“Prayer Restores Spiritual Health”
James 5:13-18
INTRODUCTION What is the Meaning of James 5.13-18 Part 1
If you would, turn in your Bible to James 5. And we’ll read our text first this morning… James 5:13-18
James 5:13–18 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
R. Kent Hughes in his comments on this passage, relates a story from church history that I found to be irresistible.
He writes, “Amy Carmichael, … missionary to India [in the early 1900s], described the attempted healing of one of her treasured coworkers, a woman named Ponnammal, who contracted cancer in 1913. Amy was, of course, aware of James’ prescription to call for the elders of the church to anoint the ill and offer the prayer of faith, but she and her fellowship were not sure what to do. So they sought a sign asking that, if it was God’s will, he would send someone to them who was earnest about James’ prescription for healing. The person came—an old friend of hers from Madras. As her biographer Elisabeth Elliot describes it:
It was a solemn meeting around the sickbed, the women dressed as usual in their handloomed saris, but white ones for this occasion. They laid a palm branch across Ponnammal’s bed as a sign of victory and accepted whatever answer God might give, certain that whether it was to be physical healing or not, He would give victory and peace. It sounds like a simple formula. It was an act of faith, but certainly accompanied by the anguish of doubt and desire which had to be brought again and again under the authority of the Master.… From that very day Ponnammal grew … worse. The pain increased, and her eyes grew dull as she lingered for days in misery until she reached her limit and her “warfare was accomplished.”[1]
Such is the disappointment and the embarrassment of many who have followed what they see in this passage. Why isn’t everyone healed especially when, as it’s written in our version, “the prayer offered in faith will …it will restore the one who is sick.” That’s the major point of controversy in the passage. It seems like it’s a guarantee: “the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.” But what of Ponnammal?
And what is this sickness? How sick do you have to be? How much faith do you have to have? And why the elders of the church… What is anointing with oil and how does that work? Is healing really a guarantee? And what does Elijah have to do with it?
If you like puzzles, this passage is a doozy. This is the kind of passage that pastors get asked about often, right up there with head coverings in 1 Co. 11. So I trust you’re ready to “love the Lord with all your mind” this morning as we delve into a bit of controversy. This is somewhat of an unusual message but we don’t come across passages like this very often so if you stay with me, I think you’ll get the blessing we’re intended for this morning.
Those who are sick are to come to the elders for prayer, but who …oh who … will pray for the dear elders who must preach this passage? So are you ready to be Bible sleuths this morning? A Bible detective? This message is more fire hydrant style, so please try to keep up with me …
There are a number of views of the passage. And by way of introduction, I want to go over the more common views and respond to each of them. And again, the major point of controversy is verse 15… “the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.” Why is it a promise when so many who go through this ceremony are not healed?
Number 1 …
Catholic View: The Anointing of the Sick
The Roman Catholic view is called “the anointing of the sick.” It used to be called extreme unction. It is performed on somebody who is seriously sick to the point of death that they may obtain spiritual and physical strength… Or it is performed on someone who’s close to death so as to prepare them for, in their view, eternal life.
When combined with the bread and the cup that they call the Eucharist and confession of sin, it’s called the last rites, which you’ve probably heard of. You know he’s close to death when they administer the last rites.
The Catholic church teaches that it prepares for eternal life, which of course, is obviously not found in the passage. The passage is for “healing” not to prepare those for death. So this view is out.
Number 2 …
Apostolic Age Only View
So the Reformers and the Puritans came along and rightly recognize that whatever this is, it is not an ordinance of the church. Baptism and the Lord’s supper are what the Lord has ordained for us to observe.
But since the passage seems to guarantee miraculous healing, therefore… this 2nd view says … that the passage was only for the apostolic age. In other words, when the apostles were on earth, Christians could receive physical healing from this passage. But it was only for when the apostles were on earth. This passage no longer applies today, in this view.
This is the view of none other than the theological heavyweights … John Calvin, Martin Luther, theologian BB Warfield, commentator Matthew Henry, and the Puritans like Thomas Manton, and John Owen.
The problem with this view is that the apostles are not involved in the passage at all. The elders are involved and that office continues to the present day. Verse 14 … “Then he must call for the elders of the church….” So it makes sense then that whatever this passage is speaking of, it does continue to this day since the role of the elder continues to this day. Since the office of elder continues to this day, therefore, applying this passage also must continue to this day.
TRANS: So, it’s not the Catholic view which says that it prepares people for eternal life…And neither is it confined to the apostolic age, since “elder” is used in the passage … then what is it? We’re left with 2 remaining views to consider.
Now, I don’t claim to have all the answers. The debate on this passage will rage on after this message…largely because scholars will choose not to consult my message … but… you may or may not like my interpretation, but I trust we will be gracious in our disagreements.
The 3rd view…
Does not guarantee, but allows for, physical healing
This view is held by the majority of interpreters of this passage. Those who hold this position say that the passage does not guarantee physical healing, but that the procedure outlined in the passage should be followed under certain circumstances to see if God will heal or not.
The physically sick person should call for the elders. The elders are to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And then the prayer offered in faith, or literally in the Greek language “the prayer of faith” will restore the one who is sick.
This view answers this seeming guarantee of healing by limiting it by one of several ways. In other words, the seeming promise “the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick” isn’t a guarantee of physical healing, though it may read like one. And so, they say, the seeming guarantee is limited somehow.
How is the seeming guarantee limited? First, perhaps the elders or the person didn’t have enough faith so as to be healed. Second, perhaps the prayer of faith means the prayer restricted by the doctrines of the faith … the doctrines of the faith are clear that nobody is guaranteed healing. So the prayer in keeping with the faith…in other words, if it’s the Lord’s will that prayer will restore the one who is sick…
Or…3rd … perhaps the “prayer of faith” that the elder prays refers to a certain kind of prayer that the elder must pray in order for the healing to take place. For healing to take place, you must pray “the prayer of faith,” pray that kind of prayer. And if the healing does not take place it can be said that the elder, according to God’s will, did not pray “the prayer of faith” so as to heal the individual. But whose fault is it? Well, God didn’t give the elder the prayer of faith so the sick person wasn’t healed.
So, it could be according to this view, that the prayer faith can only be prayed when the elders have first listened to God and have confidence in their hearts that God will heal in this case. This of course is then related to “the gift of faith” that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12:9. So when it is God’s will to heal, the Lord will give the confidence that he will heal and then enables the elders to pray “the prayer of faith.”
And so this prayer of faith is not something that you can manufacture on your own by working up faith in God; it’s God’s gift.
To sum up this view: This is the most common view. The passage doesn’t guarantee healing, but is limited by either the quantity or quality of the elders’ or the sick person’s faith, or it’s the seeming promise is limited by the doctrines of the faith or the physical healing didn’t happen because God didn’t give the elder “the prayer of faith.” But either way, it’s not a guarantee.
Evaluation: Now, it is my humble opinion that no matter how you limit the view, it doesn’t solve the entire problem in the passage. No matter how you limit what looks like a promise, there is still another problem. Notice this … there are actually three promises in verse 15, not just 1 and necessarily they are all related. You can’t limit one without limiting the other promises. If you limit one promise, you must be consistent and limit all the promises … What’s the first promise in verse 15 … the “prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.” That’s the first promise. The second promise is similar to the first promise … that “the Lord will raise him up.” The third promise is that if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
The first two are related. “Restoring the one who is sick” and the promise that “the Lord will raise him up” are similar. But the third one concerns the forgiveness of sins. Remember, you can’t limit one promise without limiting the other promises.
James 5:15 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
They are all related. If you go through the process outlined in verse 14, you can’t just limit one of the promises; you’d have to limit all of them.
And so if this view was consistent, if the healing isn’t guaranteed then… what? Neither is the forgiveness of sins. But … and I want to emphasize this … we all know that forgiveness of sins is guaranteed!
But those who hold this view … the view that says that the promise of healing is limited in some way, it’s not a guarantee … those who hold this view would have to admit that it’s also required that they limit whether or not the sick person is forgiven. If you limit the seeming promise of healing, you also must limit the seeming promise of forgiveness. Their both stated in the same way; if you hold the view, you must be consistent with the verse…
verse 15 look at it again …the 3 promises are all worded the same … “the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
Follow this … according to this most common view, if the prayer of faith is prayed, then that prayer will heal him from his sickness. If the prayer of faith is not prayed, then that prayer will not heal him from his sickness.
And so, according to this view, it must follow, that if the prayer of faith is prayed, and he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. But if the prayer faith is not prayed, and he has committed sins, they will not be forgiven him. If he hasn’t received the first promise of healing, how do we know he has received the 3rd promise that his sins are forgiven? Again, if he hasn’t received the first promise of healing, how do we know if has received the other promise, that his sins are forgiven?
Miraculous healing is tied to forgiveness in the passage. Where there is a miraculous healing, we’d expect forgiveness. We’ve been prepped to believe this.
For example, Matthew 9…go there … Matthew 9 … Here, we will see that a miraculous healing proves the forgiveness of sins. This miraculous healing proves the man’s sins are forgiven. And like in James, it all starts with faith.
Matthew 9:1–8 1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city. 2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? [and the answer is that it’s easier to say “your sins are forgiven” because no one can prove that his sins weren’t forgiven. It’s hard to say “get up and walk” because if you say that, you’re putting your credibility on the line. You have to prove it! … Jesus continues … ] 6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
So what do we see? First, in verse 2, we see faith … We see faith in Jesus just like in James 5:15. Second, we see that Jesus responds to that faith by forgiving the paralytic’s sins. And third, we see that Jesus proves that he can forgive his sins by healing him. Why did Jesus heal him? To prove that He has the authority to forgive sins.[2]
Another question … How do we know that the paralytic’s sins are forgiven? Because Jesus healed him. Now we know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. There was faith in Jesus, forgiveness of sins, and a miraculous physical healing that proved Jesus’ ability to forgive sins.
So here’s the point: This miraculous healing proves the paralytic’s sins are forgiven. The healing proves the forgiveness. And it all started with faith.
So, when we come to James 5:15…if James 5:15 is speaking of physical healing, we would expect the same thing. We’ve been prepped to believe this. Faith … and we have that in James 5:15, the prayer offered in faith, or the prayer of faith. And then we have the promise of healing as well as the forgiveness of sins. The same 3 elements in Matthew 9 are in James 5:15.
On that day in Matthew 9, if Jesus did not see their faith, would Jesus have pronounced forgiveness? No. Jesus would not have pronounced forgiveness nor would he have healed him. Matthew 13:58 says He didn’t do many miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith.
So we may legitimately ask those who believe James 5 is for physical healing today, “If there was no healing, how do you know if there was forgiveness?” Because Matthew 9 leads me to believe that if there was no healing, there was no forgiveness.
This view may come back and say, “Well, there are other passages of Scripture that teach that a person will be forgiven when they confess their sins.” Yes that is true, but we can’t neglect this verse in this healing context.
This verse in this context, a healing context, must also be allowed to carry its theological weight as much as any other verse on healing and forgiveness.
So, if you’re just tuning in … I’m arguing that this view is also lacking because if you believe the passage is about physical healing, then when that healing doesn’t happen, what are we to think about the sick person’s forgiveness? We have every right to question whether or not the sick person’s sins are forgiven.
Because faith, healing, and forgiveness of sins are all tied together in Matthew 9 and in James 5:15, and if James 5 is talking about physical healing and you go through the procedure and get anointed with oil and it doesn’t happen, based on this view, we could call into question whether your sins are forgiven. Some poor soul could think, “Well, I wasn’t healed, how do I know if I’m forgiven?”
TRANS: But we all know that forgiveness of sins is guaranteed! 1 John 1:9 … if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.
So we can’t interpret a verse in such a way that would limit that promise of forgiveness. Interpreting this verse and saying that physical healing is promised does that.
Disclaimer: Let me be clear: God heals. Ok, if we pray for someone to be healed and they are healed, God answered our prayers. Very simple. We just don’t need James 5:13-18 to believe that. God’s forgiveness is unlimited and His ability to heal is unlimited. He’ll always choose to forgive if we confess and forsake our sin, but He doesn’t always heal.
Now, as we transition into the actual passage, what follows is my understanding. I understand the passage to refer to God’s guarantee for healing spiritual sickness. I’ll not only argue for the view but also wrestle with any weaknesses. But we’ll have to leave the majority of the passage for next time.
God’s guarantee for healing spiritual sickness. This isn’t a spiritualizing of the passage, by the way. This view is not widely held, but is the view of a few journal articles[3], along with the Bible Knowledge Commentary and John MacArthur and I believe is the view with the least problems. It leaves the promise of verse 15 an actual promise!
James 5:13-18 is all about prayer. Verse 13 is anyone among you suffering? And he must pray. Verse 14 is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him.
Verse 15 the prayer offered in faith.
Verse 16 therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another … The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain… And then verse 18 he prayed again and it rained.
So you can see, this passage is all about prayer. And we’ll see it’s all about how “Prayer restores spiritual health.” “Prayer restores spiritual health.”
We won’t get through the entire passage this morning.
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The Commandment to Pray (v.13)
But thankfully, there is nothing controversial about verse 13 …
James 5:13 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
In other words, no matter your life situation, don’t forget God.
Are you going through some difficulty, are you suffering? Don’t forget God, pray.
Indeed, James’ first readers were experiencing difficulty. Do you remember what it was? They are suffering persecution. In James 5:1-6, the wicked rich are persecuting the righteous.
James then encourages them to be patient and to endure until the Lord comes to rescue them. That’s verses 7-11.
So they are suffering, some more than others. You may not be experiencing persecution, but you may be experiencing some difficulty or trial. The counsel for you? Pray.
Now, maybe you are on the opposite end of the spectrum …
Verse 13 … are you cheerful? Are you happy? Sing praises. Sing praises to God. Don’t forget God.
So whether your soul is in the heavenlies or whether you are down in the pits, don’t forget God. Pray or praise is always appropriate for the Christian.
TRANS: So we come to the heart of the issue in verse 14…And from verses 14 to the first part of verse 16 we see dependence on others for prayer. We had the commandment to pray and now we have dependance on others for prayer.
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Dependance on others for prayer (vv.14-16a)
James 5:14 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
Context of James
To discover what James is speaking of, first we have to understand the context. As we mentioned, the first readers are experiencing persecution. Others are hurting them because they trust Jesus.
Turn to James 1. Look at the very first verse … James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
So James is writing to believing Jews … They are of the 12 tribes … So they are Jews and they are dispersed abroad. That means that they been driven out of Palestine because of persecution. So they are no longer in their homes and so they are in very difficult circumstances.
And so it’s very natural for James to immediately begin chapter 1 talking to them about trials. He tells them they need to be patient in their trials.
James 1:2–4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith [faith is an issue] produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
So you can see these are believing Jews who are being persecuted and they are exhorted to endure. Faith and trials. But right along with that is temptation. With persecution also comes temptation.
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
When you’re persecuted, you’re tempted to leave the faith… Tempted to take revenge. Endure, be patient!
Now, at the end of his letter, James returns to this same theme.
Look again at James 5:7. James says I know you’re being persecuted by those wicked rich people in verses 1-6, so now verse 7…
James 5:7–8 7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
Context helps us interpret the passage … and we found the context, all you Bible detectives…we discovered the context … persecuted believers should endure, be patient, resist temptation…they need to be strengthened…when he says verse 13, is anyone suffering, we’re not surprised. Of course they are!
And James again will speak about faith, the prayer of faith. In fact, in all of the spiritual battles they’ve faced, some of them have probably grown bitter, angry, have been tempted to forsake Christ, stopped going to church and fellowshipping with God’s people … people would have great spiritual wounds!
And this has been a large part of James’ focus throughout this letter: spiritual growth. Using your tongue properly, not being hypocritical (saying one thing and doing another), church fights, how to recover after a spiritual fall, and how faith and works go together… all of these things James addresses.
So, my point is, we expect a spiritual focus in James 5. Faith, spiritual growth, spiritual healing … that’s the context. So those who hold that James is teaching physical healing here must also admit that James must be interrupting his own context. Physical healing simply doesn’t fit the context of James.
Context of Epistles
Not only does physical healing by anointing with oil not fit the context of James, it doesn’t fit the context of the New Testament letters. If this is talking about physical healing through church elders, it’s not in Paul’s epistles or Peter’s, Jude, John, or in Hebrews. If physical healing is a ministry for the elders to do, we would expect it to be mentioned at least in the pastoral epistles…letters written to pastors about their ministry … in 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus.
And Timothy himself an elder was sick in 1 Timothy 5:23, so why didn’t Paul give him the instruction to do what James is saying here? Instead, take some medicinal wine for your stomach. In 2 Ti. 4:20, Paul left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Why didn’t Paul anoint him with oil before he left?
Plus, James is probably the very first NT document written. It was written between AD 44 and AD 50. At that time, the Lord gave certain individuals the gift of healing as described in 1 Co. 12. These people could lay their hands on other people and miraculously heal them. When James wrote his letter, this gift of healing was extremely likely still operating, since it was just 10 or 15 years after Jesus’ resurrection. So why wouldn’t James instruct physically sick people to go find someone who had the gift of healing instead of the elders?
So my point is that we should first assume spiritual healing because it best fits the context. Now … James 5:14 … If spiritual healing best fits the context, how do we explain verse 14 …. ?
“Is anyone among you sick?” Because that English word sick sounds like it’s talking about someone who is physically ill.
Something that is not debated is the meaning of this word sick in verse 14. It is used 34 times in the New Testament and 20 times it refers to physical weakness. This is primarily the way that the Gospels and the book of Acts uses the word… To refer to physical weakness.
But another 14 times it is used to refer to spiritual weakness, which is its primary meaning in the epistles or the letters. And that’s the context we’re in.
And major Greek lexicons say it’s primary meaning is “to be weak” or “feeble.”
It’s used to speak of those “weak in faith” or in Rom. 8:26 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weaknesses.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses…
Spiritual weakness. That’s this word’s primary meaning in the New Testament letters and we are in a New Testament letter, the letter of James.
So we could translate this phrase, “is any among you weak?” But the context determines whether it’s physical or spiritual weakness. And we’ve clearly demonstrated that the major context in James is spiritual. Healing spiritual weakness, whether it’s because of persecution or because of temptation. James has been dealing with the spiritual side of persecution and trials, not the physical side of persecution and trials.
In a time of persecution or deep trial, your spiritual life could really become weak. It doesn’t take long and you’ve lost your way, you’ve forgotten God and fellowship with his people…or perhaps things are going so well, you’ve forgotten God. “Life’s good, I don’t need him.”
Agur knew this when he writes in…
Proverbs 30:8–9 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.
Your life situation can tempt you to run from God! That’s why if you’re suffering, you need to go to Him and pray. And that’s why if your cheerful and happy, you need to sing praises to God. Otherwise you might end up being spiritual weak!
What happens verse 13 … when you are in a trial and you don’t pray? What happens when you’re happy and you don’t sing praises…you’re forgetting God and then what happens? Verse 14 … You become weak … spiritually weak. And then you need help.
Because what happens when you’re at the end of your rope spiritually? What happens when you’re down in the dumps spiritually? How easy is it to pray?
It’s not easy! You want to run…or you feel like grumbling instead, or you feel like strutting along in all your pride because of how great things are going … And you’re weak, you need help, strength, and power again.
What should you do? Go to someone who is strong spiritually. Who’s that? Presumably, the elders.
James 5:14 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
This is the application this morning: you can’t do the Christian life on your own. You need us and we need you. When you are weak we will be strength for you. And when we are weak, you can be strength for us.
We live in a very individualistic society. You have been taught by the world not to depend on others and you have been taught to make it on your own… And your flesh screams out that when you need the Lord the most and when you need God’s people the most, your flesh screams at you to run the other way.
And so you don’t go to church and you don’t read the Bible… Stop believing the lies. When you are weak, spiritually weak, call for the spiritually strong, the elders, and they will pray over you.
When you’ve hit rock bottom to the point that you can’t even lift up your eyes to heaven and stumble out a few words of prayer, come to the ones who can pray for you.
An elder’s prayer ministry is important. I want to pray for you; now, I’m no super saint, but I pray for you. When you need help spiritually, let’s get together and I’ll pray for you.
But don’t live the Christian life on your own. Have you been spiritually weak and you were tempted not to come to church, but instead you choose to come to church. Weren’t you glad you did? Weren’t you encouraged and refreshed?
Look, I can guarantee from this passage that if you are weak spiritually and you come to be around those who are spiritually strong you ask them to pray for you and to refresh you, the prayer of faith will restore you. You will be encouraged.
CONCLUSION What is the Meaning of James 5.13-18 Part 1
Point: Don’t forget God when you’re happy or when suffering. Trouble can tempt you to rebel against God and grumble. Affluence, wealth, and good times can tempt you to be spiritually lazy and complacent. Instead, praise Him for His goodness and pray in times of trouble.
And by the way, what is the anointing with oil then? Well, we’ll have to wait until next time … Thank you for your good attention this morning … let’s sing…660. What a friend.
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R. Kent Hughes, James: Faith That Works, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), 253–254. ↑
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For those who say that James’ language is taken from the gospels, please note that at the time of James’ writing, the gospels weren’t written yet! [Q I guess]. But if you take that position, then data from the gospels must be taken into account. ↑
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Carson: E.g. C. Armerding, ‘Is any among you afflicted? A Study of James 5:13–20’, BibSac 95 (1938) pp. 195–201; C. Pickar, ‘Is anyone sick among you?’ CBQ 7(1945) pp. 165–174; D. R. Hayden, ‘Calling the Elders to Pray’, BibSac 138 (1981) pp. 258–286; C. R. Wells, ‘The Theology of Prayer in James’, CTR 1 (1986) pp. 85–112.
Moo: See, for this general approach, M. Meinertz, “Die Krankensalbung Jak. 5.14f,” BZ 20 (1932) 23–36; C. Armerding, “ ‘Is Any among You Afflicted’: A Study of James 5:13–20,” BibSac 95 (1938) 195–201; C. Pickar, “Is Anyone Sick among You?” CBQ 7 (1945) 165–74; D. R. Hayden, “Calling the Elders to Pray,” BibSac 138 (1981) 258–86. ↑
