Purity and Worldview in the Epistle of James

Arguing against restricting the meaning of purity language to the individual moral sphere (as many commentaries do), the central argument of Purity and Worldview in the Epistle of James is that purity language both articulates and constructs the worldview in James's epistle. Lockett offers a taxonomy of purity language, applied as a heuristic guide to understand the function of purity and pollution in the epistle. Through this analysis the study concludes that James is not calling for sectarian separation, but rather demonstrates a degree of cultural accommodation while calling forth specific socio-cultural boundaries between the readers and the world.

• Table of contents
• 1. Introduction: Purity in James
• 2. A Reassessment and Taxonomy of Purity Language
• 3. An Approach to the Text
• 4. Exegesis of Purity Language in James
• 5. Purity and the Cultural Stance of James
• 6. Summary and Conclusion