EN
The study interprets the concept of piety according to James 1:27 with particular reference to both the Old Testament background and the theological context of the Letter of James. The category of purity not only determines the prerequisites for the approach to God, but also defines the boundaries between the community of the believers and the “world” considered as the main source of defilement to be avoided. The ethical requirement of keeping oneself unstained by the “world” and the requirement of social care provided to orphans and widows constitute – in the vertical dimension – the primary conditions for proper relation to God, which is similarly expressed in the horizontal dimension by visible acts of piety.