This is not a new question. It has been around for centuries. In the history of the Church this question received perhaps the greatest attention in the 16th century during the time of the Protestant Reformation. It was then, due in part to controversy over this question, that the Catholic Church met at the Council of Trent to further define and clarify what the Church had always believed on this (and other) subject(s).
Here are the defining documents of the Council of Trent concerning justification. When I first read them years ago as a Protestant, I found myself thinking that perhaps the Catholic Church really did have concern to weigh the Scriptures and discover her overall meaning, as opposed to resting her opinion upon a selection of isolated 'pet' passages and the novel ideas or traditions of men.
So, is justification by faith or by works? I would like to suggest that the question put this way sets up a false dichotomy. Justification is not by faith alone or by works alone, but by both-and all by God's grace.
