Purity and Worldview in the Epistle of James

This book provides a look at purity language within the ''Epistle of James'', arguing against restricting the meaning of purity language to the individual moral sphere.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' 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.Formerly the ''Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement'', was a book series that explored the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. ''The Early Christianity in Context'' series, a part of JSNTS, examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. ''European Seminar on Christian Origins'' and ''Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement'' are also part of JSNTS.