Witherington on Theological Ethics in James 1

"From the very first paragraph of the letter of James it becomes apparent how very wrong it is to suggest that this homily is simply an ethical miscellany. It would be better to call it ‘theological ethics,’ as it is grounded in a certain view of God and divine activity, as the opening paragraph makes apparent. God is the one who sends wisdom, gives every good gift, including perseverance, and is the model of rectitude—not a shadow of a doubt or of any behavior that could be called questionable. It becomes clear from the outset that by and large James is serving up not commonsense wisdom but rather revelatory wisdom, wisdom that comes by revelation and presupposes a particular view of God and the divine activity that enables human beings to be their best selves."

Ben Witherington III, The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical Thought World of the New Testament, Volume One: The Individual Witnesses (Downers Grove, IL, 2009), 299-30.

For a review of this book see here.