The purpose of this paper is to find out the structure of James. To achieve this, the relation of thoughts within the text is determined and described according to what is called Discourse Analysis. This method searches for the thought-line of the tex...
The purpose of this paper is to find out the structure of James. To achieve this, the relation of thoughts within the text is determined and described according to what is called Discourse Analysis. This method searches for the thought-line of the text, the relations of the meanings of words, phrases sentences, paragraphs. By appling this method the study comes in the conclusion that the letter has a chiastic structure. The key thoughts of James is found in 1:19: "swift to hear", "slow to speak" and "slow to wrath" (1:19). The thoughts are explained in 1:20-5:20 in detail. First, the thought "slow to wrath" is developed in 1:20-2:26. The passage deals with "pure religion" which is divided into two thoughts: "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world"(1:26-27). The latter thought is developed in 2:1-13, and the former thought is clarified in 2:14-26. Second, the thought "slow to speak" is explicated in 3:1-4:12. The passage addresses the tongue in 3:1-12 and wisdom in 3:13-4:12. No man can tame the tongue(3:8), but the wise can control the tongue. Third, the thought "swift to hear" is amplified in 4:13- 5:19. The passage treats the low and the rich who have to hear. Having an eschatological perspective of their life, they must understand what the life is(4:13-5:6). They can be patient(5:7-20).