Paul vs. James

I enjoyed the premise of the book - balancing works and faith so that legalism and error do not take over, but there are a great many spelling errors that need to be corrected!
James is introduced as Jesus’ brother, who did not believe his brother Jesus was the Messiah until after His death. He then gradually became a leader of the church in Jerusalem. James spoke of the Law as being royal, in liberty and perfect. James calls believers to live a life of obedience because God’s Law was made perfect by Jesus and the law of liberty that belongs to everyone set free from their sin by Jesus.
Paul’s early life is mentioned, along with his studies in with Gamaliel, which were more rigorous than todays’ scholars as Paul would probably have memorized most of the Old Testament. Paul rigorously persecuted believers until his life-changing conversion outside of Damascus.
In the early years of the church, the church was Jewish and the customs of circumcision and keeping the Law were very important, (they still are in the Messianic community)but as Gentiles joined the church, they were not required to be circumcised or to keep the whole Law, this was a revolutionary concept!
Paul, James, Peter, and John all agreed “in the gospel mission—we are united by faith alone to Christ for forgiveness of sin and restoration of our relationship with the creator God—and they all agreed that part of their mission was to care for the poor.”
Abrahams’ life and faith are also discussed, Abraham believed that God would keep His promises and that Abraham was justified by faith and not in works.
James points out that Abraham’s faith would be the way in which he received right standing with God and that even the nations would be blessed through Abraham.
You will have to read the rest of the book to understand the differences between faith and works and how they compliment each other.

This is pretty basic, and really most of the book is irrelevant to the topic. The only part that is relevant is the last part of the book, which is helpful to understand that Paul and James weren't speaking against each other.

This book really lays out the reasons why we ought not view Paul and James as at odds with each other. Paul's message of grace doesn't leave us so free as to sin without impunity and James' message of the necessity of works doesn't exclude grace but show grace at work. It's not a battle of the two men, but a joint message.