Our pastor preached on this text this past Sunday and I have written some personal observations here. But, reflecting once more on the text, I decided to make a Luther observation as well in this blog.
It is well-known that, in his early reforming years, Luther was not a fan of several Biblical books, including the book of James. His famous statement about James being a "right strawy epistle" is often quoted by some to claim Luther disregarded James as part of the canon. That may be true in the early 1520s, but his view changed with time.
In his German translation made during his "imprisonment" in the Wartburg Castle (1521-1522), Luther did translate James. Yes, he moved it to the back of his Bible, but it was part of the collection. Later, his sermons were collected into what are known as his Church Postils, many of these preached between 1525 and1529. Contained in the postils is a sermon from the very text of James preached by my pastor. It was first printed in 1536. But, clearly, either by the late 1520s or mid-1530s, Luther had a different view of James. I cannot envision this reformer preaching a message from a text he did not recognize as being Biblical.
If you are interested in his message, you may read it here.
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