cacophony
n 1: a loud harsh or strident noise [syn: blare, blaring, clamor,
din]
2: loud confusing disagreeable sounds
Have I found wisdom? I believe I started my life blessed. When I was small, my parents took me to church and taught me the Christian faith, but the world pulls at us. We too easily become confused by the cacophony of own desires and just plain noise.
So who is wise? Most mark the beginning of the Protestant Reformation with the writings of Martin Luther. Luther called the Book of James an “epistle of straw” (see here). Focusing on the writings of the Apostle Paul, Luther observed we are saved by faith.
Galatians 3:11
Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.
But Luther found the Book of James contrary to Paul. Seemingly, the Apostle James emphasized works over faith.
James 2:21
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
Yet the very next verse explains the seeming contradiction.
James 2:22
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
If even a dedicated Bible scholar such as Martin Luther can be confused, who is wise? Perhaps we should again consult the “epistle of straw”.
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Was Luther wise? Did Luther pray to God for wisdom? In an era when priests sold indulgences and led people to believe that they could buy their way into heaven, perhaps God did answer Luther. Perhaps God did provide Luther the wisdom he needed. With the doctrine that salvation is achieved through faith, Luther began the Protestant Reformation. Nevertheless, Luther’s curious confusion over the Book of James remains as a lesson for the rest of us. Even those accounted wise do not have all the answers. Ultimately, we all must seek wisdom from God.
Sola scriptura. Sola fide. And faith always leads to good works.
Faith, unfortunately, does not always lead to good works. It often leads to hubris, closed-mindedness, and the need to be “right.” Luther was wise because he left interpretation open to God and not US! We are slaves of language and thus are not capable of interpreting even our own words at times, never mind those purported to come from God “himself.”
Kgotthardt — Consider again James 1:5-8. Here James tells us what is meant by faith. It is not enough to know the wisdom God offers us. We must “believe and not doubt”. We must be willing to live by the wisdom God offers us.
What wisdom did Paul and James teach? They told us that God loves us. They told us the price Jesus paid for our redemption. They told us the only way we can accept God’s offer of salvation. We must love God and each other. If such faith leads to hubris and closed-mindedness, how can that be the faith of which they spoke?
“If such faith leads to hubris and closed-mindedness, how can that be the faith of which they spoke?”
I don’t believe it IS the faith Paul and James spoke of. I believe it is how faith is sometimes interpreted–the kind that leads to hubris and closed-mindedness, the kind that leads us to hurt as opposed to help.
Faith is a strange thing. Some people use it for justification of anything. Others use it to do the best they can in the world. Still others keep it in their pockets like a lucky charm.
Faith alone isn’t enough, IMHO. If you have faith in a good God who wants good, then you must DO as much good as you can (not meaning to preach here).
kgotthardt – Your not preaching? Why not? I am.
What people justify as “faith” often has little to do with the Bible. We sometimes engage in willful ignorance.
The point I think Paul and James wanted us to understand is that we act upon what we believe. Unless you believe you can swim, will you dive into deep water? Unless we truly believe God loves us, will we have the courage to behave as we should?
Heee heeee….I use the editorial “we” but I think as a preacher, I would fail miserably. Yikes! I don’t know about you…. You might have better stage presence
Yes, faith is a slippery word. But as you note, when we put TRUE faith (in whatever we see as God) into best practice, it allows us to swim among sharks. We might be shaking from head to toe, but we still can jump in when we need to.
However, if we hold what I will call “false faith,” we become just one of the sharks.