Friendship or Enmity?: The Christian and the World in the Letter of James

James's epistle is usually remembered for being very practical and for inviting its readers to acts of mercy and compassion. And yet, the same letter also claims that it is not possible to love God and to love "the world." In other words, James encourages his readers to develop two seemingly opposite attitudes at the same time: to reject the world and to be involved in it.

Vincent Hirschi shows that James contains crucial insights on how the church can be at the same time a positive social f...