[dangus]

>>Since this passage has nothing to do with Salvation,

This passage has nothing to do with salvation? Outrageous! The very topic is salvation! James asks, "Can his faith save him?" And his answer: No, if faith is not accompanied by works, it is dead. That is, it has no life within it. "Even so, faith, if it has not works, being alone, is dead."

How can this be? One has to look beyond that context to realize that if one's faith is *correct,* works will follow faith. (If I have faith that Woody Allen is God, works will not follow.)

Don't feel bad. The book of James threw Martin Luther so badly that he declared it non-canonical, and had it stripped out of his bible. (I bet that scene isn't in the movie!)

[RaceBannon]

No, the topic is not Salvation, the topic is acting like you have been saved.

It is not about how to get to Heaven, it is about how those who have re eived God's Free Gift should act if they have received the fre gift, it is not about how to get the free gift.

Do you see the difference?

It is about behaviour, not Grace.

[redgolum]

True at first. Luther's view of the book of James changed as he got older. He also didn't like Ecclasties (sp) that much, but realized it was a valible book.

I think the statement that "this passage has nothing to do with salvation" refers to the old Salvation vs Justification debate. The RCC see it as one act, many non RC denominiations see it as "Since we have faith, we will do good works to express that faith". Read the Joint Declaration of Faith.

This was one of the major issues in the Reformation. Unfortunatly it really becomes a matter of sematics. Both the Lutherans and RC's teach if you have faith, you will do works. If you don't do works, you don't really have faith.