By Faith Alone
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24) Yes, the title and the first line do seem to contradict one another, don’t they? Faith alone, or Sola Fide, is the foundational belief that came out of the Reformation but, not surprisingly, has been completely rejected by both Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism. In fact, Catholic and Orthodox believers often tell Protestants how wrong they are for their belief in ‘Faith Alone.’ So, does not James 2:24 make it clear that faith alone is not true? Is there a contradiction here? I’ve had enough encounters with Roman Catholic (RC) and Eastern Orthodox (EO) believers and with the exception of one, all have chosen the easy route of name calling and dogmatic proclamations. I already know they disagree with me but they generally misrepresent what Protestants believe and present a dogmatic statement with zero proof for what they believe and act as if that settles the whole conversation. It always make...