The book of James and the LRC

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Amen to that.

As time went on, WL used the matters of "dead" works and "natural" relationships to sever our relationships with those around us and reconnect us with his own programs. Instead of looking outward to love those surrounding us, his many warnings, lodged in our psyche as strongholds, stopped us, and caused us to retreat to the safe havens of building his own empire.

In case anyone thinks we are making this up, I checked the Recovery Version notes around James 1:27 ("pure religion is visiting orphans and widows"). Lee writes a long note on verse 26 comparing James' "not strong in revelation on God's economy" to Paul, Peter and John's alleged superior revelations. He write three short notes on verse 27, and his only comment on the "orphans and widows" passage was to refer to it as "an element of Old Testament charges."

Now, does anyone really believe that God's main reason for James writing this book and having it in the NT was to give us an example of a brother who didn't know the OT from the NT? Even if James was not as clear as Paul, to say that becomes the most important message this book has to offer is a very strange perspective.

At the very least, Lee should have emphasized that these commands from the apostle are to be obeyed by us. We are to be compassionate and caring for the weak and helpless, not to consider caring for them a mistaken holdover from an outdated dispensation.