The Difficulty
Paul writes, “a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom 3:28), citing Abraham, who “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3). James writes, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (Jas 2:24) — and cites the very same Abraham, justified “when he offered up his son Isaac” (2:21). The two seem to flatly contradict on the central question of salvation. Luther was troubled enough to call James “an epistle of straw.”
Responses
Different Senses of “Justify” and “Works”
Tradition: Reformation / Evangelical Summary: Paul and James use the same words for different things; rightly defined, they agree.
Paul opposes works of the law as a ground of acceptance before God, defending justification by faith alone at the root. James opposes a dead, merely verbal “faith” that produces nothing, insisting that genuine faith demonstrates itself in works (“justify” in the sense of vindicate/show to be real). For Paul, works don’t earn justification; for James, works prove a justifying faith is alive. “Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is not alone” (Calvin’s summary).
Strengths
- Accounts for the different opponents each writer addresses
- Long-standing, exegetically careful reconciliation
Weaknesses
- Requires careful word-by-word distinctions some find convenient
- The shared Abraham example still demands explanation
Further Reading
- John Calvin, Institutes III.17.11–12
- Douglas Moo, The Letter of James (Pillar, 2000)
- Thomas Schreiner, Faith Alone (Zondervan, 2015)
Two Moments in Abraham’s One Story
Tradition: Canonical / Biblical-Theological Summary: Paul cites Genesis 15 (Abraham believed) and James cites Genesis 22 (Abraham obeyed); the Aqedah fulfilled and confirmed the faith reckoned decades earlier.
James himself says Abraham’s faith “was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works,” and that “the Scripture was fulfilled” (2:22–23). The offering of Isaac did not replace the faith of Genesis 15 but proved and perfected it. Read across Abraham’s life, faith and obedience are one trajectory, not rivals.
Strengths
- Honors James’s explicit appeal to “fulfilled” Scripture
- Integrates both Genesis texts into a single account of Abraham
Weaknesses
- Still must define how a later act “completes” an earlier reckoning
- Leaves the precise faith/works relation to further specification
Further Reading
- Richard Bauckham, James (New Testament Readings, 1999)
- N. T. Wright, Justification (IVP, 2009)
A Real but Complementary Tension
Tradition: Ecumenical / Historical Summary: James and Paul represent distinct, equally apostolic emphases the church needs held together, not collapsed.
Paul fights legalism that would bind grace to law-keeping; James fights a cheap “faith” indifferent to obedience and the poor. Their letters address opposite distortions, so each sounds one-sided in isolation. The canon places them side by side precisely so the church resists both errors. The 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification reflects a broad recovery of this both/and.
Strengths
- Takes the surface tension seriously rather than dissolving it
- Reads the canon as deliberately self-balancing
Weaknesses
- Some traditions will want a tighter dogmatic resolution
- Risks understating the genuine unity beneath the emphases
Further Reading
- Martin Luther, Preface to the Epistles of St. James and St. Jude (1522)
- Lutheran World Federation & Catholic Church, Joint Declaration on Justification (1999)
- Scot McKnight, The Letter of James (NICNT, 2011)