Texts in Conversation
1 John 2:15 warns against loving the “world,” defining it as a system of desire and pride derived from wealth and status, and thus opposed to God. 1 Enoch 48:7 uses similar language in praising the righteous who despise the “world” of unrighteousness and its works, rejecting the same values of power and wealth.
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1 Enoch 48:7
Pseudepigrapha
6 For this reason, he has been chosen and hidden before Him, before the creation of the world and forevermore. 7 The wisdom of the Lord of Spirits has revealed him to the holy and righteous; for he has preserved all of the righteous because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness, and have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits: for in his name they are saved, and it has been according to his good pleasure in regard to their life. 8 In these days, the kings of the earth who own the land will look downcast because of the works of their hands; for on the day of their trouble and affliction, they will not be able to save themselves.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 John 2:15
New Testament
14 I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
Date: 90-100 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The author of the Letter of James explicitly states that the world, that is the present earthly world, is antithetical to the purposes of God (Similar sentiments are also expressed in 1 John 2:15-17; compare 1 John 5:19) ... For James, while the world refers to the physical earthly world, it also includes the entire cultural system that is associated with it. Johnson therefore argues that, for James, the world is “a system of untrammeled desire and arrogance.” Similarly Moo comments; “The ‘world’ is a common biblical way of referring to the ungodly worldview and lifestyle that characterizes human life in its estrangement from the creator.” In his 2008 article “God and the World”, Lockett discusses the portrayal of the opposition between God and the world and argues that, in describing the world, “James calls forth a new identity for his readers and articulates a theological construct of reality.” He discusses the five occurrences of “world” (i.e. 1:27; 2:5; 3:6; 4:4), and one occurrence of “earthly” in 3:15, noting how these terms are used to express the opposite to God’s standard of measure (compare God’s ephah of 4Q418). James 1:27, for instance, refers to the need to keep oneself unstained from the world, and, for James, this is achieved by keeping particular boundaries between themselves and the influence of the world. (Compare 1 Enoch 48:7) Hence, friendship with the world is, in James’ view, the ultimate betrayal of God and, Lockett maintains that it “constitutes an alliance with a system of valuation set against God.” ..."
Moran, Helen Joan Cahell
Wisdom's Wide Trajectory: Reading the Letter of James in Light of 4QInstruction
(pp. 130-132) The University of Dublin, 2019
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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