Drawing upon the scholarship of Marcus Borg, I have shared with you that when you consider the chronological order of the books of the New Testament (NT) seven of Paul’s Letters were written before the   Gospel of Mark. Mark was the first Gospel written. After Mark’s Gospel, the next letter to be written was that of James, known as the brother of the Lord and the first leader (bishop) of Christianity in the city of Jerusalem.

The dating and authorship of James are inextricably intertwined. The author identifies himself as James. For centuries, Christian tradition took it for grant that the author was James. According to Acts and Paul, James was the leader or head of the Christian community in Jerusalem. He was executed in the early 60s.

If this letter was written by this same James, the letter must have been written before the early 60s, thus making it earlier than any of the gospels. Indeed, some scholars argue that it could have been written in the 40s or 50s, which would make it as early or even earlier than the letters of Paul – perhaps the earliest document in the NT.

But the majority of mainstream scholars do not think the author was James, the brother of Jesus. The author does not say so, but describes himself simply as James, a servant of God and of the lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, his use of Greek language and grammar is really quite sophisticated – not impossible for a brother of Jesus from the peasant class whose native language was Aramaic, but at least somewhat unlikely.

If the author was not the brother of Jesus, then its date becomes wide open. There is no scholarly consensus. Estimates range from the 70s or 80s to as late as the early 100s. Borg places it in the 70s or 80s, later than Mark, but before Matthew, because much of James seems like early tradition. It echoes sayings of Jesus included in Matthew and Luke, but never exactly. It is likely that the author knew the teachings of Jesus from the oral tradition or from “Q” (i.e., that first manuscript of the sayings of Jesus) and not from Matthew or Luke.

Though called a letter, James does not have the typical characteristics of a letter. It was not sent to a particular Christ-community as the letters of Paul were. Rather, it was written to the twelve tribes (a traditional designation for the Jewish people) in the Diaspora (i.e., Jews living outside the homeland). Moreover, it lacks the tradition closing of a letter.

Despite it being written to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora, its audience was not Jews in general, but Christian Jews who had become followers of Jesus. That James is a Christian Jewish document is suggested not only by its content, but also by a detail in Chapter 2:2. Why not look this up and read it.