It is a matter of the greatest importance when we investigate any subject in connection with divine revelation to strip our minds of all subjective and self-spun theories and inclinations, and to yield ourselves up willingly to the guidance of the objective facts placed before us. Evidence, not invention, should shape our decisions; facts, not fancies, should rule our verdict. Perhaps there is no writing in the New Testament that has suffered so much as this Epistle from neglecting the broadest hints and the plainest statements on the one hand, and inventing hypotheses with an exuberant imagination on the other. The whole question, To whom is this Epistle written? is settled for us without any inquiry being necessary, in the fewest words, "To the twelve tribes." It is really painful, as being utterly obstructive to the discovery of truth, after reading this address with which the letter is inscribed, to find critics, like postmen who are ill-skilled in deciphering handwriting, conveying the letter to every house except that of the person whose name is specified on the envelope.
from page xxxvii, The Catholic Epistle of St. James
from page xxxvii, The Catholic Epistle of St. James