This paperback book was published in 1984 by the Grace World Outreach Center with 146 pages. The text is unmarked. The binding is sound. The cover is moderately worn around the edges and is creased at the corners. Previous owners name present though it has been marked out with a black Sharpie. The page edges are toned. The bottom page edges near the spine have a small dampstain. The epistle of James is one of the most practical books of the New Testament. It is filled with pragmatic exhortations about Christian living. James didn't take the time to establish fundamental Christian doctrines, as did Paul in his epistles to the Romans or Ephesians. He wrote this letter to help believers in the practical aspects of the Christian walk......For this reason, his letter lacks some of the cohesive style that characterizes most of Paul and John's writings. James moves quickly from one practical subject to the next, without always tying those subjects together.......But what James lacks in cohesiveness, he makes up in power. As we study this great epistle carefully, we'll find that it's full of commands, rebukes and exhortations, all written to teach us how to live the Christian life.James has been called "the Jeremiah of the New Testament," because of this forceful style and because of his emphasis on practical application of the truth.......James was so practical that some have dismissed his epistle as being of little or no value.......Martin Luther called it "the epistle of straw." Luther was particularly disturbed with James' discussion of faith and works. Being the one who rediscovered the doctrine of salvation by grace, Luther believed that James' teaching on this subject flew in the face of all that Paul said about grace and faith.......Careful examination of the context of this epistle, who wrote it and to whom it was written, will show that James and Paul do not contradict one another. They both were firm believers that only faith in Jesus Christ could make a man righteous before God.......In fact, there is nothing in James that is inconsistent with the rest of scripture. Indeed, James gives us a perspective on Christian living that isn't found in any other New Testament writing......James' epistle doesn't lay the kind of doctrinal foundation that Paul does in most of his epistles. But it can't be considered of any less value. We need the kind of practical exhortations and rebukes that are found in the book of James, just as much as we need the sound foundations of doctrine that Paul gives us.