The Epistle of James, for too long the object of negative exegetical assessment, deserves a fresh appraisal. This study challenges the prevailing view that the document consists merely of seemingly disjointed hortatory topoi and lacks literary and thematic integrity. It is argued that a rhetorical and social-scientific analysis reveals a complex and coherent argument in which purity and pollution concerns figure prominently. Addressing issues of fragmentation and conflict on correlated personal, social, and cosmic levels of existence, James invokes traditional distinctions of purity and pollution to encourage a restoration of holiness and wholeness and a vigorous enforcement of social boundaries.
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