Dear Sir,

I wholeheartedly empathize with your quandary on what to do with dipsychos. While taking an exegesis class on James (under the supervision of Dr. Bill Baker), we as a class wrestled with how to nuance this seemingly un-nuanceable term. Since then, however, I have spent a fair amount of time bathing myself with the wisdom literature of the ANE. I did this because of the commonly accepted association between James and wisdom writings. As a result of that, I found that it might be best to see dipsychos within a wisdom context. This approach seems beneficial, to me, because of where the term emerges in James: the contrast is being made between those who truly seek wisdom (1.5-6b) and those who do not (1.6c-7).

The notion of a "double" mind is right at home in wisdom literature--without conjuring up psychological chaos. For one to be of "one" mind is to be in harmony with the created order, which is already understood to have a non-chaotic ontology. Thus, the individual who is of one mind could be seen as a microcosm of the harmonious universe. Therefore, for one to be "double-minded" is to be not only out of synch with oneself; it is also to be out of synch with the entire created order. As a result of this, the individual is thereby unable to operate (effectively and consistently) in a manner that is in keeping with how things should be; for they are constantly at war, again, not only with themselves but also with the cosmos--or the creator of both. (This internal division may also play into the Jewish notion of the yezer hara [S. Schechter; P. Davids]).

These are just some of my random thoughts on the subject--take them for what they're worth. :-) I hope they make some sense. If not, please do not hesitate to ask. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Kind regards,

-Carl S. Sweatman
MA--NT Research Student
Cincinnati Bible Seminary
Graduate Assistant to Dr. Tom Thatcher

[My hesitation with “double-minded” involves whether that expression most effectively communicates dipsychos to a casual listener, one who probably would never say “double-minded” if not reading a Bible translation aloud. We who read the Greek are liable to register too literal a transition from the Greek that we see to a English equivalents, where “half-hearted” immediately signals an attitude where ostensive commitment is undermined by another, different allegiance. Or that’s how it seems to me.]