Strong and Weak Lines: Permeable Boundaries between Church and Culture in the Letter of James

Abstract

This article aims to reconsider the social function of purity language in the letter of James, specifically to ask whether such language indicates impermeable social boundaries and identity through difference. Looking at the relationship between Christian community and culture through the lens of purity in James indicates a demand for separation between the believing community and culture. Yet the question remains what type and degree of separation. To clarify this question the article considers the overall cultural stance of James and what it may indicate regarding the degree and kind of separation in view. The research here suggests that forcing James into either an open or sectarian social stance fails to take account of the nuanced language of the letter. Rather than categorizing the letter as entirely open or sectarian, it is better to understand the boundary lines between church and culture as definite, yet permeable—strong in the case of antithetical values deriving from the world, weak in the case of social relationships.