Clare73
Blood-bought
- Jun 12, 2012
- 25,256
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Lack of Christian character? Did I say that?You're mistaken on a couple of points, for example James lack of Christian character. James, in fact, echoes Christ more than other Biblical authors relying almost exclusively on the sermon on the mount as the basis for his ethical presentation.
More crucially, your statement that James and Paul are in disagreement as far as justification goes is plain incorrect. While James seems to be responding and contradicting "faith alone," it is a specific understanding of that doctrine that he is contrasting with true justification. James is not saying that we are justified based on the merit of our works, either through obedience to Jewish law or through an accumulation of worth, but instead is speaking of someone whose actions contradict their claim to faith. Peter also notes that there are those who hear Paul's words and mistake them for license, and Paul himself speaks against the possibility. The point of separation between the two of them seems not to be in how they use "justification," "works," or even "faith" but what they mean by "by." In Paul, the issue is one of merit while in James the issue is one of consistency. Abraham's offering Isaac in no way "earned" Abraham's righteousness, but it serves as a confirmation of that righteousness. The righteousness itself is Abraham's believing God.
Yes, there is a way to reconcile James and Paul, with Paul meaning "by faith alone", and James meaning "not by a faith that is alone."
It is Jas 2:24 that is an incorrect statement:
"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."
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