Friendship or Enmity?

James's epistle is usually remembered for being very practical and for inviting its readers to acts of mercy and compassion. And yet, the same letter also claims that it is not possible to love God and to love 'the world.' In other words, James encourages his readers to develop two seemingly opposite attitudes at the same time: to reject the world and to be involved in it. Vincent Hirschi shows that James contains crucial insights on how the church can be at the same time a positive social force and a prophetic voice challenging the society she serves. Through careful exegesis and attention to details, he explores the relationships between the personal and communal dimensions of faith, on the interplay between development of character and social action, and proposes a detailed analysis of the role of the church in James's letter.