Thursday, January 12, 2023

Sean M. McDonough on the "Salvation" in James 5:14-16 being Eschatological Salvation

  

James fully expects the prayers of the elders to bring about healing for sick members of the community (Jas. 5:14-16). Both the language used for the healing and the theological framework of James 5 indicate that these healings are seen as eschatological works of renewal. The prayer of faith will ‘save’ (σωσει) the sick person and ‘the Lord [presumably Jesus, as in 5:7] will raise him up’ (εγερει αυτον ο κυριος). Taken alone, the words used could simply indicate healing and restoration to normal life; taken together, they have unmistakable overtones of ‘salvation’ and ‘resurrection’. The temporal healing of individuals in the Church is a sign of the greater renewal to come. The passage begins in verse 7 with unmistakable language concerning Christ’s return, comparing the saints to a farmer patiently awaiting the ‘precious fruit of the earth’ (τον τιμιον καρπον της γης). The imagery recurs during the discussion of the eschatological figure par excellence, Elijah, whose three-and-a-half-year drought (Dan. 7; Rev. 12) ends with the earth (η γη) giving forth its fruit (τον καρπον αυτης). The parallels to verse 7 are obvious and put all that lies between in an eschatologically charged atmosphere. (Sean M. McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009], 44)