"like manner": ομοιως. James connects the justification of
Abraham to that of Rahab and declares they are the same, thus there is no
theological difference in the way these two were justified. If not, then either
James is misinterpreting them or God has two systems of justification. James'
whole thesis, beginning at Jm 2:1, is that God shows no favoritism, especially between
Jew and Gentile (cf. Rm 1:16-17; 2:9-10). As such, James certainly does not
view Rahab's justification as a vindication, that is, Rahab was not given a
forensic imputation prior to her meeting with the Israelite spies and later
vindicated. Rahab was a prostitute who lived an immoral life until she encountered
God through the Israelites. Her justification comes on the heels of her
acceptance of the God of Israel and his laws, which would necessitate she
immediately repented of her evil and decided to live righteously. An active
event took place in Rahab's relationship with God when she hid the spies, not a
demonstration of a previous justification. Hence since Rahab is not vindicated
but is truly justified during her encounter; and since James insists Abraham
was justified "in like manner," we can only conclude that both
Abraham in Genesis 22 and Rahab in Joshua 2 were salvifically justified before
God, not vindicated. (Robert A. Sungenis, Commentary on the Catholic
Douay-Rheims New Testament Exegeted from the Original Greek and Latin, 4 vols. [State
Lina, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., 2021], 4:180 n.
37)
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