Works are the Fruit of Faith

The book of James was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus (see Matt.13:55 and Mark 6:3) and leader of the Christian community in Jerusalem. The letter is among the earliest in the New Testament, having been written when the Jewish-Christian believers were still meeting in synagogues (note James 2:2). The letter was addressed to “the twelve tribes dispersed abroad” (1:1), meaning Christian Jews who had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire – likely those that were scattered abroad in the persecution noted in Acts 8 after the martyrdom of Stephen.