The epistle of James (named after its author, just like other epistles) addresses the Jewish believers that are scattered abroad as seen in James 1:1. Other than the authorship of this epistle, its apostolic credentials, the main reason of dispute in regards to its canonicity is the fact that James addresses works and its relationship with faith. With Paul’s teachings that focused on salvation that rest on grace alone and that which is gained without works, James here tries to give a lot of significance to “works.” Douglas quotes Martin Luther from the reformation, calling the writing, “an epistle of straw” as it speaks against Pauline theology of “Justification of Faith” in his view. Even though there are some scholars who argue about the contrast between Paul’s views of justification versus that of James, here in this paper we are going to discuss and dissect the two views and see if it contradicts or complements each other.
James reaches out to his fellow Jewish believers about practical living in this epistle. James calls his readers not just to be hearers of the word but to be doers of the word (1:22). He gives a few different kind of admonition on how our speech should be. How we shouldn’t be boasting (3:5, 14), cursing (3:9), slandering (4:11), grumbling (5:9), etc. but his biggest concern was the fact that how the speech is divided between its “claims and reality”2. In other words James is concerned about the fact that the same tongue that curses people is also used to praise God (3:9). According to him a soul that yields sweet and bitter water at the same time produces the wrong kind of fruits (3:10-12). Therefore James is burdened with the unhealthy division between word and deed.
This burden is clearly seen in chapter...
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For centuries it has been debated whether Paul and James contradict each other’s theology. At times, they do seem to make opposing statements. The Book of Galatians affirms over and over that we are justified by faith in Christ alone, not by works of our own. Most evangelical Christians agree to that concept of sola fide. We are faced with an interesting dilemma when James famously says, “faith without works is dead.” Martin Luther, himself, felt that the Book of James should be removed from the canon of scripture because of such statements. When one looks at the context of these verses, we realize that the theology of both books complement rather than contradict each other. Although they both deal with the relationship between faith and
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Jesus and Paul are two crucial characters in the New Testament. They both depict the Gospel on which Christianity is based upon, but there is debate about rather these two versions of the Gospel are complementary. Scholars like George Shaw claim that Paul is “anti-Christian,” and he “produced a fantastic theology” (Shaw 415-416). On the other hand, I believe that even though Jesus and Paul may present the Gospel different at times, they are still advocating the same religion. Through the understanding of the Gospels and Paul’s letters it is clear that Jesus and Paul have the same underlining goals and values.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.