My Favorite Book in the Bible

Over the years I’ve heard many Christians say something like, “James is my favorite book in the Bible.” I’ve even heard pastors declare that James is their favorite book to teach because it really gets to the “meat” of the matter. 

I was thinking about this love of James the other day, especially in light of Luther’s rather harsh words at times for the epistle. It occurred to me that people’s love of James is indicative of something deeper, something more theological and it prompted me to write this on Facebook recently,

“If you proclaim James as your favorite book in the Bible, I know everything I need to know about you.” 

Now listen, I realize that this is a gross overstatement and I built the hyperbole into it on purpose. I often use social media as a way to provoke deeper thought or conversation around theological topics. My point was not to disparage James or to question its placement in the canon. I will leave that to the scholars who are much more qualified than myself.

However, I stand behind what I said and wanted to write a more detailed article to unpack exactly where I am coming from. 

James is a book that is typically understood to be an encouragement toward good works. A move from faith to works, works that substantiate your faith. For as James famously said, “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) Now it is quite possible that the most common way that James is interpreted is quite wrong but that too is not my point (you might however check out Pastor Bob Hiller’s book “Finding Christ in the Straw” published by 1517). My point is that when someone says, “James is my favorite book in the Bible” that they most often have the common view of James’ epistle in mind.

In light of this I believe that when people say James is their favorite book out of the entire text of Scripture it is telling, it reveals something about how this person or pastor views Christianity. If you interpret James, as most do, as an encouragement toward proving your faith by your works and then say it is your “favorite” then you are proclaiming that your favorite thing about the Christian faith is the practical outworking, the proving your faith by your works. This is troubling for several reasons: 

1. It puts the emphasis on what you do rather than what Christ has done.

This is a far reaching problem in Christianity and one that I have written and spoken about extensively. This is not to downplay the importance of good works it is simply to put them in their proper place so that they do not diminish the finished work of Christ. Emphasis is important and when our works become the focus it quickly results in the proverbial cart before the horse scenario. The cart is important, but when it attempts to lead the horse it becomes quite useless.

2. It creates a Christian life that is constantly measuring itself by its works. 

James seems to encourage just this of sort of activity when he says speaking of Abraham, “Do you see that faith was working together with works, and by works faith was made perfect?” (James 2:22) and “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” (vs. 24). Again my point is not to correctly interpret James or to convince you that the most common interpretation of James is incorrect, but to simply state that if you read it as most do then it will inevitably lead to these dangerous pitfalls. When the Christian is constantly measuring the veracity of his faith by his works or believing that his works are the primary way in which he gains assurance and retains favor with God then it will lead to one of two inevitable ditches:

A. Despair – After years of striving after good works many find them to be lacking and therefore insufficient to prove their faith so they must not have saving faith. Many people in this place of despair leave the Church and denounce Christianity because after years of being told to do more, try harder, and get better they have come to the conclusion that their life is going in the exact opposite direction and therefore they must not be saved so why bother with it any longer. 

B. Self-Righteousness – After years of striving after good works many others find them to be sufficient, and come to a place where they actually believe that they are pulling it off and like the Pharisee at the Temple they can easily begin to compare themselves to others (like the tax-collector) and say, “thank god I am not like other men.” This self-righteousness is evident in someone who proclaims James to be their favorite book of the Bible because if a book about my works proving my faith is your favorite maybe the law is having the opposite effect that is intended. 

3. It puts works in the vertical rather than horizontal position. 

When the fruit of faith (a natural byproduct) becomes that which one fixates upon then it is easy to wrongly believe that works are actually aiding in my sanctification, or at the very least helping me gain some kind of special favor with God. Here I am placing works in the vertical plane, a place where Christ alone belongs (1 Cor. 1:30). This vertical relationship with God is a passive one, where the sinner’s involvement is simply as a recipient. Works, when properly understood, must be removed from the vertical plane and placed in the horizontal position where they can actively work themselves out for the good of neighbor. When one puts works in the wrong place — a proclivity that I often see in those that are so bold as to say, “James is my favorite book” — then those works not only lead to dangerous places but they can become useless to my neighbor. Works done to garner what is already ours in Christ cannot possibly achieve their intended effect. When we are focused on using our works to find assurance or prove our faith we turn them away from our neighbor toward God which is exactly the opposite direction they should are aimed. The doctrine of vocation is very helpful here and if you are looking for resources I would begin with Luther’s On the Freedom of the Christian sometimes called “A Treatise on Christian Liberty.”

You might be asking what is your favorite book in the Bible? I don’t think I have one as I take Scripture as a whole but if you nailed me down I would probably say Galatians or Romans but you probably expected that. James is a book included in the collection of writings we call the Bible. It should be read, studied, and given the authority that comes with any other book in the canon of Scripture. The point I was attempting to make, perhaps poorly, was simply that I believe James to be primarily a book of law and should be taken as such. To say it’s your “favorite” is much like a local church having “love God, love people” as their mission statement. Sure, it’s biblical but the law is not where we end and we all should be thankful that the story of Scripture doesn’t end with do, but done.