Originally Posted by Botnst

There was a big battle that is played out in the epistles between 2 sides of the argument in which one side argues that work without faith is meaningless for salvation while the other side argues that faith without work is barren. The argument played-out over the next 1,300 years or so in which the occasional heretic was roasted from one side or the other. IIRC, Martin Luther argued the famous phrase beginning, "By faith alone ...". That became the rallying cry among protestant sects in their opposition to the Church which they believed thoroughly corrupted by its emphasis on works.

I think it was the recently deceased pope, John Paul, who finally acknowledged that Luther was right in that regard, but also thoroughly embraced the Epistle of James, who advocated for works as a demonstration of faith.

B