Question: Dear Bible scholars help with this; is there a contradiction between John 6:44 and James 4:8?
From Lemmy
Response: Am not a Bible scholar but an evangelical theologian and a pastor to some people. I do not see any contradiction between John 6:44 and James 4:8 and here are my two reasons:
1. The book of James and that of John are two independent books in the library known as the Bible. The conclusion that the Bible contradicts itself are born out of both the practice of treating these books as pages of the same book and in some situations the ignorance to that fact.
A careless preacher and teacher will have no problem wiring the two verses to make his own light. No wonder within no time, they see a contradictory light. These are independent books and the library in which they are found is known as the BIBLE.
The more we emphasise this, the more we stop shooting ourselves in the foot and blaming the Bible for the injury. Because these are different books (but in the same library) they are in different sections of the library and therefore dealing with different issues.
John is a BIOGRAPHY while James is an EPISTLE. Knowing where the text/verse you are dealing with is situated in the Library (Bible) is the first right step in honest Bible study.
2. My second reason is a matter of context. Without isolating a verse of our interest you will realize that it belongs to a passage and the reading of that passage as a whole will help. James deals and is talking about a sociology of Christians whose benefits last as long as these Christians live and relate socially.
He emphasizes that Christian sociology is one whose centre is God (particular deity) and the more believers draw to that deity, in the process, they are drawing away from their former sociologies. James argues that the sociology of believers within themselves is a product of transition; they (Believers) transit from one sociology to a new one and the centre to which each believer is drawn is the deity they worship in common.
James goes ahead to encourage believers that as they draw near to the deity, this deity moves towards them sociologically too. They (Believers) are drawn to each other because of their common belief and then their respective deity transits nigh to them and form a new sociology.
James is, therefore, talking about a believer’s sociology in relation to their deity with strictly sociological benefits. An investigation of the Greek term Eggisate (draw) that he uses will help all of us appreciate the text.
On the hand John 6:44 is addressing a different matter. Contextually, Jesus has presented himself as the eternal solution, not to the hunger of the digestive system but to the hunger of eternal destinies and permanent satisfaction.
He approaches the question of how a human being connects to the deity for such serious eternal business and argues that it is a combination of human will and divine power. You can only understand the meaning of Elthein (come) and Elkuse (drawn/dragged) used in verse 44 in the lens of verses 42, 45-47.
If you isolated it from that context, you are set to shooting yourself in the foot and blaming the Bible for the injury. What we have in John is not a sociological issue but a spiritual relationship between the finite and the infinite for eternal benefits.
Jesus is discussing what it takes an individual to register for salvation especially those already subscribed to religious beliefs like the Jewish congregation he was addressing.
As you can see, there is no contradiction between James 4:8 and John 6:44 except when one subjects the two verses to a particular preconceived idea and makes the verses fight for what they are not saying.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Pr. T.I.M WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
@ iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 