When was the book of James written?
The letter of James names no date and no place of writing, so every estimate rests on two things: what history records about James himself, and what the letter shows about the people it addresses. Commentators work from both, and they do not all land in the same place.
The Outer Limits
The latest possible date is fixed by the death of the writer. One survey sets that boundary from early historical records, then reads the letter's contents against the earliest chapters of Acts:
Arend RemmersAccording to Josephus (around 37 to 100 AD) James is thought to have died as a martyr in 62/63 AD (according to Hegesippus, who lived in the second century AD, it was in 66 AD). This fixes the latest time at which the Epistle could have been written. On the other hand, the epistle shows a state of things such as we find especially in the early period of Acts among the gatherings in Judea and Jerusalem. There is no mention of the great Christian teachings, the believers' position in Christ, the blessings and duties of the church, nor the wonderful future in eternity that Paul in particular announced.
The same reasoning appears elsewhere, tied to the fall of Jerusalem to Roman armies in AD 70. Since James died before that, the letter must be earlier:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinJames lived and worked in Jerusalem. There is no likelihood that he ever left the city of his fathers, so we cannot doubt that the Epistle was written by him in Jerusalem and sent out from there. As to the exact date, scholars have been divided. That it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and not after, is obvious, for James died before the city was taken by the Romans.
A Range, Not a Date
Within those limits, the honest answer is a range. A Bible dictionary states it plainly and does not pretend to more:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe epistle was doubtless written by James the son of Alphaeus; from where, it is not known, and its date is only conjectural, varying from A.D. 45 to 60.
Some push toward the earliest end of that span, with a striking result if they are right:
Arend RemmersSeveral researchers would tend to date the epistle as early as the year 45 AD. An exact time of writing, however, cannot be fixed. It may well be that the epistle is the oldest writing of the New Testament.
Evidence Inside The Letter
The strongest argument for an early date is the picture the letter paints. Jewish believers are still meeting where they always met, and none of the later teaching about the church has yet been unfolded:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe character of the Epistle of James is essentially Jewish. In the second chapter the word synagogue is used as the place of their assembly: "if a man comes into your assembly." They were then still in the synagogue. Nothing about the Church, the body of Christ, is mentioned in this Epistle, nor do we find here the great doctrines of Christianity and the corresponding Christian relationship... It is evidently a document written at an early date during the transition period, and before the great doctrinal Epistles of the apostle to the Gentiles had been produced.
That same silence is measured against another letter written to Jewish believers. Hebrews calls its readers to leave the old system behind; James contains nothing of the sort:
F. W. GrantOne would say that the epistle to the Hebrews could not have been written as yet, and there is no exhortation whatever to go outside the camp; on the contrary, the mention of the synagogue would seem to imply — if we do not treat the use of the word as a mere adaptation to the Christian assembly — that they still met in common with others of Israel.
The Objection From Paul
Some date James later on the grounds that his teaching on faith and works replies to Paul's letter to the Romans. That argument is answered directly:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinBut the argument is weak. James did not answer Paul's teaching at all; he was guided by the Spirit of God to emphasise a holy life as a justification of real faith before man. That he cites Abraham, as Paul did in Romans, is no evidence that he had the Epistle to the Romans in his possession.
Where Commentators Differ
Not everyone reads the evidence the same way. One writer takes the very features others call early — Jewish believers still counted as part of Israel — and places the letter near the close of the apostles' lifetime instead:
J. N. DarbyThe Epistle of James belongs to a time when this separation had in no way taken place; Jewish Christians are there looked upon as still forming part of that Israel which was not yet finally rejected, only owning Jesus to be the Lord of glory. Like all the general Epistles, that of James was written in the last days of the apostolic history, when Christianity had gained a wide entrance among the tribes of Israel, and judgment was about to close the history of the Jews.
Summary
- Ceiling. The writer's death, dated to the early 60s AD, sets the latest possible time of writing; the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 came after he was gone.
- Floor. Estimates run from about AD 45 to 60, and the date is admitted to be conjecture, not record.
- Evidence. The readers still meet in the synagogue, and the letter says nothing of the church as the body of Christ — signs of a very early, transitional stage.
- Objection. The claim that James replies to Romans is judged weak: citing Abraham proves no knowledge of Paul's letter.
- Dispute. Commentators differ — some think it may be the oldest book in the New Testament, while another places it in the closing days of the apostles.