Paul vs. James: What We've Been Missing in the Faith and Works Debate
By: Chris Bruno
Publisher: Moody Publishers (July, 2019)
ISBN-10: 0802419127
ISBN-13: 978-0802419125
“…we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3:28).
“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24).
It’s one of the first “problems” many Christians encounter in beginning to seriously study the Bible. How do we reconcile the words of Paul as typified by Romans 3: 28 with those of James, as found in James 2:24? If we research the question, we can find many convoluted explanations that argue vigorously for one or the other of the two approaches – that all we need for salvation is faith, or that we must have good works to be righteous in God’s sight.
It is relatively rare to find explanations that clearly, effectively – and biblically – show that the truth lies not in either of these approaches, but in both.* That is why Chris Bruno’s new book, Paul vs. James, fills an important void in making a sound biblical explanation of the apparent problem both available and accessible.
Accessibility is certainly a key aspect to this book. Bruno writes with an informal but clear style that takes nothing for granted and provides a good deal of background for those who may be relatively new to the Faith, as well as to the question being considered. In fact readers who are not new to the Scriptures and who have some basic background in the history and culture of the New Testament era could skip over much of the introductory material in Part One (“The Lives of James and Paul”) and pick up the discussion where it begins in earnest in Part Two (“The Letters of James and Paul”).
Part Two begins with Chapter Six, “Abraham’s Foundational Faith.” Bruno does a good job of showing why and how the story of Abraham underlies the positions of both Paul and James, because “His righteous status [through faith] led to righteous action in obedience to God.” He clearly shows that while James and Paul both use the story of Abraham to support their positions: “James is standing in Genesis 22, looking back at Abraham’s faith… that was confirmed by his ongoing obedience … Paul is focused on Abraham’s initial belief in Genesis 12 and 15, looking forward to Abraham’s works …”
In Chapters Seven, “James, Justification, and Fake Faith,” and Eight, “Paul, Justification, and Godly Good Works,” Bruno contrasts the very different problems that Paul and James wrote to address: on the one hand, the false teaching that faith need not be accompanied by obedience that James attacks, and on the other, the wrong-minded legalism that seeks justification through our own works that is so firmly rejected by Paul.
These chapters successfully use the Scriptures to show that the approaches taken by James and Paul are the necessary two sides of one coin – they are complementary rather than contradictory. Rather than being mutually exclusive, faith and works are shown to be inseparable and just as necessary in our lives as they were evident in the life of Christ himself. Seen this way, we realize that James’ stress that faith without works is worthless is just as valid as Paul’s stress that works without faith are useless.
The three chapters of Part Three: “The Legacy of James and Paul” build on this understanding and continue to show how the early Church and scholars throughout history have seen the tremendous amount of theological agreement between Paul and James and the essential unity underlying the two approaches found in their respective works. Taken together, the various chapters of Paul vs. James form an informal but well-designed and executed study that provides a tremendous resource for pastors and laypeople alike.
The book does have a few flaws. The author’s occasional use of Catholic doctrines as a foil to what the Bible says on certain topics does not appear to be in any way negatively intended, but by only selecting Catholic approaches as distinct to those of various other groups, it does set up the Catholic Church as something of a “straw man” in this regard. Those of us who are Protestants might remind ourselves that while Martin Luther was highly critical of some aspects of James’ message, the Catholic Church readily accepted it.
Although the scholarship behind the book is evident, there are a few instances where statements are made that are not really defensible: for example, regarding Paul’s statement that “certain men [who] came from James” caused Peter to stop eating with the Gentiles (Galatians 2:12). Bruno asserts that these men “… probably weren’t really ‘from James’” without any evidence that the text does not mean what it says.
In a similar way, when the book states that “Abraham was born into an idolatrous, moon-worshiping family,” we have no proof or even real indication of that. Ancient Mesopotamians were frequently henotheistic – choosing one or more gods of the many available – but the fact that Abraham’s family lived in Ur, a center of the Mesopotamian lunar cult, does not mean they were automatically “moon worshippers” any more than everyone who lives in Rome is Catholic or that everyone who lives in Salt Lake City is Mormon.
Nevertheless, the book is completely on point regarding its treatment of the question of Paul vs. James, faith vs. works, and is highly recommended for anyone who would like to better understand the Bible’s teaching on this issue. Paul vs. James makes a scripturally watertight case for the reality of justification by faith alone, as well as for the necessary works that flow from that faith. In this regard, Bruno effectively uses a quotation from Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians that (ironically) puts the combined approaches of Paul and James in perfect perspective:
“Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly…. It is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light [in] fires.”
* See also our article “Faith that Works” here.
Paul vs. James: What We've Been Missing in the Faith and Works Debate
By: Chris Bruno
Publisher: Moody Publishers (July, 2019)
ISBN-10: 0802419127
ISBN-13: 978-0802419125
“…we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” (Romans 3:28).
“You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24).
It’s one of the first “problems” many Christians encounter in beginning to seriously study the Bible. How do we reconcile the words of Paul as typified by Romans 3: 28 with those of James, as found in James 2:24? If we research the question, we can find many convoluted explanations that argue vigorously for one or the other of the two approaches – that all we need for salvation is faith, or that we must have good works to be righteous in God’s sight.
It is relatively rare to find explanations that clearly, effectively – and biblically – show that the truth lies not in either of these approaches, but in both.* That is why Chris Bruno’s new book, Paul vs. James, fills an important void in making a sound biblical explanation of the apparent problem both available and accessible.
Accessibility is certainly a key aspect to this book. Bruno writes with an informal but clear style that takes nothing for granted and provides a good deal of background for those who may be relatively new to the Faith, as well as to the question being considered. In fact readers who are not new to the Scriptures and who have some basic background in the history and culture of the New Testament era could skip over much of the introductory material in Part One (“The Lives of James and Paul”) and pick up the discussion where it begins in earnest in Part Two (“The Letters of James and Paul”).
Part Two begins with Chapter Six, “Abraham’s Foundational Faith.” Bruno does a good job of showing why and how the story of Abraham underlies the positions of both Paul and James, because “His righteous status [through faith] led to righteous action in obedience to God.” He clearly shows that while James and Paul both use the story of Abraham to support their positions: “James is standing in Genesis 22, looking back at Abraham’s faith… that was confirmed by his ongoing obedience … Paul is focused on Abraham’s initial belief in Genesis 12 and 15, looking forward to Abraham’s works …”
In Chapters Seven, “James, Justification, and Fake Faith,” and Eight, “Paul, Justification, and Godly Good Works,” Bruno contrasts the very different problems that Paul and James wrote to address: on the one hand, the false teaching that faith need not be accompanied by obedience that James attacks, and on the other, the wrong-minded legalism that seeks justification through our own works that is so firmly rejected by Paul.
These chapters successfully use the Scriptures to show that the approaches taken by James and Paul are the necessary two sides of one coin – they are complementary rather than contradictory. Rather than being mutually exclusive, faith and works are shown to be inseparable and just as necessary in our lives as they were evident in the life of Christ himself. Seen this way, we realize that James’ stress that faith without works is worthless is just as valid as Paul’s stress that works without faith are useless.
The three chapters of Part Three: “The Legacy of James and Paul” build on this understanding and continue to show how the early Church and scholars throughout history have seen the tremendous amount of theological agreement between Paul and James and the essential unity underlying the two approaches found in their respective works. Taken together, the various chapters of Paul vs. James form an informal but well-designed and executed study that provides a tremendous resource for pastors and laypeople alike.
The book does have a few flaws. The author’s occasional use of Catholic doctrines as a foil to what the Bible says on certain topics does not appear to be in any way negatively intended, but by only selecting Catholic approaches as distinct to those of various other groups, it does set up the Catholic Church as something of a “straw man” in this regard. Those of us who are Protestants might remind ourselves that while Martin Luther was highly critical of some aspects of James’ message, the Catholic Church readily accepted it.
Although the scholarship behind the book is evident, there are a few instances where statements are made that are not really defensible: for example, regarding Paul’s statement that “certain men [who] came from James” caused Peter to stop eating with the Gentiles (Galatians 2:12). Bruno asserts that these men “… probably weren’t really ‘from James’” without any evidence that the text does not mean what it says.
In a similar way, when the book states that “Abraham was born into an idolatrous, moon-worshiping family,” we have no proof or even real indication of that. Ancient Mesopotamians were frequently henotheistic – choosing one or more gods of the many available – but the fact that Abraham’s family lived in Ur, a center of the Mesopotamian lunar cult, does not mean they were automatically “moon worshippers” any more than everyone who lives in Rome is Catholic or that everyone who lives in Salt Lake City is Mormon.
Nevertheless, the book is completely on point regarding its treatment of the question of Paul vs. James, faith vs. works, and is highly recommended for anyone who would like to better understand the Bible’s teaching on this issue. Paul vs. James makes a scripturally watertight case for the reality of justification by faith alone, as well as for the necessary works that flow from that faith. In this regard, Bruno effectively uses a quotation from Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians that (ironically) puts the combined approaches of Paul and James in perfect perspective:
“Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly…. It is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light [in] fires.”
* See also our article “Faith that Works” here.