Commentary on James

Salvian the Presbyter (d. 500)

Good works are witnesses to the Christian faith, because otherwise a Christian cannot prove that he has that faith. If he cannot prove it, it must be considered completely nonexistent.

The apostle's testimony is a very serious matter. Do the nobility think that they are immune from his strictures, because he referred only to the rich and not to the noble as well? But there is so great an overlap between these two groups in practice that it makes little difference which one of them the apostle was speaking about. His words certainly apply to both.

See also

• More works by Salvian the Presbyter

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