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Q: I read your column every week in Newsday. I was particularly interested in a question from M in Gainesville about faith being more important than works. My 12 years of Catholic education didn't include too much Bible study, but I know "faith without works is dead." Had to look up James 2:14-26 NKJV. “By their fruits you shall know them." Matthew 7:15-20 NKJV is still true for me. What do you think? – (From V in Douglaston, NY)

A: I am from a big “works” religion. Judaism regards as a sin only an errant act and not an errant thought or belief. So, I wish Father Tom were here to offer his learned and kind view on this big question of faith. I can, however, tell you what he taught me.

The issue of faith and works is the issue of what happens to our souls if we do not do what God wants from us. God obviously wants us to do good works in the world. The Gospel of Matthew understood this as you pointed out. We are formed by our deeds and those deeds define our virtue. All this is obvious, and all this is taught by both Judaism and Christianity. The question that divided our sister faiths is the question of what happens when we fail to do good? Sin is the opposite of virtue and all of us sin because none of us, except the saintly or what Buddhist call a Buddha, are able to live a perfect life. This was the fundamental religious problem of Paul. He wanted to be saved. He knew that good works (mitzvot in Hebrew) were the way to secure a place in Heaven (olam habah in Hebrew) but he did not believe that he could observe all the elements of the law (works) so he felt trapped, “The law taught me sin.” (Romans 7:7)

Paul’s solution, and ultimately the teaching of all branches of Christianity, was faith in the atoning death of Jesus whose sacrifice redeemed all sinners from the consequences of their sin.“But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

The necessity of faith for salvation also is taught by John in the famous 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.

The problem with all fideisms is the one that is bothering you, dear V. If faith in Jesus as the Messiah sent by God to atone for the sin of Adam and all subsequent sins is completely effective in atoning for sins; what is to prevent a person from wantonly sinning and then repenting suddenly and getting “washed clean in the blood of the lamb” by professing faith? The result of this theological loophole is that works mean nothing because bad works can be wiped clean in an instant.

The solution to the problem of faith and works begins by digging deeper into what Christians mean by faith. Faith for Christians is not accepting a biographical detail about the life of Jesus. Faith is a transformation of one’s life through faith in Christ. If one does not change one’s life at all then their faith is not real. If their faith does indeed change their life, then a life of willful sinning is impossible because all one’s efforts will be devoted to sharing the gospel and witnessing through love and kindness the grace of God through Christ.

The other side of this big question is also interesting and that is works without faith. The first problem of works without faith is the benevolent atheist. What is the religious view of people who do good but do not believe in God? Because of the teaching of John that the only way to the Father is through Me, Christianity has had to struggle with righteous non-believers which included righteous atheists and righteous members of religions other than Christianity. I will deal with this in a future big question column but in brief it comes down to these options which various denominations of Christianity have embraced:

– Righteous people who never heard the Gospel are saved. They did not reject the Gospel. They just never had the opportunity to accept it. (Romans 10:13-17)

– Righteous Jews are saved because of their prior covenant with God. (Nostra Aetate)

– Righteous people who have heard the Gospel and rejected it are not saved. (John 14:6)

My solution to the faith and works problem is to live a life of good works as if faith did not matter and a life of faith as if our sins do not matter.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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