[Mr. Lucky]

The Jewish Canonical tradition was established by the 1st Century AD. It is that Canonical tradtion which has been adopted by Protestants.

[Siobhan]

Bizarre in the extreme that you would accept a canonical decision by Jews who were determined to exclude as much as possible that could be used to refer to Jesus!

You also should get to know Fr. Martin Luther a little better. Mercifully, his desire to reject James as canon was thwarted by those Lutherans who had a better education than he did.

[A. Pole]

The Jewish Canonical tradition was established by the 1st Century AD. It is that Canonical tradtion which has been adopted by Protestants.

Either way Talmudic Jewish canon was established at Jamnia council AFTER the destruction of the Temple and establishment of the Church. Also present Hebrew version derives from around 800 AD (time of Karait/Talmudic schism) and even concrete passages do not match New Testament quotes. On the other hand the Christian (pre-Protestant) tradition derives from Septuagint - the earliest translation of the Old Testament done by the Jews, for the Jews and used by the Jews long before coming of Christ.

So we have two main versions of the Old Testament. One of which matches perfectly with the New Testament. I will give you one example:

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.(Mt:3:3)

And this from Masoretic version:

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our Lord (Isa:40:3)

You see in the Christian/Septuagint tradition the wilderness location is applied to the voice, while in the Masoretic/Talmudic version the wilderness location is applied to what needs to be made straight. New Testament agrees with the first.

Read more about at: Canon of The Old Testament