Posted on 10/31/2020 5:28:58 AM PDT by Gamecock
There is a difference between a man SAYING he has faith and a man actually having it. A man who has faith does good works, but not in order to gain favor or earn salvation. A man who thinks by doing good works that he somehow completes the work that Christ already accomplished thinks that way because his faith is weak.
That’s not what James says.
Nice try.
The most frequent charge against Luthers view on the canon is his opinion on the book of James.[50] Luther wrote this statement in his original Preface To The New Testament in 1522:
Rarely is Luther accurately quoted on this topic. Luther says James is really an epistle of straw compared to St. Johns Gospel and his first epistle, St. Pauls epistles, especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peters first epistle. Luther wants his readers to see a comparison.
An interesting fact about this quote (hardly ever mentioned by Luther-detractors!) is that it only appears in the original 1522 Preface To The New Testament. John Warwick Montgomery points out: Few people realize and liberal Luther interpreters do not particularly advertise the fact that in all the editions of Luthers Bible translation after 1522 theReformer dropped the paragraphs at the end, of his general Preface to the New Testament which made value judgments among the various biblical books and which included the famous reference to James as an Epistle of straw.[52] Montgomery finds that Luther showed a considerable reduction in negative tone in the revised Prefaces to the biblical books later in the Reformers career.[53] For anyone to continue to cite Luthers epistle of straw comment against him is to do Luther an injustice. He saw fit to retract the comment. Subsequent citations of this quote should bear this in mind.[54] Luther and the Canon
You really need to get over your obsession with Martin Luther. Nobody here thinks of him as Pope or even the "founder" of Protestantism.
I know who the founder of the Catholic Church is.
The Catholicism of Martin Luthers time was hyper-focused on the value of works, but Luther found that Scripture repeatedly asserts we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, not by anything we do. And yet the Book of James says that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). So what are we supposed to do with that? Was Luther wrongdo we need works to be saved? Or is James contradicting Peter and other important passages about the Christian faith?
The reality is that James is not suggesting in any way that works lead to our salvation. Its a result of it.
Do you actually READ the links you cite???
We should throw the epistle of James out of this school, for it doesnt amount to much. It contains not a syllable about Christ. Not once does it mention Christ, except at the beginning. I maintain that some Jew wrote it who probably heard about Christian people but never encountered any. Since he heard that Christians place great weight on faith in Christ, he thought, Wait a moment! Ill oppose them and urge works alone. This he did.
Luther was no different that Muhammad. They both created religions to their own liking.
BTW...are you going to stop accusing Luther of teaching Christ was an adulterer? HAVE you grown in your understanding of that point or will you lie in wait to toss it out the next time someone talks about Martin Luther in any positive way?
That guy is a freaking Satanist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.