in James. If James is merely a series of commands, its moral clarity is a burden, and its limpid commands only condemn. While James does lack familiar formulations of the gospel, his insistence on obedience is unmistakable. He says good deeds mark true religion: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (1:27) Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point