Monthly Archives: May 2026

James 3: 1-12 On the Danger of Being a Teacher and the Destructive Power of the Tongue

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Harsh Bit Use on a Horse CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2904985

James 3: 1-12

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will face stricter judgment. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is mature, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
  How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of life, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth comes a blessing and a curse. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

Words matter. For those entrusted with the authority to speak on behalf of a community, to shape its life and actions, those words they speak in teaching and leadership can shape both the faithful and the perception of the faithful in the world around them. Yet, in an age where words have increased exponentially and everyone through the existing technology can have a platform to broadcast their opinions as facts, James’s warning is even more prescient. As a person who attempts to use my words carefully, I also see the way the tools of the information age have created an age of misinformation. I saw this firsthand during the week I was writing this reflection which I will share below, but I share Luke Timothy Johnson’s view that, “We dwell in a virtual Babel of linguistic confusion and misdirection.” (NIB XII: 206) In the United States we have often highlighted the value of free speech, but I fear that we have rarely emphasized the responsibility of utilizing of freedom of speech in a way that builds up the community of faith and our surrounding world.

James’s words about the tongue are likely intended for his entire audience, but he is intentional in his decision to begin this section by addressing teachers in the community. Teachers, to utilize James’s metaphors, can be the bit and bridle which guide the community, the rudder that steers the ship of the church through the strong winds of the world or they can be the fire which burns the community to ash and ruins. They are not to be like some of the religious leaders that Jesus spoke against in Matthew’s gospel:

They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi.  But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. Matthew 23: 6-8

If James is writing in the time leading up to the Jewish War where conflict was in the air and the wood is dry and easily kindled for revolution, it is probable that James, particularly with his words in the next section, is resisting those leaders in his community and in Judea who were using words to inflame. There have always been teachers who have used their words in irresponsible, uncaring, and hurtful ways but in times of conflict we often mistake cruelty and confidence for faith. James’s earlier words where faith is contrasted with doubt may lead some readers to mistakenly believe James advocates for this type of faith, but this chapter shows how mistaken that reading of James would be. Any leader who can bless God and curse people has missed what faith is for James. Faith for James does works born of gentleness and wisdom as the following section will highlight.

James can acknowledge that we all make mistakes, and that mistakes in speaking are perhaps the most difficult to restrain. James continues to utilize the Greek teleios (NRSVue mature, NRSV perfect)[1] which is a word of goal or destination. If you can restrain your words you are complete or whole or mature, and while words are important they need to be well chosen. James introduced this in chapter 1,[2] and now focuses his writing on several commonly used images for speech. Scot McKnight shows the way the metaphors that James uses are present in the writings of other ancient authors:

Plutarch compares words let loose to boats caught by winds that shipwreck and sparks caught by winds that set off fires…Philo connects horses and bits but what strikes the reader of his On the Creation is that these are set in a context of humans being made in God’s image and having the capacity to train animals. (83-86). In his Allegorical Interpretation of Genesis, Philo connects the rudder and boat to a mind set ablaze by irrational sense like fire (3.224). (McKnight, 2011, pp. 276-277)

Yet, James is also tapping into wisdom literature’s concern for the tongue. For example:

Lying lips conceal hatred, and whoever utters slander is a fool.  When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but the prudent are restrained in speech. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the mind of the wicked is of little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense. Proverbs 10: 18-21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. Proverbs 18:21

A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has not sinned with his tongue? Sirach 19:16[3]

Or in Matthew’s gospel:

I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12: 36-37

Speech is important throughout both scripture and imagery related to speech and tongues abounds in the ancient world, but James’s words about the tongue still can shock. In James’s imagery the tongue seems to have a will of its own. As Joel Green notes:

We hear James’s charge that horses and ships can be controlled by the tongue seems out of control. Notice again James’s wording: “It boasts of great things” (and not, say, “With it we boast of great things”)—as if the tongue had a mind of its own. (Green, 2025, p. 102)

The word the NRSVue translates as ‘tame’ (damazo) is a word for subduing or restraining, and tame is probably a little weak in a context where the tongue is unrestrainable. The tongue can set ablaze, is a restless evil and full of deadly poison in what may be an echo of Psalm 140:3,       “They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers.” I’m writing this in the week before Pentecost when tongues of fire rested on the first apostles, but as Martha L. Moore-Keish aptly states:

at Pentecost, the tongues of fire were sent by God, empowering people to speak by the power of the Spirit. The question is: Whose fiery tongues are inspiring us? Whose words are we speaking? (Moore-Keish, 2019, p. 125)

Unrestrained tongues which can curse those made in God’s image are not inspired by the wisdom from above (as the next section discusses) but are earthly, unspiritual, and devilish. They are set on fire by hell/Gehenna[4] and bring death instead of life. Many may have grown up with the proverb, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But James knows better, as does scripture. As Proverbs says, death and life are in the power of the tongue.

James has earlier discussed a double-minded faith and now talks about a contradictory action by the tongue which should be as impossible as both fresh and brackish water coming from the same spring at the same time. Here the tongue is used to bless God and curse people made in the likeness of God. Just as faith of Jesus is incompatible with favoritism to the rich, it is incompatible with cursing another person. James does not limit this cursing to the community of faith, for Jewish thought would say that all humanity, male and female, are formed in God’s image. Just as fig trees cannot bear olives or vineyards figs, so the tongue of a person of faith should only flow with blessings for both God and those formed in God’s image.

As I have sat with James’s words through this week, I have also had to sit with a heartbreaking image of how true James’s words are. My congregation is in Frisco, Texas a very diverse suburb of Dallas of approximately 250,000 people. Unlike many parts of Texas, the diversity in Frisco in heavily Asian, particularly Indian, in background and I will see people from my community playing cricket across the street from my church instead of football or baseball most Sunday mornings. Our congregation is situated next to a very large Hindu temple, and our communities have had an ongoing relationship and dialogue for eighteen years. But Frisco was also on the front page of the Dallas Morning News this morning for a contentious city council meeting on Tuesday night, which I was present for, where several individuals and groups unleashed their tongues in ways that were both painful and hateful. Some of these were people with authority over a church, others were people who called themselves Christian. Much of it was political theater and may have been motivated by envy or selfish ambition, and it did bring disorder and wickedness. It did not look like the fruits of wisdom that James discusses below. In James’s time and in ours not many should be leaders and those who are must continually learn to restrain their tongues and speak words of blessing instead of cursing.

[1] For a fuller discussion of teleios see my reflection on Perfection and Blamelessness in the Bible.

[2] James 1: 19, 26.

[3] See also Proverbs 12:18; 13:3; 16:27; 18:7, 21; 26: 21; Sirach 28: 13-14, 18-22.

[4] See my reflection on Gehenna, Tartaros, Sheol, Hades, and Hell for a fuller discussion of these terms in the New Testament.

James 2:14-26 Faith Without Works is Dead

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Stained Glass in Norwich Cathedral depicting St Paul, Christ (as Saviour of the world), and St James the Less. The lower panels show St Paul dictating, Jesus in the Temple, and St James at the Council of Jerusalem. The glass is by Wailes, 1852, and is in memory of James and Barbara Hales.

James 2: 14-26

  14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
  18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works, and I by my works will show you faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is worthless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and by works faith was brought to completion. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

“Do this and you will live.” In Luke’s gospel these words come between the lawyer’s answer to what scripture says one must do to inherit eternal life[1] and Jesus’s parable commonly known as the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37). I reference the beginning of this well-known parable since it quotes both the commandment to love God and the love of neighbor, both of which occupy James’s attention throughout this chapter. A faith that merely knows about God for James is useless, impotent, empty, and ultimately dead.

Joel Green quotes the novelist Ursula Le Guin at the beginning of his commentary on James:

The fantasy novelist Ursula Le Guin wrote, “To learn a belief without belief is to sing a song without the tune.” She goes on: “A yielding, an obedience, a willingness to accept these notes as the right notes, this pattern as the true pattern, is the essential gesture of performance, translation, and understanding.” (Green, 2025, p. 1)

A faith that does not work on behalf of the vulnerable sister or brother may know the words of the song but it lacks the notes and the action to perform it faithfully. It may be able to echo the words of the Shema, that God is one, (Deuteronomy 6:4) but knowing God is one and loving God with all of one’s being are two different things. Stating one loves one’s neighbor and being unwilling to help the naked and hungry brother or sister would be the double-minded faith of the previous chapter.

I appreciate the inclusive goal of the NRSVue (and the NRSV that came before it) in translating the Greek adelphos as brothers and sisters, since James intends his words for both male and female listeners. Unfortunately, in verse fifteen we have one of the rare instances where the Greek does have both brothers and sisters (adelphos e adelphe) and it is likely that James wants us to intentionally focus on both men and especially women who are hungry and naked. Women had far fewer opportunities in the ancient world to provide for their needs and this is why widows in particular are linked with orphans and resident aliens throughout scriptures as a vulnerable and easily oppressed population.  James who previously stated that undefiled religion includes caring for the widows and orphans now links faith to the practices of neighbor love which provide for the needs of the naked and hungry men and women in their midst. Just as religion that does not care for widows and orphans is defiled for James, faith that merely says keep warm and eat your fill without acting in response to the needs of the neighbor is unable to save and dead.

James contrasts a faith which is merely knowledge with a faith that involves practices/works/ and deeds of mercy in a stark manner. Like wisdom literature often does we are given a choice between a wise path and a foolish path. For James the wise path is the path of the royal law of liberty, of Jesus, of Abraham and Rahab while the foolish path is that of demons. The demons know that God is one and tremble but they do not act in mercy or love toward the neighbor. James is trying to hammer the point home that faith merely as knowledge is worthless/ineffective[2] and reveals an empty[3] (NRSVue senseless) person.

James proceeds to his two examples: Abraham and Rahab. One man and one woman, one a central figure in the story of Israel and one an outsider who becomes a part of the community, but both who are reflected on in the Hebrew tradition as people who showed hospitality. Abraham is an obvious choice because of his central position in the story of the Jewish people and the likely use by people who James directs his letter at (see below). By referencing the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to God in obedience to God’s instructions James may be attempting to link this action with loving God with all of one’s being. Abraham was a man of wealth who had slaves and flocks, but Rahab was a woman who lived on the edge of Jericho, a prostitute, and not a part of Israel when she shows hospitality to the Israelite spies in Joshua 2. Like the Samaritan in Jesus’s parable, she is the one who shows hospitality and mercy to God’s people in a moment of need and binds herself to God and God’s people by her actions. It is her actions (works) of hospitality (including protecting the spies) which link her to God’s community.

I want to be careful how I say this next piece because it could easily be misread, but I do think one of our mistakes as people who live in the aftermath of the optimistic view of the enlightenment, where we strive to create a better world and better society, is that we focus more on the systems that surround us than the vulnerable ones in our midst. As a Lutheran Christian I am a part of the magisterial reformation which attempted to have the church partner with the government to shape a better world. This is not a bad thing, but it is also not what James is thinking of. Luke Timothy Johnson is worth quoting at length here:

James does not rail against an economic system that oppresses the poor. Instead, he calls precisely for the formation of communities gathered by the faith of Jesus in which the poor are honored and cared for by others who are themselves “poor” in the eyes of the world. Nor does James suggest the those who are impoverished need to be relieved of their poverty before they can claim human dignity. Just the opposite. The poor have been chosen by God to be the heirs of the kingdom. To say that the poor need to get possessions to become more fully human is to accept the equation of being and having characteristic of the world. For James the hope of the poor is the God who gives every perfect gift without grudging, and a crown of glory to those who love God (1:12). (NIB XII: 200-201) emphasis mine.

Or in the words of José Antonio Olivar’s song “Cuando el pobre (When the Poor Ones”:

           When the poor ones, who have nothing, still are giving;

          when the thirsty pass the cup, water to share;

when the wounded offer others strength and healing:

          We see God, here by our side, walking our way;

          we see God, here by our side, walking our way.[4]

James does not wait for the members of his community to be wealthy before they care for the needs of the hungry, naked, and vulnerable. In James’s view this community which may have nothing still is giving and God is there providing in their poverty and walking with them in the way.

This is also the appropriate spot to discuss the different ways Paul and James deploy similar vocabulary in a very different manner for different communities and issues. Paul in Galatians 2 mentions James (along with Cephas/Peter and John) as one of the pillars of the community that sends him to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:9) only asking that he remember the poor. Some time afterward “some people from James” cause Cephas to stop eating with the Gentiles (for fear of the circumcision faction) which leads Paul to confront Cephas. In Galatians 3, along with Romans 4, Paul argues for faith in contrast to the works of the law. It is worth noting that the ‘works’ Paul is arguing against are the boundary markers like circumcision and dietary restrictions, items which James never addresses in his letter. Just as Paul dealt with ‘people from James’ it is likely that James is dealing with followers of Paul whose language of faith without works, and even Paul’s utilization of Abraham as an example of this saving faith may be causing a different problem among the Christians in the communities James is addressing. Paul and James would agree that the poor and the vulnerable are both worthy of respect[5] and should be cared for within the community. The differences between Paul and James in their language have often obscured the strong resonances that both share. These two early church leaders conducted their ministry in different communities, and both were concerned in shaping practices of faith with different challenges.

[1] The Greek zoea ion which is rendered ‘eternal life’ in most English translations, but I do not believe that is what the gospels are trying to communicate. See my discussion on Afterlife, Eternal Life, and the Kingdom of God.

[2] The Greek arge is the opposite of the Greek word erge (work/deed) [a + erge] and this is part of the wordplay that James is utilizing

[3] Kenos primary meaning is empty. It can be used metaphorically for senseless or foolish.

[4] Translated by Martin A. Seltz in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Hymn 725.

[5] See for example Paul’s condemnation of those in Corinth whose practices at the Lord’s Supper, “show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing.” 1 Corinthians 11: 22.

James 2: 1-13 Faith, Favoritism and the Royal Law of Liberty

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Fresco of Lazarus and the Rich Man at the Rila Monastery.

James 2: 1-13

1 My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality. 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here in a good place,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor person. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into the courts? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
  8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Bolded words have notes on translation below.

One thing I do not want to do in these reflections is to distort the simplicity of the ideas James is conveying to his readers. James maintains that claiming the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ is incompatible with actions that show favoritism to the rich over the poor. For James the faith of Jesus is a faith that keeps the whole law in a merciful manner. Like Matthew’s gospel, I think the letter of James is often misunderstood as rigid and legalistic. James is attempting to shape his readers into an authentic practice of faith which shows mercy to the neighbor without favoritism. The law is not an unbearable burden for James, but it is the law of liberty, it is the way of wisdom which leads to a whole life.

Faith is an important concept to James, especially in this chapter where it occurs thirteen times. In the previous chapter I quoted Joel Green’s note that faith for James was more akin to confidence, which makes sense in chapter one where faith is contrasted with doubt, but as James focuses intensely on faith in this chapter I find this previous definition of faith incomplete. Although two of the thirteen uses of faith in this chapter are in the first thirteen verses (the remainder are in the second half of the chapter) I want to highlight that for James, in addition to confidence, faith is connected to practice. Faith for James is connected with the Jewish idea of ‘halakha’ which in not merely about knowing but about walking in the way of the law. That is why confidence and belief are inseparable from concrete actions towards one’s neighbor.

If a person with gold rings and a person with dirty clothes comes into their synagogue[1] (NRSVue assembly) they are not to make distinctions between the two. The person with gold rings and fine clothing may not be a part of their community and they like the person in dirty clothes have come in for various reasons. James does not exclude the person whose appearance indicates wealth, he just states that granting favoritism to the wealthy visitor over the poor visitor is incompatible with the faith in Jesus. In James’s world of reversals, the poor are rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom in language that echoes the blessings of Jesus on the poor (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20). Ultimately the prejudices of the society around them are likely so ingrained in this gathering of people who are likely predominantly poor that James’s community needs to be instructed in the way faith causes these practices to be overturned. The rich ones are like those in the prophets who oppressed the poor, aliens, widows, and orphans as Martha L. Moore-Keish explains:

The term translated in the NRSV as “oppress” (katadunasteuo) is particularly significant, because it is the same word used by the prophets in the Greek version of the Old Testament for the oppressive actions of the rich against the poor, aliens, widows, and orphans (see Jer. 7:6; Ezek. 18:12; Amos 8:4). James 2:6 also resonates closely with the language in Proverbs about dishonoring the poor and God’s threat to take the offenders to court (e.g., Prov. 14:31; 17:5 a; 22: 23-24). In all these passages, katadunasteuo is a strong word with violent implications. “It is also significant that in the only other place the word is used in the New Testament, the ‘devil’ is the subject (Acts 10:38).” (Moore-Keish, 2019, p. 89)

We do not know what prompts this specific warning against favoritism towards the rich in James’s letter. It is possible that this could be like Jesus’s use of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) which puts two opposing characters alongside one another as an object lesson for the audience. It is possible that James is working in a synagogue where Sadducees and Pharisees are present and his words may be echoing Jesus’s words of condemnation about the Pharisees seeking places of honor and respect (Matthew 23: 6-7). Regardless of where others in James’s community see this favoritism modeled, James views it as incompatible with the faith in Jesus.

I serve in Frisco, Texas, a very prosperous suburb of Dallas and an area where the vast majority of my congregation would be considered incredibly wealthy by the standards of James original audience. I have also spent my entire ministry in suburban areas (North Little Rock, AR, Edmond, OK, and Papillion, NE).  I am aware of the tension that these words evoke in me as a person who is very intentional about how I dress and present myself. Yet, this section also has made me reflect upon a moment several years ago in my ministry here where an older member in one of my communities, who was also one of the least well off members of my community, remarked to a young woman approaching the congregation for the first time and wearing jeans that were fashionably ripped, “Girl, go put some pants on.” I apologized to the visitor and immediately pulled the member aside and was very emphatic that she could never do that again because it was the opposite of the welcome we wanted anyone to feel. I was irate because I felt like the words, which she later claimed were a joke, indicated to this woman that she was unwelcome in our midst. I would not share this story if the person who said these words was still alive and it doesn’t completely correlate with James’s words but for me it shows how even those among us with the least may look for opportunities to place themselves in a position of judgment over others.

James joins Jesus and several other New Testament authors in finding Leviticus 19:18 as the central concept of the law. As Scot McKnight says,

Several New Testament writings…quote Leviticus 19:18…Paul explicitly makes it the fundamental rule of life (Rom 12:19; 13:9; Gal 5:14), while Peter hedges in that direction (1 Pet 4:8) and John explodes into full focus on love (John 13: 34-35; 1 John 3:11; 4;17). It is not without significance that James is the only person in the New Testament after Jesus who quotes both sides of the Jesus Creed; loving God in 1:12 and 2:5 and loving others as oneself here in 2:8. (McKnight, 2011, p. 208)

Leviticus 19:18 may be the ‘royal law’ in James, but James also connects loving neighbor as requiring compliance with all the commandments. James noting of the commandments on adultery and murder may reflect Jesus’s expansion of these commandments in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 21-30) or an exposition on Leviticus 19 which brackets the love command in verse eighteen with,

“You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:17

It is plausible that James may be referring back to Leviticus 19 throughout this reflection, especially in the previous section Leviticus 19:15 is relevant:

“You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15

Although, Leviticus 19:20 does deal with sexual relations with a slave, James here appeals to the commandment on adultery (along with murder) rather than the specific case highlighted in Leviticus. It is likely that James, like Jesus, expands the view of adultery beyond the limits envisioned in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.

The royal law on loving the neighbor as oneself, which includes adherence to the commandments, is also the law of liberty. James’s vision of a community of living and authentic faith is a place where the poor are not discriminated against, and the neighbor is loved and protected. Yet, James like the other New Testament authors view the commandments through the lens of mercy. Again, James echoes ideas Jesus articulates in the Sermon on the Mount:

 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Matthew 5:7

but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:15

James is not attempting to articulate anything novel when it comes to the faith of these followers of Jesus but instead is selecting key practices which are critical to the walk of faith. Faith for James is composed of both certainty and practiced consistent with the values centered on the loving the neighbor as oneself in a merciful and life-giving way.

[1] James knows the word for church (ekklesia) and uses it in 5:14, so calling the assembly ‘your synagogue’ is intentional. As I mention in the introduction, my assumption is that James the brother of Jesus is the author of this letter and we are given a window on early Christianity contemporaneous with Paul’s letters and the boundaries between Christianity and Judaism are probably not as rigid as they will be later.

Review of Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber

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Five Star Book Review

Stephanie Garber, Alchemy of Secrets.

For me a five-star book is something that either I want to read again or something that is so profound it makes an immediate impact. There are lots of ways that books can be compelling: a unique idea, an interesting set of characters, a complex plot, an artistic use of the English language and more. Reading is also a subjective experience, so what appeals to me as a reader may be very different for you. I read a lot for both pleasure and work, but these short reviews are a way for me to show my appreciation for the work and the craft of the author of the reviewed work.

I am a fan of Stephanie Garber’s Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart series with their magical worlds, incredible but dark magic, and dangerous relationships. Alchemy of Secrets is her initial adult novel and while it still retains the magical elements of her other writing, the world is contemporary Los Angeles. For much of the story the magical elements are more subdued than her previous young adult novels. Her description of an early moment of the story could apply to the book in general:

It almost felt like magic. Not big, miraculous magic but the simple magic of timeless things. Of two-dollar bills and handwritten letters, typewriters and rotary phones. (9)

There are certainly times where big, miraculous magic is also a part of this story, but most of the story feels like this simple magic of timeless things. She has a phenomenal gift of describing places in the book as she leads you on this treasure hunt full of unreliable allies and lost knowledge. Sometimes it feels like you as a reader are impacted by the devil’s ability to make a character forget in the story and yet, as you begin to know the protagonist’s, Holland St. James’s, backstory it becomes woven into her life-or-death search for the Alchemical Heart.

Stephanie Garber’s work is comfort reading for me because it makes me believe and feel and wonder with the characters. In her words, “What is magic, if not something that makes you believe and feel and wonder?” (237) To ape the mysterious professor at the beginning of the book, “I came to this book because of her earlier stories and now she has told me another one.” There are still young adult elements to the story, but the protagonist is still young, naïve, and inexperienced and pulled by characters with a lot more experience in the magical side of the world she has sought but not truly encountered before the beginning of the story. The writing is beautiful, almost magical and the treasure hunt is an enjoyable trek through the unique architecture of Los Angeles.