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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Theophylact of Ohrid
Note the spiritual meaning. He did not say only: "if you have faith," but "what does it profit?" He speaks as if to say: show me a deed by which I might call you a believer, for in this lies the work of faith. His words mean: if someone does not prove by deed that he is faithful to God, then such a person need not even be called faithful, for the faithful one is not he who simply calls himself the Lord's, but he who loves the Lord so much that for faith in Him he is ready even for death. …
Oecumenius
What shall it profit my brethren, if a man say he has faith: but has not works? Shall faith be able to save him? Notice the spiritual understanding. For James did not only say: If you have faith, but also: What is the benefit? As if he were saying: Show me the work from which I can judge that this title suits you: for that is the benefit of faith.
Desert Fathers
A hermit said, 'If a man has words but no works, he is like a tree with leaves but no fruit. Just as a tree laden with fruit is also leafy, the man of good works will also have good words.'
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
In order to help them, God has put fear in the hearts of believers, lest they think that they might be saved by faith alone, even if they continue to practice these evils.
Bede
What will it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? And so on. Here he discusses the works of mercy more extensively, so that he might console those he had strongly frightened with knowledge preceding, by reminding them how even daily sins, which cannot be lived without here, are expiated by daily remedies. …
Translation