James does not in any way question the vital and central importance of faith. We miss James’ point in this paragraph if we do not understand this. James does not dispute the power of faith to justify or to save. What he is concerned to do is to define the true nature of faith. As he does throughout his letter, James attacks superficial and inconsistent Christians who claim they have faith but fail to act on the basis of their faith. Such a ‘faith’, James says, amounts to no more than a verbal profession