In the first century, two concepts of Christian salvation contended for acceptance by a nascent church. One viewpoint was championed by none other than the official leader of the first century Christian church, James the brother of Jesus. This is the James who was also known to the early church as "the Righteous" or "the Just."

In a short New Testament epistle bearing his name, James asks: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? … faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead."

James is clearly writing to refute an alternative viewpoint – expressed by Paul the apostle. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul had declared that: "… we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ."

To churches of the 20th and 21st centuries, the debate remains as fresh as it was almost two thousand years ago. Fundamentalist, evangelical Christians typically put their doctrinal eggs in the basket of faith; mainstream churches emphasize works – often in the form of social action.

In the pantheon of Christian nobility, the role of James (and his one little book) today goes virtually unnoticed. Yet his influence at one time pervaded the early Jewish church. Even today, the perspective of James lives on, prompting a more careful look at what we know about the man and his mission.

James’ epistle makes up for the mildness of presentation on Torah law with a blistering attack on the notion of salvation through faith:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

To make sure the message is not lost, James uses four illustrations to make his point:

• To one who is without clothing and food, there is no value in wishing them well; the value is in offering the person in need clothing and food – meeting their material not just spiritual needs.
• Even demons have faith (or believe) in God – to the point of shuddering in fear; yet obviously this faith by itself is of little benefit.
• The act of Abraham offering his son Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice is seen as "faith brought to completion by the works." It was not enough to trust God in the abstract; Abraham had to actually raise the knife.
• To close out the argument, James reaches to the example of an Old Testament Gentile and prostitute, Rahab, who also acted at some personal risk by hiding Israeli spies and then helping them escape.

To James, actions speak louder than words. Belief in God alone does not cut it. Performance is of greater import than intent.

Acceptance of James: After a (brief) period of early post-resurrection leadership by Peter, James somehow becomes the acknowledged of an early Christian movement. But he loses out in his mission to keep this early movement within the folds of Judaism. His mission is sabotaged from three very different directions:

• A headstrong convert in Paul who is equally determined to break the bonds of Judaism by taking a new, separate Christian movement to the rest of the non-Jewish Roman empire.
• Leadership of the Jewish religious aristocracy (the high priest and Sadducees) deliberately undo James by ordering his execution despite the subsequent objection of other Jewish leaders.
• Any subsequent opportunity to revive James’ approach to Christianity within Judaism is obliterated less than a decade later by the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

Following in James’ footsteps, the second bishop of the Jerusalem church has been identified as Simon (or Symeon), the son of Clopas (who was reputed to be Jesus’ uncle) – and who also reportedly lived to the age of about 120. Control of the Jerusalem church then passed out of Jesus’ family to a Jew named Justus.

After Simon, the legacy of James fared not much better with the post-Jerusalem church up through Constantine. His epistle (along with Revelation) was one of the last (and most bitterly contested) books to receive acceptance within the New Testament canon.

Any vindication that James may have received through the practices of the medieval Catholic church (which gravitated toward a theology of salvation through works ranging from crusades to indulgences) was brought back into question by Martin Luther.

If James has finally found a more favorable resting place, it is in the social theology of modern reform Catholicism and mainline Protestantism. James may be the true spiritual father, but credit often is attributed elsewhere – most notably to Luke’s gospel of social activism.
James in Summary

James’ God wants us as friends to draw near to the divine. Those whom he draws near will be the ones that interact with and show compassion on their neighbor – as God has with us. And, James represents a perspective on Jesus that:

Says doing is more important than believing.

Identifies personal behaviors of social acceptance and equality as the true test for anyone who purports to be a follower of Jesus.

Suggests a path for rapprochement to bridge two millennia of mistrust, animosity and betrayal between Jew and Aryan. James has suffered through obscurity, indifference and charges of heresy. James may yet have the last word.