitute,
Rahab, "For just as the

31:42.364 --> 31:45.884
body without the spirit is dead
so faith without works is also

31:45.882 --> 31:46.692
dead."

31:46.690 --> 31:51.930
Now these texts seem to be
arguing against Paul,

31:51.930 --> 31:57.730
and it makes us wonder,
does the author actually have

31:57.728 --> 32:01.518
texts of Paul in front of him?

32:01.519 --> 32:04.679
Is he actually reading Romans
and Galatians and he sees that

32:04.675 --> 32:06.865
Paul quotes this passage from
Genesis,

32:06.868 --> 32:09.108
and therefore,
he quotes the same passage to

32:09.113 --> 32:10.473
make the opposite point?

32:10.470 --> 32:14.530
Or has he heard about Paul's
Gospel about a works free Gospel

32:14.528 --> 32:17.708
in some places and he's
responding to rumors?

32:17.710 --> 32:24.040
Or is he just responding to
Paul-type Christians?

32:24.038 --> 32:26.378
He may not know Paul himself,
he may not even have access to

32:26.375 --> 32:28.825
Paul's work,
but he's heard some people who

32:28.832 --> 32:32.372
are followers of Paul and
promote his kind of law-free,

32:32.368 --> 32:35.368
faith dominated Gospel,
and he's writing against those

32:35.369 --> 32:36.389
kinds of people.

32:36.390 --> 32:39.750
It's very difficult to say.

32:39.750 --> 32:43.600
As I think Bart Ehrman in the
textbook points out,

32:43.595 --> 32:48.455
and other people have said all
along, there is a way to sort of

32:48.461 --> 32:51.131
get beyond this contradiction.

32:51.130 --> 32:55.160
To say that maybe the writer of
James is not saying really the

32:55.161 --> 32:58.071
opposite of what Paul is saying
after all.

32:58.068 --> 33:01.148
Have any of you picked up on
that argument?

33:01.150 --> 33:03.990
Yes, what's the argument?

33:03.990 --> 33:05.740
Student:  They're
operating on different

33:05.736 --> 33:06.986
definitions of works and faith?

33:06.990 --> 33:09.610
Prof: Yes,
they're operating on different

33:09.613 --> 33:13.133
definitions of works and faith,
and that's a very good point.

33:13.130 --> 33:17.520
Notice for example,
what was faith for Paul?

33:17.519 --> 33:20.699
Faith, and this is something
that modern people,

33:20.700 --> 33:22.820
Christians as well as
non-Christians,

33:22.818 --> 33:26.898
radical atheists,
Richard Dawkins and Christopher

33:26.896 --> 33:30.376
Hitchens published these books
saying,

33:30.380 --> 33:34.530
religious people in general are
crazy people who believe lots of

33:34.534 --> 33:37.044
ridiculous things before
breakfast,

33:37.038 --> 33:40.208
and just think that--the idea
is that if you're a religious

33:40.210 --> 33:43.110
person you do believe that
people go around walking on

33:43.106 --> 33:45.986
water all the time,
that hell exists under the

33:45.994 --> 33:48.594
ground below our feet,
that God is this man with a

33:48.586 --> 33:50.436
beard who sits up in the clouds
somewhere,

33:50.440 --> 33:52.200
and so there are a lot of
people who think,

33:52.200 --> 33:53.370
what is religious faith?

33:53.368 --> 33:55.618
Well, it's actually believing
certain propositions.

33:55.618 --> 33:58.168
Its believing a proposition
like there is a God,

33:58.173 --> 34:01.113
God is alive in the same way
that you would believe the

34:01.107 --> 34:03.497
proposition is it's sun shining
outside.

34:03.500 --> 34:05.380
It's a proposition,
you just look at nature,

34:05.375 --> 34:06.245
you figure it out.

34:06.250 --> 34:11.300
Now in the Terry lectures a
year ago--I believe a year ago,

34:11.300 --> 34:16.350
Terry Eagleton who's a very
famous Marxist literary critic,

34:16.351 --> 34:18.791
but he grew up Catholic.

34:18.789 --> 34:21.079
He gave the Terry lectures;
they've just come out in

34:21.076 --> 34:23.156
publication by Yale University
Press.

34:23.159 --> 34:24.549
I recommend them very highly.

34:24.550 --> 34:28.060
He gave four lectures in which
he took on these sort of radical

34:28.059 --> 34:30.219
atheists,
and Terry Eagleton wasn't

34:30.224 --> 34:32.484
arguing himself for Christian
faith,

34:32.480 --> 34:35.810
I don't even know whether he
believes Christian stuff or not,

34:35.809 --> 34:39.079
but what he was trying to argue
is that what has counted as

34:39.083 --> 34:42.073
Christian faith over the
centuries is more complicated

34:42.074 --> 34:44.394
than simply believing a
proposition,

34:44.389 --> 34:46.329
that say the proposition God
exists.

34:46.329 --> 34:50.659
For Paul, as a matter of fact,
having faith is more a sense of

34:50.661 --> 34:54.841
putting your trust in God,
so talking about trust,

34:54.842 --> 34:59.642
faith for Paul is trusting God
to do what you need.

34:59.639 --> 35:03.219
Faith is not simply a belief in
certain kinds of propositions,

35:03.219 --> 35:07.169
like a scientific proposition,
it's actually an attitude of

35:07.172 --> 35:10.992
putting all of your trust in God
through Jesus Christ.

35:10.989 --> 35:14.589
This notion therefore that
faith is something that you

35:14.588 --> 35:18.388
believe about is not really
matched by Paul's writings on

35:18.391 --> 35:20.341
faith,
which are much more complex and

35:20.336 --> 35:22.766
they're much more like the idea
that faith is a way of living;

35:22.769 --> 35:25.929
faith is a decision.

35:25.929 --> 35:28.069
Soren Kierkegaard,
The Great Leap of Faith,

35:28.067 --> 35:29.947
the nineteenth century
philosopher.

35:29.949 --> 35:33.559
Faith is this willingness to
just throw it all in even though

35:33.561 --> 35:36.211
all the evidence might be to the
contrary.

35:36.210 --> 35:38.470
It's a decision you make,
it's a leap of faith,

35:38.469 --> 35:40.089
in Kierkegaard's understanding.

35:40.090 --> 35:41.930
That's what it's more like for
Paul.

35:41.929 --> 35:45.769
But notice that's not exactly
what James seems to think faith

35:45.766 --> 35:47.066
is,
and this is why some people

35:47.072 --> 35:49.122
have said that Paul and James
are not really disagreeing with

35:49.123 --> 35:51.043
each other because they're
working with different notions

35:51.039 --> 35:51.859
of faith and works.

35:51.860 --> 35:53.190
What does James say?

35:53.190 --> 36:01.720
James 2:19, "You believe
that God is one,

36:01.724 --> 36:04.384
you do well.

36:04.380 --> 36:07.010
Even the demons believe and
shudder."

36:07.010 --> 36:10.700
That's a pretty big clue.

36:10.699 --> 36:15.069
Do you think Paul would have
ever said that demons have faith

36:15.074 --> 36:15.954
in Christ?

36:15.949 --> 36:17.799
No.

36:17.800 --> 36:20.530
Paul actually doesn't talk
about demons enough for us to

36:20.527 --> 36:21.367
really be sure.

36:21.369 --> 36:24.209
He only mentions demons once in
all of his letters,

36:24.210 --> 36:27.250
and that's in 1 Corinthians 10,
and he's just talking to the

36:27.246 --> 36:29.706
Corinthians saying,
don't participate in idol

36:29.713 --> 36:32.603
sacrifices because that's
participating in the table of

36:32.596 --> 36:33.126
demons.

36:33.130 --> 36:35.190
Paul's not too concerned about
demons.

36:35.190 --> 36:38.650
I would think it would be
outlandish to think that Paul

36:38.648 --> 36:42.298
would have considered demons as
having faith in Christ.

36:42.300 --> 36:44.480
Do demons believe that Christ
exists?

36:44.480 --> 36:46.120
Paul would say, yeah, of course.

36:46.119 --> 36:49.409
Demons know God exists,
demons know Christ exists,

36:49.411 --> 36:53.041
so that's not what Paul's
definition of Christian faith

36:53.039 --> 36:53.509
is.

36:53.510 --> 36:56.890
But that is what James seems to
be thinking faith is.

36:56.889 --> 37:00.449
It's simply the mental
acknowledgement of the existence

37:00.445 --> 37:03.545
of God and that God is one,
that is, the rejection of

37:03.545 --> 37:05.975
idolatry and polytheism and the
idea that God is one.

37:05.980 --> 37:09.820
Now faith, therefore,
for James is not the same kind

37:09.822 --> 37:13.792
of thing as faith is for Paul,
and that's why you can have

37:13.791 --> 37:16.271
Paul saying,
you're justified by faith and

37:16.273 --> 37:18.583
James disagreeing with him by
saying,

37:18.579 --> 37:21.199
look even demons have faith,
they believe and they're not

37:21.197 --> 37:23.687
saved by it,
so you have to have works also.

37:23.690 --> 37:27.780
But also works is not really
the same thing for Paul as for

37:27.775 --> 37:28.335
James.

37:28.340 --> 37:31.200
Remember I talked about how the
traditional way of understanding

37:31.197 --> 37:33.007
Paul,
this sort of Lutheran way,

37:33.012 --> 37:36.422
was that when Paul was talking
about salvation by works versus

37:36.423 --> 37:39.093
salvation by faith,
what he's talking about--and

37:39.088 --> 37:41.998
this is sort of the Protestant
way of thinking that's become

37:41.996 --> 37:43.816
more popular in the modern
world--

37:43.820 --> 37:45.750
"works"
stand for anything humans can

37:45.750 --> 37:45.960
do.

37:45.960 --> 37:49.960
For Martin Luther works weren't
just circumcision or keeping

37:49.956 --> 37:53.136
kashrut, or keeping the
Sabbath--in other words,

37:53.141 --> 37:55.041
works of the Jewish law.

37:55.039 --> 37:58.509
For Martin Luther works were
indulgences sold by the Roman

37:58.505 --> 37:59.595
Catholic Church.

37:59.599 --> 38:06.359
Works were even being baptized;
works were confessing and doing

38:06.364 --> 38:07.364
penance.

38:07.360 --> 38:10.710
For Martin Luther,
the works he was saying don't

38:10.706 --> 38:15.116
save you were any activity that
human beings do in order to try

38:15.123 --> 38:17.193
earn their own salvation.

38:17.190 --> 38:21.620
That's not what works are for
Paul.

38:21.619 --> 38:25.429
When Paul talks about works in
Romans he's clearly talking

38:25.434 --> 38:27.314
about works of Jewish law.

38:27.309 --> 38:29.339
He's talking about circumcision.

38:29.340 --> 38:32.480
Now I'm not saying that that
means that you can't read Paul

38:32.483 --> 38:33.463
as a Protestant.

38:33.460 --> 38:35.150
If you want to read Paul as a
Protestant that's fine.

38:35.150 --> 38:38.750
You can read a certain kind of
idea of salvation by grace

38:38.746 --> 38:41.506
through faith,
apart from even human endeavor,

38:41.510 --> 38:44.680
in Paul's letter to the Romans,
but that's not the main thing

38:44.679 --> 38:45.829
Paul was talking about.

38:45.829 --> 38:49.079
The main thing Paul was doing
was trying to get Gentiles in

38:49.079 --> 38:52.049
Rome not to feel like they had
to keep Jewish law,

38:52.050 --> 38:55.110
but also then not to despise
Jewish followers of Jesus and

38:55.110 --> 38:56.400
not to despise Israel.

38:56.400 --> 39:00.650
Romans is a complicated letter,
but it wasn't as simple you

39:00.653 --> 39:04.473
might give the idea from
traditional Protestant piety

39:04.469 --> 39:07.329
which is, works are human
activity.

39:07.329 --> 39:10.469
That is obviously what James
takes works to be,

39:10.472 --> 39:11.022
right?

39:11.018 --> 39:13.608
He's not talking about works of
Jewish law;

39:13.610 --> 39:15.140
he's not talking about
circumcision.

39:15.139 --> 39:17.289
There's nowhere in the letter
of James that he tells his

39:17.293 --> 39:18.863
followers, you have to be
circumcised.

39:18.860 --> 39:21.530
There's nowhere he says,
you have to keep the Sabbath.

39:21.530 --> 39:24.610
What he does say,
is you've got to take care of

39:24.612 --> 39:27.962
the poor, you have to do
justice, you have to right

39:27.961 --> 39:28.701
things.

39:28.699 --> 39:32.799
Notice how the social situation
of James churches might tell us

39:32.802 --> 39:36.972
something about why he comes to
his belief in faith that he does

39:36.971 --> 39:40.811
and why he comes to a belief
about works that he does.

39:40.809 --> 39:43.309
Look at James 2:1-7,
and remember now,

39:43.311 --> 39:47.301
when I was reading about--I
mentioned Sirach and these other

39:47.300 --> 39:50.410
wisdom literature that mentioned
the poor.

39:50.409 --> 39:53.729
My brothers do you with your
acts of favoritism [that is

39:53.728 --> 39:55.658
favoring the rich in your
church]

39:55.661 --> 39:58.861
really believe in our glorious
Lord Jesus Christ?

39:58.860 --> 40:02.170
If a person with gold rings and
fine clothes come into your

40:02.173 --> 40:04.313
assembly,
and if a poor person in dirty

40:04.309 --> 40:06.659
clothes also comes in,
you take no notice of the one

40:06.655 --> 40:08.035
wearing the fine clothes and
say,

40:08.039 --> 40:09.439
"Have a seat here
please,"

40:09.440 --> 40:11.040
while to the one who is poor
you say,

40:11.039 --> 40:13.359
"Stand there,"
or "Sit at my feet,"

40:13.356 --> 40:15.796
have you not made distinctions
among yourselves and become

40:15.802 --> 40:17.092
judges with evil thoughts?

40:17.090 --> 40:20.180
Listen, my beloved brothers,
has not God chosen the poor in

40:20.177 --> 40:23.317
the world to be rich in faith
and to be heirs of the kingdom

40:23.318 --> 40:25.818
that he has promised to those
who love him?

40:25.820 --> 40:27.690
But you have dishonored the
poor.

40:27.690 --> 40:29.970
Is it not the rich who oppress
you?

40:29.969 --> 40:31.789
Is it not they who drag you
into court?

40:31.789 --> 40:34.599
Is it not they who blaspheme
the excellent name that is

40:34.599 --> 40:35.589
invoked over you?

40:35.590 --> 40:40.200
James is written not to the
rich, it's written to the poor.

40:40.199 --> 40:42.979
It's saying,
don't kow-tow to the rich in

40:42.978 --> 40:46.798
your town, don't give them the
best places in church.

40:46.800 --> 40:49.820
Look at James 5:1-6,
he gets really heated toward

40:49.822 --> 40:53.792
the end of the sermon because it
actually reads more like sermon

40:53.791 --> 40:55.431
than it does a letter.

40:55.429 --> 40:57.199
"Come now you rich
people,"

40:57.202 --> 41:00.162
now he's talking to the rich
but I think he's kind of talking

41:00.157 --> 41:02.467
to the rich with the
understanding that his real

41:02.471 --> 41:03.851
audience are the poor.

41:03.849 --> 41:06.779
He wants them to overhear him
condemn the rich.

41:06.780 --> 41:10.850
…weep and wail for the
miseries that are coming on you.

41:10.849 --> 41:14.029
Your riches have rotted,
your clothes are moth eaten,

41:14.030 --> 41:16.830
your gold and silver have
rusted, their rust will be

41:16.831 --> 41:19.641
evidence against you,
and it will eat your flesh like

41:19.641 --> 41:19.931
fire.

41:19.929 --> 41:22.549
You have laid up treasure for
the last days.

41:22.550 --> 41:23.600
Listen!

41:23.599 --> 41:26.539
The wages of the laborers who
mowed your fields,

41:26.539 --> 41:29.829
which you kept by back by
fraud, cry out,

41:29.829 --> 41:32.789
and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the

41:32.786 --> 41:33.586
Lord of Hosts.

41:33.590 --> 41:36.320
You have lived on the earth in
luxury and in pleasure,

41:36.320 --> 41:38.800
you have fattened your hearts
in a day of slaughter,

41:38.800 --> 41:41.170
you have condemned and murdered
the righteous one,

41:41.170 --> 41:42.780
who does not resist you.

41:42.780 --> 41:47.070
James is written to a Christian
community that's apparently

41:47.072 --> 41:51.592
either very Jewish or he himself
is writing from a very Jewish

41:51.585 --> 41:53.505
kind of point of view.

41:53.510 --> 41:57.080
He uses this wisdom tradition
of Jewish literature that's

41:57.081 --> 41:59.571
already very well known by the
time--

41:59.570 --> 42:02.030
we've got all kinds of books in
this kind of wisdom tradition.

42:02.030 --> 42:04.960
He uses common sayings,
but notice what kind of context

42:04.961 --> 42:05.941
he's writing in.

42:05.940 --> 42:08.780
He's writing in a context where
most of the members of his

42:08.777 --> 42:10.317
church are poor,
not wealthy.

42:10.320 --> 42:14.240
He's writing to condemn the
rich for not taking that into

42:14.239 --> 42:14.939
account.

42:14.940 --> 42:19.790
When James says you can't be
saved by faith apart from works,

42:19.793 --> 42:23.033
what are the works he's talking
about?

42:23.030 --> 42:24.840
Justice.

42:24.840 --> 42:29.800
It's sort of like that bumper
sticker that says you can't have

42:29.797 --> 42:31.747
peace without justice.

42:31.750 --> 42:34.220
Some people running around the
world saying,

42:34.219 --> 42:35.639
oh let's have peace,
let's have peace,

42:35.639 --> 42:38.719
let's have peace,
well it's easy to say if you're

42:38.724 --> 42:41.074
rich,
or you're middle class,

42:41.065 --> 42:44.395
but if you're poor and you're
oppressed,

42:44.400 --> 42:49.400
then just hollering about peace
all the time doesn't sound very

42:49.404 --> 42:51.124
just,
does it?

42:51.119 --> 42:55.239
The bumper sticker,
if you want peace work for

42:55.239 --> 42:58.259
justice, that's where James is.

42:58.260 --> 43:00.670
What works is for James
doesn't--he's not talking so

43:00.666 --> 43:02.736
much about circumcision,
the Sabbath,

43:02.742 --> 43:06.292
keeping Kosher like it seems to
have been for Paul,

43:06.289 --> 43:09.529
what he's talking about is,
you have to have justice.

43:09.530 --> 43:15.470
It's almost as if the writer of
James is in a social situation

43:15.467 --> 43:21.407
where he didn't have the luxury
of teaching salvation by faith

43:21.405 --> 43:22.375
alone.

43:22.380 --> 43:27.740
He needed to talk about what
you needed to do to supplement

43:27.742 --> 43:33.202
your belief that God exists with
pursuing justice toward the

43:33.197 --> 43:34.027
poor.

43:34.030 --> 43:39.280
And here's the debate among
scholars, some people have given

43:39.284 --> 43:44.454
this answer of why James and
Paul don't really disagree.

43:44.449 --> 43:48.199
Because, as some of you already
picked up, they're working with

43:48.199 --> 43:51.469
what seem to be different
definitions of both faith and

43:51.465 --> 43:52.065
works.

43:52.070 --> 43:57.380
Clearly, James thinks he's
disagreeing with some kind of

43:57.376 --> 44:02.966
version of Christianity that
looks an awful lot like Paul's

44:02.972 --> 44:04.132
letters.

44:04.130 --> 44:07.330
James may think he's
disagreeing with Paul even,

44:07.333 --> 44:10.543
it's hard to say,
he doesn't ever mention him by

44:10.536 --> 44:11.146
name.

44:11.150 --> 44:14.250
But this writer may indeed
think he's disagreeing with

44:14.251 --> 44:17.591
another form of Christianity
that he may view as dangerous

44:17.585 --> 44:21.155
because if it teaches you that
you're justified by faith alone

44:21.155 --> 44:24.525
apart from works,
then that may let a lot of rich

44:24.527 --> 44:25.857
people off the hook.

44:25.860 --> 44:29.970
They don't have to do anything
to prove their faith.

44:29.969 --> 44:34.329
James and Paul may indeed still
be in something of a

44:34.331 --> 44:37.181
disagreement,
although you can see how they

44:37.184 --> 44:40.054
wouldn't be disagreeing with
each other quite directly.

44:40.050 --> 44:43.990
But James is operating in a
situation where it's almost as

44:43.992 --> 44:46.762
if he looks at some Gospel that
says,

44:46.760 --> 44:49.290
you're not saved by works,
you're saved by faith,

44:49.289 --> 44:50.849
and he says,
well that's nice and

44:50.853 --> 44:53.593
convenient for those
people who don't want to work

44:53.588 --> 44:54.368
for justice.

44:54.369 --> 44:58.319
He writes his letter even
interpreting the same verses

44:58.318 --> 45:02.638
from Genesis that Paul had used
but using them to emphasize

45:02.639 --> 45:07.029
justice as the work that has to
supplement your faith rather

45:07.034 --> 45:10.914
than an idea that you're saved
by faith alone.

45:10.909 --> 45:13.779
So does he disagree with Paul?

45:13.780 --> 45:17.460
Maybe yes, maybe no,
maybe it's a little bit of

45:17.460 --> 45:18.020
both.

45:18.018 --> 45:20.408
Does he have a different view
of law?

45:20.409 --> 45:22.509
Maybe yes, maybe no.

45:22.510 --> 45:28.390
That's for you to decide and to
write your paper about this week

45:28.393 --> 45:34.093
or make scintillating comments
in your discussion sections.

45:34.090 --> 45:40.760
Questions, comments, outbursts?

45:40.760 --> 45:44.030
We're more than halfway through
the semester;

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you're not confused about
anything?

45:47.369 --> 45:49.129
Good, I'm such a good teacher.

45:49.130 --> 45:50.970
See you next week.

45:50.969 --> 45:56.999