Paul vs. James

What We've Been Missing in the Faith and Works Debate

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Pub Date Jul 02 2019 | Archive Date Jul 02 2019

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Description

"I welcome Chris Bruno’s readable and thoroughly biblical exploration of faith and works. He sets the matter in both its wider biblical context at the same time as he makes clear its relevance and importance to faithful Christian living today." –Douglas J. Moo from the Foreword

Everything you never knew about the men behind the controversy.

Put James and Paul next to each other and some tough-to-answer questions come up. Paul says we’re saved by faith alone, not works—and James seems to say the opposite. If you’ve been around the church for a while, you probably know enough to say "the right thing" if someone asked about these verses. But would your answers hold up to scrutiny? If pressed, would you know what to say?

Dive into the life stories of both apostles, learn more about the context of their letters, and discover the truth about the shared message they both proclaimed. No more canned answers or lingering questions, gain confidence and go deeper in Paul vs. James.

"I welcome Chris Bruno’s readable and thoroughly biblical exploration of faith and works. He sets the matter in both its wider biblical context at the same time as he makes clear its relevance and...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780802419125
PRICE $14.99 (USD)
PAGES 208

Average rating from 7 members


Featured Reviews

I enjoyed the premise of the book - balancing works and faith so that legalism and error do not take over, but there are a great many spelling errors that need to be corrected!
James is introduced as Jesus’ brother, who did not believe his brother Jesus was the Messiah until after His death. He then gradually became a leader of the church in Jerusalem. James spoke of the Law as being royal, in liberty and perfect. James calls believers to live a life of obedience because God’s Law was made perfect by Jesus and the law of liberty that belongs to everyone set free from their sin by Jesus.
Paul’s early life is mentioned, along with his studies in with Gamaliel, which were more rigorous than todays’ scholars as Paul would probably have memorized most of the Old Testament. Paul rigorously persecuted believers until his life-changing conversion outside of Damascus.
In the early years of the church, the church was Jewish and the customs of circumcision and keeping the Law were very important, (they still are in the Messianic community)but as Gentiles joined the church, they were not required to be circumcised or to keep the whole Law, this was a revolutionary concept!
Paul, James, Peter, and John all agreed “in the gospel mission—we are united by faith alone to Christ for forgiveness of sin and restoration of our relationship with the creator God—and they all agreed that part of their mission was to care for the poor.”
Abrahams’ life and faith are also discussed, Abraham believed that God would keep His promises and that Abraham was justified by faith and not in works.
James points out that Abraham’s faith would be the way in which he received right standing with God and that even the nations would be blessed through Abraham.
You will have to read the rest of the book to understand the differences between faith and works and how they compliment each other.

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This is pretty basic, and really most of the book is irrelevant to the topic. The only part that is relevant is the last part of the book, which is helpful to understand that Paul and James weren't speaking against each other.

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This book really lays out the reasons why we ought not view Paul and James as at odds with each other. Paul's message of grace doesn't leave us so free as to sin without impunity and James' message of the necessity of works doesn't exclude grace but show grace at work. It's not a battle of the two men, but a joint message.

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