


#THOSE WHO REMAIN IN HIM HOW TO#
In this chapter, after the inscription and salutation, the apostle instructs the saints he writes to, how to behave under afflictions, and in every state of life teaches them not to impute their sins to God, but to themselves directs them in hearing the word, and cautions against self-deception in religion. Now, that James, who was present at the transfiguration of Christ, was James the son of Zebedee: but neither the time, nor occasion, nor matter of this epistle, seem to agree with him, for he was put to death by Herod, about the year 44, Ac 12:1,2, whereas this epistle was written, as some think, about the year 60, or as others, 63 and it seems pretty manifest that it must be written after the Gospel had been spread in the Gentile world, and was received by the Jews, who were scattered abroad in it and after many hypocrites had crept into the churches, and many false teachers, and vain boasters, and wicked men, had arisen among them: it seems therefore more agreeable to ascribe this epistle to James, the son of Alphaeus, sometimes called the brother of our Lord, and who was present at the assembly at Jerusalem, when the necessity of the Gentiles' circumcision was debated, Ac 15:1-27 and is the same whom Eusebius Homil. ``the three epistles of the three apostles, before whose eyes our Lord transfigured himself, that is, James, and Peter, and John.'' The author of it is James and whereas there were two of this name, who were the apostles of Christ some have thought it was written by one, and some by another: some think it was written by James the son of Zebedee, and brother of John, which is favoured by the Syriac version, which to this epistle, and the following, premises these words This epistle is called "general", because not written to any particular person, as the epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon are nor to any particular churches, as the epistles to the Romans, Corinthians but to the believing Jews in general, wherever they were.
