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Article: James and the poor bunch ... God identifies with the poor.
- Article from:
- Presbyterian Record
- Article date:
- September 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Presbyterian Record. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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James 2
That boisterous Reformer, Martin Luther, was not happy with the Letter of James and its emphasis on "doing" -- what is unflatteringly called "works." With his emphasis on sola fide, "faith alone," Luther called the book "a right strawey epistle with no tang of the gospel about it." John Calvin, on the other hand, accepted James as an authoritative letter and concluded that the gospel could be heard in it.
The theme of James can be summarized as the call to be doers of the gospel and not merely hearers (1:22). The first part of Chapter 2 is concerned with attitudes to people who are poor while the second part argues the relationship of faith and ...