88 Andrew M. Bowden the specific divisions that characterize this discourse. Identifying James’ genre is critical to a proper discourse analysis. As Reed argues, within the hierarchy of discourse a text’s genre stands near the top: “the genre determines the structure of the discourse and the controlling factor of the text’s prominence”2. Among the numerous genres that have been assigned to James, the most persuasive is that of ancient epistle3. Based on the convincing study of Francis and scholars since, this thesis concurs that James “may be understood as an epistle from start to finish”4. Since we are dealing with an epistle, our examination will consider the ways that typical epistolary features appear in James, features which include a letter opening, a letter body, and a letter closing. 1.2 Preliminaries: Identifying James’ Audience Several interpreters argue that James addresses unbelievers in various portions of the Epistle. This is occasionally argued in 4,1 – 5,6 since (1) the tone changes to strong rebuke, and (2) the commonly appearing “brothers” is used only in 4,11 and instead the vocatives “adulterers” (4,3), “sinners” (4,8), “double-minded” (4,8), and “rich” (5,1), appear. We will argue that James addresses the believing “brothers” throughout. This point is crucial for our interpretation of the letter, for, as Wuellner has noted, these brothers as a community hear the word, are together first fruits, then grow together and develop along the way, proving themselves by their solidarity towards each other, until reaching the final goal5. It will be concluded that changes in tone and the call to repentance show that all the brothers are in danger of becoming sinners6. James’ theme is not in individual words, but at the broader level of paragraphs, DA seeks to identify these paragraphs and their transitional elements; (2) DA seeks to identify prominence, since certain elements in communication carry more significance than others; and (3) DA seeks to identify the coherence and cohesion of discourse, which makes an organized structure possible. For a thorough bibliography of both discourse analysis and approaches to the interpretation of James, see M.E. Taylor, A Text-Linguistic Investigation into the Discourse Structure of James (ed. M. Goodacre; LNTS 311; London – New York 2006). 2 Reed, “Identifying Themes in the New Testament: Insights from Discourse Analysis”, in S. Porter and D.A. Carson (eds.), Discourse Analysis and Other Topics in Biblical Greek (Sheffield 1995) 90. 3 An excellent overview into the genre of James is provided by Luke L. Cheung, The Genre, Composition and Hermeneutics of James (Carlisle 2003) 5-52. 4 Fred Francis, “The Form and Function of the Opening and Closing Paragraphs of James and 1 John”, ZNW 61 (1970) 126. 5 Wuellner, “Der Jakobusbrief im Licht der Rhetorik und Textpragmatik”, LB 43 (1978) 33. 6 Lockett, Purity and Worldview in the Epistle of James, M. Goodacre (ed.) (LNTS 366; New York 2008) 154.