Martha L. Moore-Keish
WJK Press, 205 pages
One might ask, as the author candidly does, why another commentary on James? After all, she asks, didn’t James urge listening and encourage the brevity of words? James reminds his audience that words are the source of destruction, cruelty and pain. Martin Luther famously described the book of James as mere straw and would rather it not be in the canon. Yet, Martha Moore-Keish, associate professor of theology at Columbia Theological Seminary, boldly and clearly replies to such comments that the book of James may in fact be crucial for living in these times.
While noting the irony of a commentary on a book that cautions against the misuse of words, she gives three reasons for a new exploration: the wisdom contained herein, the uniqueness of its place in the New Testament and a counter-story to Luther’s approach to the book. She proceeds along these lines. The value of this commentary, like the others in this series, is the theological vision brought to bear on the exegesis. Moore-Keish is supremely qualified for this task, with her deep roots in Reformed theology and long engagement with world religions. She reminds us that James “speaks with special force to a world of migration and refugees.” And asks, “How might James help those who are landed citizens hear more clearly the voices of those struggling to live in places that are not ‘home’?” In a way, when one considers the state of the world (and the church), it seems obvious that James is precisely the book that preachers need to preach and teach, and that congregations would do well to study.
