He calls himself merely a servant of God.

He calls himself merely a servant of God. This corresponds precisely to the well-known name Abd Allah, servant of God. This is of primary importance to James. He wants above all to establish his servantship under God. This is understandable if the author is James the just, whose right to the throne of Israel may well have been accepted by thousands. As an heir to the throne of Israel he writes to the scattered twelve tribes.

The second point James makes is that he is also the ser­vant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word theos in Greek corresponds in translation gen­erally to the word Elohim of the Hebrew Scriptures. This word is the cognate of Allah in Arabic. The word kyrios is used to translate the Hebrew YHWH into Greek in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it is also applied to Christ and others in the Greek Scriptures.

It seems to have four basic uses in the Greek Scriptures: 1) as a translation of YHWH, 2) Master, as of a slave or disciple, 3) Sir, and 4) Mister. In this case, the second meaning is preferred, the latter being too weak and the former being excluded by application to one who is a man and not God. The import of James's words in all details establishes the one true God. 1:2-11 The Beneficent The Qur'anic expression relates to the broad grace of God in creation as a whole.

The word temptation in this section refers to trials, un­pleasant events, and suffering in general. It refers to anything that can happen to shake our confidence in God. They are specifically events for which no one can be blamed, and which could not be changed merely by a change in human behavior. James gives us some counsel on how to relate to such situations. His treatment is firstly to count it joy. This is a conscious exercise of renewing confidence in God.

It is natural when disaster falls to question why. Why did God let it happen? The treatment is not to find an answer to such foolish questioning, for such answers in reality merely lay blame on God. The treatment is to lay such questions aside and renew confidence in God. That is, to count it all joy. The second step is the growth of patience. The third step is perfection.

In the face of the temptation to question why God al­lows this or that, as though disasters were personal messages from God, James gives us some advice on how to pray and what to pray for in such situations. He approaches this problem in verses 5-8. The first point is how to pray: that is, in faith or nothing wavering.