"For you said excellently and rightly that these teachers are not opposed to each other, just as Paul and James are not, with one saying that a human being is justified by faith without works [Gal. 2:16, Eph. 2:8-9], while the other writes that faith without works is dead [Jas. 2:26]. For Paul spoke of the faith that precedes baptism, which requires only the consent of the whole heart to the confession, without its being preceded by a life of good works, a faith that justifies all that partake in some way of evil, when in the divine laver of regeneration he confesses his faith that comes from instruction. James, on the other hand, speaks of the faith that follows baptism, that it is dead if one possesses it without works, that is, if one does not confirm it by deeds of justice. For baptism is the pledge of a life ordered to the good... But we can easily draw a solution form the divine scriptures. For it is the one Abraham who at distinct times is the image, now of one faith, now of the other, of that which precedes baptism and does not require works, but only confession and the saving word by which we are justified when we have faith in Christ, and of that which follows baptism and is linked to works. For we know that the circumcision in the flesh of old was practised as a type, an image that was fulfilled in saving baptism. By the removal of the foreskin it teaches renunciation and rebirth according to the flesh and makes those who are circumcised into sons of God... it was after Abraham was circumcised that he was commanded to offer up Isaac on the high place, that he fulfilled the commandment, and that he was justified by works, again prefuguring in his own person the faith that follows baptism-- which is the figurative circumcision-- and that justifies a human being through works.... Thus, manifestly the same Spirit does not contradict Himself now here, now there, who by the apostles and by the ancient writings of the Law spoke concerning faith, of that which precedes baptism and that which follows baptism. The one justifies by simple confession alone without works him who approaches the divine sblution as a viaticum that suffices him for salvation should he suddently depart this world. The other requires of one who has been baptized the testimony of good deeds, and it raises him to a peffect state and a lofty dignity. It is therefore most fitting that James saying concerning this: 'Faith is completed through works' [Jas. 2:22]."

Severus of Antioch, 2nd Letter to Julian, Eng. Trans. Bronwen Neil & Pauline Allen, Conflict & Negotiation in the Early Church: Letters from Late Antiquity, Translated from the Greek, Latin, and Syriac (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020), 107-109]

Quite similar to other Church Fathers, Severus of Antioch understands that there are two ways of speaking of justification. These two ways depends on two phases of life in each individual Christian. There is the pre-baptismal phase and the post-baptismal phase. Prior to baptism, a man is only required to have faith in God by way of confessing Christ, akin to a Catechumen, and he is justified in the eyes of God simply by his confession of faith without any works at all. For Severus, baptism is the fulfillment of circumcision in ancient Israel, and thus he understands the uncircumcised phase of Abraham's life to be tantamount to the pre-baptismal phase. Therefore, a justification by faith without any works at all characterizes the justification of Abraham in Gen. 15:6 since Abraham here was uncircumcised, i.e., equivalent to being unbaptized.

However, after Abraham is circumcised, then there is a demand on him to have both faith and works and to be justified in the eyes of God by passing the test of works. It was only after Abraham's circumcision, i.e., spiritual baptism, that God required Abraham to pass the test of being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac in order to be justified and saved.

This is very interesting, even if I do not agree with it. Essentially, Severus sees the pre-circumcision phase of Abraham (Gen. 12-17), about 20+ years, as a phase of life where Abraham is equivalent to a New Covenant Catechumen before baptism. Consequently, Abraham only needed faith during this phase because baptism is what gives the human being power to live out a good life from faith and works. But since Abraham is considered unbaptized before his circumcision, he only has to have the confession of faith alone to be saved. After circumcision, however, Abraham is bound to live out good works since the grace of baptism orders the human soul to the good by God's power.

Is this a defense of Protestant theology? It depends on how Severus defines faith. If, for Severus, the possession of faith is equal to faith understood as a virtue and an inward sanctity that is in the human heart, even without outward works, then Severus is more on the Catholic/Orthodox side of justification. But if he means a pure intellectual assent or a mere trust that God will save him, then he would probably be even more at variance with biblical revelation than even Protestants, since the latter at least believe one who has the gift of faith is necessarily sanctified.