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The Letter of James and Middle Platonism: Tracing Early Christian Engagements with Greek Philosophy https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.118329 List, Nicholas Van Kooten, George This thesis situates the letter of James within the philosophical context of Greco-Roman antiquity, and argues that what are typically seen as Jewish “Wisdom themes” in the letter should instead be understood in terms of Greek philosophical discourse. Through comparative analysis, it shows that the central concerns in the letter of James, including issues of theodicy, economics, and speech ethics, are developed using the ideas, language and logic of Greek philosophy. This matters because it provides new evidence for the widespread popularity of the Platonic tradition among Christians in the first/second century, while also resolving numerous issues in the history of interpretation for the letter of James. This approach further expands our horizon of expectations for the letter, offering a historical contextualisation that is attentive to the place of Judaism and Christianity within the Greco-Roman world. University of Cambridge 2024-12-15 Thesis Doctoral Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) eng University of Cambridge Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/384279 embargo 2026-05-20 https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/00788204-1d22-4ec9-9ebc-f1918e548558/download b5df97f3d340e3681fa54b74503d93ef https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/f4a86055-4248-4285-b582-0e36fd83f24a/download 87eda9de84448d1f82354d60eee3eb5f http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved Letter of James Platonism Greek Philosophy New Testament