Greetings,
There is a "rumor" that has become popular in the Church - that James was confused about the gospel and had mostly an Old Covenant understanding - that he was not truly a New Covenant writer.
James was a "bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1). Casting doubt upon the content of the Book of James is casting doubt upon its true Author.
The following was written by E. J. Waggoner in The Signs of the Times, 1890. It pertains to and addresses this specific kind of scriptural infidelity so common today in the Church:
“Do you believe the Bible implicitly, or do doubts steal across your mind as you read?” The foundation for all this infidelity exists in the mind of everyone who holds the words of Peter, Paul, James, John, Moses, David, Isaiah, or Solomon, recorded in the Scriptures, as of any less authority or truth than those uttered by Jesus in the sermon on the mount. . . . Is a scripture any less the word of God if written by one of the apostles or prophets than if spoken with an audible voice by the Lord himself? Are you, dear reader, in the habit of attributing “degrees” to inspiration, and of considering one passage as more valuable than another, according as it meets your approbation? If so, you are in great danger. You say you believe that it is all-true, although of varying authority and importance. Very well, we accept your statement that you believe the Scriptures, and ask you to accept the following as true: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17 NKJV).
"No one can receive from the Scriptures that living power which they are designed to give; unless when he reads them he drops from his mind all thought of the men who penned them, and of their human frailties, and hears only the voice of God. Thus did the apostles regard the Old Testament. For instance, Paul quoted Isa. 6:9, 10 to the unbelieving Jews at Rome, introducing the text thus: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying" etc. Acts 28:25. Again, in Heb. 10:15-17 we have a quotation from Jer. 31:33, in which Jeremiah is not mentioned, but the words are credited to the Holy Spirit. And again, in Heb. 1:8, 9 we have Ps. 45:6, 7 quoted, and David is not mentioned, but the words are quoted as addressed by God the Father directly to the Son, without any human agency. They are indeed just as much the word of God as those, which were spoken on Mount Sinai, or the Mount of Olives, and the New Testament is not a whit behind the Old."
Let us avoid the beginnings of infidelity and leave no room for doubt to creep into our minds - this we can do by accepting the whole Bible, not as the word of man, but as the word of God. Remember, “every word of God is pure,” so let us receive them with humble reverence, and hide them within our hearts.
Daniel Peters