Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

[Cato]

Hi, Padraic. I think most Protestants accept the words of James as true--they just interpret them differently than Catholics do. For example, when I was Evangelical, I understood these words,

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

(James 2:26)

to mean good works ( good thoughts, words and deeds) are an effect of living (or real) faith. Hence, one is saved from hell by a faith that causes salvation, and salvation then causes good works. Salvation and good works are then the effects of faith. For we are saved through faith alone. In other words,

Faith -> salvation + works

where -> = causes

Catholics tell me the passage means faith alone does not save anyone from hell. One needs both faith and good works. For good works are not an effect of salvation, they are instead a cause of salvation. Moreover one's faith must be not in Christ alone, but also in the sacraments (e.g., baptism). In other words,

Faith + sacraments + works -> salvation

where -> = causes

Protestants might respond by saying Catholics are confusing correlation with causation. Catholics might then reply that Protestants mistakenly assume the correlation is not a case of causation.

I'd say this is another instance of a lack of clarity in a biblical text resulting in contrary interpretations of the text. Would you say the same?

I hope your purpose here isn't to prove your self congratulatory profundity. There are clear contradictions in the bible; pitting Protestant and Catholic apologies against one another doesn't make the contradictions vaporize. This gambit doesn't make you intriguing or noteworthy; it makes you boring and predictable. You ignored immediate references to lists of biblical contradictions. This means that learning about the contradictions was not your purpose, you simply wanted others to state one in order for you to practice your apologetics.