Читать книгу Getting Jesus Right: How Muslims Get Jesus and Islam Wrong - James A Beverley - Страница 32

James and Paul agreed with respect to the essence of the gospel message. But their respective ministries were directed to two very different constituencies ethnically, culturally and geographically. It is not a surprise that their language is not always easy to reconcile.

The letter of James was addressed to the “twelve tribes in the Dispersion,” that is, to Jewish Christians.¹¹ The letter was not addressed to Gentiles, unlike Paul’s letters. Rather, the letter of James reinforced aspects of Jesus’ teaching especially as it related to “doing righteousness” with respect to other human beings. The genuine faith that Jesus called for and James insisted upon was not pious platitudes but an active faith that manifested itself in substantial acts of compassion. A non-active faith runs the risk of being nothing more than a form of Pharisaism in which one doesn’t lift a finger to help one in need (see Matt 23:4, where Jesus says of the Pharisees, “They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger”).

Paul too is reacting against a Pharisaic understanding of works of Law, whereby through works that emphasize purity (and often that means separation from Gentiles) one believes that one has established a righteousness that will be pleasing to God. It is this “works” that Paul says cannot save and will not result in righteousness before God. James does not contradict this idea. He never addresses it.

There were differences between Paul and James, to be sure. But the differences largely centered on their very different constituencies. Paul’s constituency was primarily a Gentile one, while the constituency of James was primarily, perhaps exclusively, Jewish. But on the matter of works they did not differ. Both embraced the good news of God’s gracious provision in Jesus, a provision received in faith, and both urged Christians to practice their faith as Jesus himself taught.

But very importantly, there is no evidence that Paul invented Christianity or altered the early Church’s understanding of the person and work of Jesus. Paul stood in continuity with the original apostles, who after meeting Paul and hearing him out extended to him the “right hand of fellowship” (Gal 2:9).