James Can't be Serious-Can He?

I love the Bible and appreciate its diversity of styles (especially its poems and stories) James, however, is not one of my favorite books – there were followers of Jesus who believed, • to be a true Christian a person had to be Jewish (cf. Acts 15:1) ◦ this was the dominant opinion in Jerusalem ◦ those who held to it included some Christian leaders • the apostles, Peter and Paul did not agree with them ◦ they believed Gentiles could know God in their own culture and context ◦ and apart from fulfilling all the requirements of the law