The Skeptics' Overrated Bible on James as analyzed by Sheila Rangslinger

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• 1:13 James says God cannot be tempted. If so, then why does the Bible tell us not to tempt him? (Dt.6:16, Mal.3:15, Mt.4:7, Acts 15:10) And why forbid something that cannot be done? See here.
• 1:13 James also says that God never tempts anyone. But the Bible says that many were tempted by God (Gen.2:21, 2 Sam.24:1). And why would Jesus have us ask God to "lead us not into temptation." (Mt.6:13)? Ditto.
• 1:17 Does God repent? See here.
• 1:19 Excellent advice for us all: "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." He likes it.
• 1:27 "Pure religion ... is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." If this is "pure religion" then I am all for it. Ditto.
• 2:8 "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Ditto.
• This is by far the best verse in Leviticus (19:18), and one of the best in the entire bible. It seems out of place, however, since in the next chapter of Leviticus God orders us to kill wizards (20:6), children who are disrespectful toward their parents (20:9), adulterers (20:10), and homosexuals (20:13). And throughout the Old Testament, God encourages the Israelites to kill their neighbors every chance they get. (See Numbers 31 and 1 Samuel 15 for just two of many examples.) Once again, love does not exclude just punishment -- and we are still waiting for SAB to give us a rundown on the effects of crime in the ancient world.
• 2:10 If you "keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point," you are guilty of all." In other words, you may as well be -- for the effect is the same.
• 2:13 If you are merciless to others, God will be merciless to you. (Two wrongs make a right.) Just response is wrong? Oh, my. Better get SAB to reform our penal system then. In any event "mercy" meant the favor shown by someone to someone who was loyal to principles set out by their patron.
• 2:14, 17, 20, 24-26 James clearly believes that people are justified by works, "and not by faith only." Yet Paul (Rom.4:5-6, Gal.2:16, Eph.2:8-9) believes just the opposite: that people are justified by faith alone -- without regard to, or even in spite of, their works. Try this.
• 2:15-16 Help others that are in need; don't just wish them well. This is good advice, though it's unfortunate that James restricted this help to "brothers". Did he mean by this that you only need to help fellow believers? Yes. But that hardly exluded help to others.
• 2:19 James ridicules those who say salvation is by faith alone. He says the devils believe in God. Will their faith save them? See above.
• 2:21 James says Abraham was justified by works (for being willing to kill his son for God), Paul (Rom.4:2-3) says he was justified by faith (for believing that God would order him to do such an evil act). See above, again.
• 2:25 Heb.11:31 says Rahab the harlot was saved by faith. But James says she was saved by works. (By her works as a prostitute or by lying? See Jos.2:1-5) See above plus here and also here on Rahab lying.
• 3:7 James says that, even in his day, all beasts, birds, serpents, and sea creatures had been tamed by humans. Yes, and, what? All kinds had been even in that day. Ever heard of the Roman circus? It doesn't say "all beasts" as in all members then living of the animal kingdom.
• 4:3 If your prayers are not answered, it's your own d*mned fault. And SAB's counter-proof is, what? But see here.
• 4:5 James quotes a scripture that says, "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy." But there is no such verse in the Bible. James alludes to the many OT passages that speak of God as jealous. It is not a direct quote but a description.
• 4:11 "Speak not evil of one another." He likes it.
• 4:12 On judging see here.
• 5:1 God rewards his favorites with riches (Job 22:23-24, Pr.15:6), and then punishes them for being rich. Um, no -- James speaks to specific rich men in his audience.
• 5:4 On slavery see here.
• 5:6 SAB once again needs to learn about proverbial sayings.
• 5:8 James thought that Jesus would return soon. See series here.
• 5:11 Here we are told that God is merciful. Yet if 1 Sam.15:2-3 is true, then God is unspeakably cruel. See here.
• 5:12 James says that "above all things" we must not swear. To him, swearing is worse than murder. Yet swearing is considered acceptable in many Bible verses. See here.
• 5:14-15 If you are sick, don't go to a medical doctor -- rely on the power of prayer. In that age, actually, probably better advice anyway. See here, item 37.
• 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. But other verses say there never has been a righteous man. See here.
• 5:17 By praying, Elias was able to keep it from raining for three and a half years. And other than SAB's anti-miracle bias, the problem, is what?
• 5:20 SAB shows that Bible verses indicate that hell does not exist by quoting several verses, none of which mention hell. That's brilliant.