Origen and the Reception of the Epistle of James into the Liturgies of Churches in the Roman East

Eusebius of Caesarea (ca.260–339/340) reports that by his time many of the orthodox Christian communities in the Roman East had come to accept  all the Catholic Epistles in their sacred liturgy: 

“Such is the story of James, who is said to be the first of the Epistles called Catholic. It is to be observed that its authenticity is denied, since few of the ancients quote it, as is also the case with the Epistle called Jude’s, which is itself one of the seven called Catholic; nevertheless we know that these letters have been used publicly with the rest in most churches.”

This very important statement most likely reflected the reception of the Epistle of James in the Eastern Churches as of the 320s since Eusebius’s knowledge of then contemporary Western Christian communities was spotty at best. This was a significant report since some recent scholars have pointed out that Eusebius may have designated some or all of the Catholic Epistles as inferior if not altogether spurious. Despite his personal misgivings, Eusebius acknowledged that the Catholic Epistles had finally been recognized through popular liturgical use during the decade of the famous Council of Nicea (ca. 325)

Scholars have come to agree that the first definite quotation from the Epistle of James by an orthodox Christian scholar was at the hand of the Alexandrian leader Origen (ca. 185–254). Researchers on the canon have disagreed for quite some time whether Clement of Rome, Irenaeus and, more recently, Clement of Alexandria alluded to or loosely paraphrased key statements in the Epistle of James. But all are agreed that Origen was the first known scholar to have quoted from this epistle as scripture. Throughout Origen’s writings both in their Greek originals and their Latin translations, the Near Eastern Christian scholar cited from the Epistle of James as a scriptural source right alongside other books of the Old and New Testaments even calling its author an “apostle.”

Despite this fact, scholars have said little about Origen’s role in actively promoting the scriptural status of the Epistle of James in third and fourth-century Eastern Christianity. In fact, scholarship has yet to attempt to offer an account for the spike in Eastern Christian acceptance of the Epistle of James in particular and the Catholic Epistles as a whole by the 320s. The development from Origen’s definite acceptance of the Epistle of James to the widespread acceptance of this document mentioned in Eusebius’s Church History remains unresolved. In other words, why by the 320s did many orthodox Christian communities in the Roman East come to read the Epistle of James as scripture in their liturgies? Part of this lack of research is due to the relative dearth of extensive Christian documents from the second half of the third century, that is, the fifty- or so-year period after Origen’s death. Whatever the cause may have been, this historical conundrum remains: how does one account for the growth in popularity for the Epistle of James between ca. 220s-30s and the 320s in the orthodox Christian East.

In view of this gap in documentation, to date two major explanations have been offered accounting for the popularity of the Epistle of James over the course of the fourth and early fifth century in the Roman East. First, for well over a century, many scholars of the New Testament canon have pointed to the work of Augustine and Jerome in popularizing the Epistle of James in late fourth and early fifth-century Christianity. Augustine worked in Hippo Regius, North Africa and Jerome did his work in the Eastern Roman city of Bethlehem. This older view has suggested that these two authors, through their klout and impressive network, did much to augment the popularity and reception of this epistle in the Roman East and West. Second, scholars such as Jonathan Yates have suggested the hypothesis that the famous fourth-century leader Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 296/298–373) was rather influential in helping orthodox Christian communities in the East and, especially, in the West come to receive the Epistle of James in the canon of scripture. Through his multiple exiles, argued Yates, it is likely that Athanasius encouraged key orthodox church leaders such as the Bishop of Rome to accept the Epistle of James as part of the New Testament canon. 

This paper, however, will argue that well before Augustine, Jerome and even Athanasius were born, Origen of Alexandria was already most likely making the case for scriptural status of the Epistle of James in the churches of the Roman East and, possibly, West. Using evidence from Origen’s writings, in the both their Greek original and Latin translations, and second-hand reports about his life and work, I will argue that during this scholar’s time there were already orthodox Christians known to the Alexandrian who had repudiated the scriptural authority of the Epistle of James because of its controversial statements about faith and good works. In light of their opposition, Origen appears to have not only encouraged his students to defend the apostolic character of the Epistle of James but also encouraged Christian leaders in the Roman East to defend this book’s scriptural character. Origen’s personal defense and the likely advocacy of his students on behalf of the Epistle of James, I will argue, played a decisive role in this epistle’s broad acceptance in the orthodox communities of the East by the time of Eusebius of Caesarea.