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Practical Faith & Active Love: Meditations on the Epistle of James
The Epistle of James is the most practical book of the Bible. Every word in the epistle is directly relevant to contemporary living, offering lessons about life drawn from life—topics such as riches and poverty, speech and anger, faith and works, patience and hope. James’s pastoral counsel is eminently and profoundly practical, relevant to any time, place and circumstance—as useful today as when first offered nearly 2,000 years ago. Practical Faith and Active Meditations on the Epistle of James offers brief, insightful, probing meditations addressing the challenges and crises of life.
“These short and elegant meditations on an often overlooked part of the New Testament by a first rate scholar priest offer much food for thought as we try to relate the Bible to our own often troubled world. Drawing on an extensive pastoral ministry as well as modern scholarship, Fr. Huffstetler succeeds in offering comfort, challenge and resources for the Christian life.” —Mark D. Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology, University of Oxford
“Accessible, gracefully provocative and drenched in the reckless mercy of God, these meditations help us imagine what a true ambassador for Jesus Christ might say and do, how they might listen and how they might love.” —Mark Oakley, Dean, St. John’s College, University of Cambridge
“ Practical Faith and Active Meditations on the Epistle of James is a ‘game plan for life.’” —Joan Cronan, Athletic Director Emeritus, University of Tennessee
Joel W. Huffstetler is Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Tennessee.
“These short and elegant meditations on an often overlooked part of the New Testament by a first rate scholar priest offer much food for thought as we try to relate the Bible to our own often troubled world. Drawing on an extensive pastoral ministry as well as modern scholarship, Fr. Huffstetler succeeds in offering comfort, challenge and resources for the Christian life.” —Mark D. Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology, University of Oxford
“Accessible, gracefully provocative and drenched in the reckless mercy of God, these meditations help us imagine what a true ambassador for Jesus Christ might say and do, how they might listen and how they might love.” —Mark Oakley, Dean, St. John’s College, University of Cambridge
“ Practical Faith and Active Meditations on the Epistle of James is a ‘game plan for life.’” —Joan Cronan, Athletic Director Emeritus, University of Tennessee
Joel W. Huffstetler is Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Tennessee.
128 pages, Paperback
Published April 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 22, 2022
This book helped me to understand James in a deeper way. A lot of the time James has scared me, because James seems to always have been presented to me in part, or as a rebuttal to the idea that you are “saved by grace only”. Maybe I should have read it and analyzed it more on my own. Fr Joel was able to present various meditations on different parts of James that helped me to see James heart and the meaning he is trying to portray to a deeper and greater level. I might go back to these meditations again in the future. It also makes me think about how reliant we are on each other in community and society. We truly need each other.
September 25, 2021
The New Testament book of James has at times had a bad reputation. Luther called it an Epistle of Straw that failed to preach Christ. There is a difference in message and tone between the Letter of James and the Pauline letters, though I don't think they're as far apart in their views as sometimes is suggested. For preachers, James is full of useful and provocative messages. In many ways, it is a book that speaks to our age. James is a featured book during the season after Pentecost in Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary. Thus, there is an opportunity to attend to its message, which is a message of wisdom that is practical and pastoral, with an ethical/moral focus.
Having preached from and taught James I have always found it challenging but appropriate to the moment. Joel Huffstetler, an Episcopal priest serving a congregation in Cleveland, Tennessee, turned to the Letter of James during the summer of 2020, while the COVID pandemic was raging. It was a time when gathering for worship was (and is at the moment of this review) difficult if not impossible. It was during this time that Huffstetler, while in-person gatherings, were inappropriate, that he offered a series of Noonday Prayer services that were live-streamed on Facebook. There are, in total, fifteen meditations that cover the entirety of the letter. He then gathered these reflections together and published them with Apocryphile Press. I did not know of the press, but I am grateful to have received from them this review copy.
The title is appropriate as it sums up the message of James: "Practical Faith and Active Love." While this is not a commentary on James, he does provide the reader with a helpful overview of the book, drawing from leading commentaries on James. He emphasizes the practical and pastoral aspects of the letter, always with the pandemic in mind. He makes numerous references to it, which is appropriate considering that it was the pandemic that gave impetus to the reflections and thus to the book. But the pandemic was not the only concern on his mind as he moved through James. He notes in the final meditation that during the time that he was sharing these messages, the nation experienced the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery (a black man killed by vigilantes) and George Floyd (a black man killed by a police officer). These and other cultural moments were taking place during this period of fifteen weeks. He writes that reflecting on James did not serve as an escape from these realities. Instead, "this deep dive into James is meant as a way into reality, a substantive means of addressing head-on this time of uncertainty that we are in, and the social and cultural challenges that are squarely before us." (p. 91). Thus reason enough to read James and this helpful companion to that deep dive.
Since James is a relevant text for our times, Huffstitler's brief book (only 92 pages of text) serves as a helpful introduction to a book that deserves greater attention. While James focuses on the moral aspect of the faith, in Huffstetler's hands it never becomes moralistic. I recommend reading James, and with that recommend this companion.
Having preached from and taught James I have always found it challenging but appropriate to the moment. Joel Huffstetler, an Episcopal priest serving a congregation in Cleveland, Tennessee, turned to the Letter of James during the summer of 2020, while the COVID pandemic was raging. It was a time when gathering for worship was (and is at the moment of this review) difficult if not impossible. It was during this time that Huffstetler, while in-person gatherings, were inappropriate, that he offered a series of Noonday Prayer services that were live-streamed on Facebook. There are, in total, fifteen meditations that cover the entirety of the letter. He then gathered these reflections together and published them with Apocryphile Press. I did not know of the press, but I am grateful to have received from them this review copy.
The title is appropriate as it sums up the message of James: "Practical Faith and Active Love." While this is not a commentary on James, he does provide the reader with a helpful overview of the book, drawing from leading commentaries on James. He emphasizes the practical and pastoral aspects of the letter, always with the pandemic in mind. He makes numerous references to it, which is appropriate considering that it was the pandemic that gave impetus to the reflections and thus to the book. But the pandemic was not the only concern on his mind as he moved through James. He notes in the final meditation that during the time that he was sharing these messages, the nation experienced the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery (a black man killed by vigilantes) and George Floyd (a black man killed by a police officer). These and other cultural moments were taking place during this period of fifteen weeks. He writes that reflecting on James did not serve as an escape from these realities. Instead, "this deep dive into James is meant as a way into reality, a substantive means of addressing head-on this time of uncertainty that we are in, and the social and cultural challenges that are squarely before us." (p. 91). Thus reason enough to read James and this helpful companion to that deep dive.
Since James is a relevant text for our times, Huffstitler's brief book (only 92 pages of text) serves as a helpful introduction to a book that deserves greater attention. While James focuses on the moral aspect of the faith, in Huffstetler's hands it never becomes moralistic. I recommend reading James, and with that recommend this companion.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews