Contradictions and Paradoxes in James 1:23

Check out Contradictions Catalog of James 1:23 for the comprehensive list of verses that contradicts James 1:23. Some key contradictions and paradoxes are described below.

According to James, if someone only listens to God's words but doesn't do what they say, it's like looking in a mirror but then forgetting what you look like. It means you should remember and act on what you learn, just like remembering how you look after seeing yourself.

James 1:23: For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

Contradiction with Matthew 7:24-27

Emphasizes the importance of acting on the word, not just hearing it, which seems congruent, but differs by expanding on how inaction leads to collapse.

Matthew 7:24-27: Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Contradiction with Romans 2:13

Highlights that it is not the hearers of the law that are just before God, but the doers, placing emphasis on deeds for justification.

Romans 2:13: (For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Contradiction with Matthew 7:21

States that not everyone who acknowledges the Lord will enter heaven, but only those who do His will, putting focus on actions rather than just hearing.

Matthew 7:21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Contradiction with Ezekiel 33:31-32

Describes people hearing God's words but not doing them, highlighting the futility and duplicity of merely hearing.

Ezekiel 33:31-32: And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee [as] my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, [but] their heart goeth after their covetousness. [as the...: Heb. according to the coming of the people] [they sit...: or, my people sit before thee] [they shew...: Heb. they make loves, or, jests]

Contradiction with 1 John 3:18

Encourages love in action and truth, not merely in word or speech, contradicting the notion of being a passive hearer.

1 John 3:18: My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
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