Abraham

by HelpWanted 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  A Paduan

  There was the argument that that Paul put forward that faith justifies, but the reading is that God justifies those whose faith is considered as righteousness - it isn't at odds with James, but rather, in agreement, as James describes different faith.

  As God justifies those who faith is reckoned to them as righteousness, there is a promised child (the fruit - the works as James says)

  There are other children - known to James - even the demons believe (and their children could not speak the language of the Jews, but the language of Azotus)
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  A Paduan

  .........................................The whole thrust of the argument is to refute the idea that faith alone (i.e. not apart from God but apart from works) is sufficient for a person to be considered righteous.

  considered righteous and justified are not the same term, but you interchange them as desired in your argument
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  Leolaia

  considered righteous and justified are not the same term, but you interchange them as desired in your argument

  Justification is at the most basic level all about being found (legally) righteous or just by God (cf. dikaiosuné from dikaióthénai "to be made/declared righteous"), thus Matthew 12:37 uses it as an antonym of katadikasthésé "condemned" and Paul associates it with judgment (Romans 3:4, 5:9, 1 Corinthians 4:4) and the remission of sins (Romans 6:7, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; cf. Acts 13:38-39, Galatians 2:17), and the citation from Genesis 15:6 concerning Abraham (used by both Paul and the author of James) refers to the justified patriarch as being elogisthe ... eis dikaiosunén "reckoned into righteousness" (Romans 4:2-3; cf. 4:5 concerning the Christian believer). This continues the sense of justification from pre-Christian Judaism in which "righteousness" was construed as fidelity to the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:25, Luke 1:6; compare Malachi 3:18, Matthew 5:20), which provided for atonement and expiation of guilt (cf. Leviticus 1:4, 4:20, 7:7, 16:1-34, 17:11). Justification can of course be differently defined, nuanced, and construed in Christian theology so justification is not simply "interchangeable" with a notion of reckoning one righteous, but since Genesis 15:6 is alluded to in Romans 4:2-3 and James 2:23, it is quite appropriate to make reference to the basic sense of the term.