Journey Through James and 1 2 3 JohnSýnishorn

James & Scripture: In Front of the Text

Although many notable theologians, including Martin Luther, have had trouble reconciling James and Paul’s teaching on justification, they really are fully aligned. Here’s a video followed by a chart that will put them both in perspective.

Faith & Works in the NT

Paul & James on Justification: Works & Faith

Long before Martin Luther criticized the book of James for its apparent conflict with the teachings of Paul, the early Christian thinker Augustine of Hippo (354-430) offered a resolution in his treatise On eighty-three various questions, written toward the beginning of his ministry. Augustine notes that the perceived tension between Paul’s emphasis on “faith” and James’ emphasis on “works” is really a case of the two men using different definitions and speaking from different sides of Christian conversion. Paul is speaking about justification as something to be attained, and James is speaking about justification as something to be expressed in the lives of believers.

Therefore the opinions of the two apostles, Paul and James, are not opposed to each other when the one says that man is justified by faith without works, and the other says that faith without works is useless: because the former (Paul) speaks about works that precede faith, while the latter (James) speaks about those that follow faith; as even Paul shows in many places.

– Augustine, De diversis quaestionibus LXXXIII, Liber Unus 76 [MPL 50:89].

The two biblical authors are talking from different sides of justification. Paul is describing how it happens, while James is describing how it looks. They appear to be saying different things about justification, but they’re not saying contradictory things. They’re making different points, and together they provide a more holistic view of the New Testament idea of what it means to be saved. We might chart this relationship between the two books like this:

Wrap-up

Nicole wraps up this lesson on the importance of both faith and works.