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***The Scripture that has been delivered to us through the Church is written to all. On section does not apply to Jews, and another to Gentiles. The Letter of St. James is no more addressed only to Jewish Christians than the Letter to the Romans is addressed only to the Romans ...***

Good points except for the following.
The Apostles in Jerusalem were still preaching a Jewish form of Chrisitanity. Some went out, unauthorized by James, and subverted the Gentile believers in Galatia to law and circumcision. Thus Paul's leter to them and his defense of his teahings (14 years after).

On Paul's last journey to Jerusalem look at what James said to him and tell me again that the Christian doctrines were the same between Jews and Gentiles.

And the day following, Paul went in with us unto JAMES, and all the elders were preseent.....
....And when they heard it they glorified the Lord and SAID UNTO HIM, Thou seest brother, how many thousands of JEWS there are which believe; and they are ALL ZEALOUS OF THE LAW.
And they are informed of thee that thou teachest all THE JEWS which are among the gentiles to FORSAKE MOSES, saying theyought not tocircumcise their children, neither to walk AFTER THE CUSTOMS....
...DO THEREFORE THIS that we say to thee; We have four men with a VOW on them;
Them take, and PURIFY THYSELF with them, and be at charges with them (pay for their sacrifices) that they may shave their heads. and all may know that those things whereof they were informed concrning theare nothing; BUT THAT THOU THYSELF ALSO WALKEST ORDERLY AND KEEPEST THE LAW.
As touching the Gentiles which believe WE HAVE WRITTEN AND CONCLUDED THAT THEY observe no such thing ....

Now, when you run the book through THESE verses you can see that James was written as a legalistic tract "To the 12 tribes scattered abroad."
No wonder it took almost 300 years for this small letter to be accepted by believers as scripture, as Martin Luther said, "An epistle of straw."

Ruy Dias de Bivar,

That's a very interesting post. It's clear, as you point out, that many Jews continued to keep the Law, while the gentiles were not required to do so. One could infer that there was, in a sense, a dichotomy of practice between many of the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians.

"Good points except for the following. The Apostles in Jerusalem were still preaching a Jewish form of Chrisitanity."

Just to be clear, the Apostle James is preaching Christianity, pure and simple. While it is clear that many Hebrew Christians are still observing the Jewish Law, as you noted in your post, the Apostle James says to St. Paul: "As touching the Gentiles which believe WE HAVE WRITTEN AND CONCLUDED THAT THEY observe no such thing." James clearly recognizes the importance of not imposing Jewish Law upon the Gentiles, both here and at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15.

My assumption regarding Acts 21: 18-20 was that the Apostles Paul and James were following the precepts St. Paul described in 1 Corinthians 9: 19,20
" For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law--though not being myself under the law--that I might win those under the law."
This policy was underscored by St. Paul himself, when he had Timothy circumcised so that he might accompany Paul among the Jews, after the Council of Jerusalem.

St. James is not instructing the Apostle Paul to take the Nazarite vow as some sort of misguided works salvation(!), any more than St. Paul was trying to impose a "works salvation" on Timothy. St. James rejoiced to hear about the conversion of the Gentiles, and makes it clear that they are not to be forced to follow the Law. Rather, the point of St. Paul's going up to the temple and taking a Nazirite vow was to dispel a false rumor about St. Paul.

"Now, when you run the book through THESE verses you can see that James was written as a legalistic tract "To the 12 tribes scattered abroad." No wonder it took almost 300 years for this small letter to be accepted by believers as scripture, as Martin Luther said, "An epistle of straw."

Ruy Dias de Bivar, Do you not believe that the Letter of James is Scriptural?

Well, IS St. James' letter Scripture or not? If it isn't it's on YOUR say so, and who are you to make such pronouncements? If it is, then God help you for calling it an "epistle of straw"! Your beef with it is the same as Luther's: that it buttresses the Catholic understanding of works. Therefore it "can't" be Scripture! No one pronounced it such until Luther did. And that's about 1450+ years too late and an infinite absence of authority to matter.

It must be easy to be a "Bible Christian" if just ANY layman can pick-and-choose his own canon! You are in my prayers.