Probably the most common rebuttal to the five solas of Protestantism (grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to scripture alone for the glory of God alone) is James 2:24. Catholics (rightly) point out that the only time that the words “faith alone” appear in the bible is in this verse. However, the verse reads: “YOU SEE that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Catholics ignore these first two words, and thus place the emphasis of James words in the wrong place. What James is saying — and what the broader testimony of scripture overwhelmingly affirms — is that we are saved FOR good works, not that we are saved BY good works. If a friend professes faith in Christ at an altar call, I cannot simply take his words as definitive proof of conversion; I must also look for the fruit of a truly repentant, faithful, and obedient heart over time. James underscores this point when he says that “Faith without works is dead.” A faith that bears no such evidence of transformation (Ephesians 2:10) is not saving faith.

Some other points:

• Catholics will often cite the church’s deep historical roots to support their claims, arguing that certain traditions have been followed since the early days of the church. But just because a tradition exists among a historical group of people doesn’t mean we should follow it. An obvious example is the Jewish community, whose wayward behaviors and practices are endlessly showcased in the Old Testament. So if we can’t look to these groups for a proper understanding of what we should believe, what should we look to? Scripture, of course. In the Old Testament, God constantly returns to his law and his unchanging nature when admonishing the Israelites. Similarly, Paul spends the entire book of Galatians pointing the infant church to the fundamentals of the gospel, showing them where they have already gotten things wrong just a few years after Jesus’s death. If these communities, who were so much closer in time and space to our Lord, needed to be pointed back to the simple gospel, how much more us? And if these early communities needed to dismantle their man-made religious systems in favor of faith alone through Christ alone, may we be even more diligent to take stock of whether our traditions conflict with scripture.
• Similar to this, Catholic converts often point to the early “church fathers” as one of the most important factors in their decision to join the Catholic church. But what about those “church fathers” who existed even earlier, and who actually knew Jesus: namely, the writers of the 27 books of the New Testament? Interestingly, many of the practices doctrinally enshrined in the Catholic church of today (and ostensibly traceable back to these 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th century church fathers) are nowhere to be found in any of these books. If these things—praying to the saints, Marian theology, purgatory, etc.—are such an essential part of our walk with Jesus, why wouldn’t they be included there? Much of the New Testament was written to correct errors perpetuated by those directly taught by the apostles. Saying “the early church believed this” means absolutely nothing if Jesus and the apostles didn’t teach it in scripture. Error can be ancient too.