I quite agree with jiggyfly, that you have done a good service by providing us with the fruit of your research. It rings as relatively true in all regards.
James did not pen his epistle to us. It has a heading on it, read it, it says; Ja 1:1 ." James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting".
Now, if the heading on this personal, divinely inspired letter from James is ignored, and applied to any and every tom, dick and harry that ever was or is, then there is more of a problem here than a mere "translational error". Or, maybe it was James' mistake, not hearing correctly when listening to God. I don't see any mention of the nations or Gentiles in his letter, only instruction on the truth of God for the Circumcision believers of Israel.
Faith without works is dead? Not likely, not for the Gentiles. For the Jew, yes; for the Gentile, never in a thousand years!
It is best to view all the word of God by the latest and most important revelations given to us from Him by His apostle to the Nations, Paul. His is the only relevant truth for today.
fivesense
To take issue with the English word "religion", which serves acceptably for the Greek word
thre·skei´a, and taken from the Latin word
re·li´gi·o, could be compared to what Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees, that these had ' strained out the gnat and gulped down the camel."(Matt 23:24) Unless there is a clear distortion as to the meaning of
thre·skei´a, then utilizing the English word "religion" provides a sound understanding for grasping how to identify the true "religion" or "form of worship."
The Jews in Jesus day missed the point and impact of Jesus and his illustrations, with him telling his disciples that "this is why I speak to them (the Jews) by the use of illustrations, because, looking, they look in vain, and hearing, they hear in vain, neither do they get the sense (Greek
sy·ni´e·mi, meaning "to mentally put the pieces together" or "perceive") of it [the kingdom]."(Matt 13:13)
And concerning James and his letter "to the twelve tribes scattered about"(James 1:1), the apostle Paul wrote that "
all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work."(2 Tim 3:16, 17) James wrote under
inspiration from God, and his letter to the "twelve tribes" or all the congregations, not separating Jew from Gentile, was preserved by God for our everlasting benefit.
James was eminently qualified to write a letter of counsel to the Christian congregation. He was greatly respected as an overseer in the Jerusalem congregation. Paul speaks of “James the brother of the Lord” as one of the “pillars” in the congregation along with Cephas and John. (Gal. 1:19; 2:9) James’ prominence is indicated by Peter’s sending immediate word to “James and the brothers” after his release from prison. And was it not James who acted as spokesman for “the apostles and the older men” when Paul and Barnabas journeyed to Jerusalem to request a decision regarding circumcision? Incidentally, this decision and the letter of James both start with the identical salutation, “Greetings!”—another indication that they had a common writer.(Acts 12:17; 15:13, 22, 23; Jas. 1:1)
The "wall" or Mosaic Law covenant, that separated Jew from Gentile, was removed with the death of Jesus on the torture stake. In speaking with the Ephesians, Paul wrote of Christ Jesus, that "he is our peace, he who made the two parties one and destroyed the wall in between that fenced them (Jew and Gentile) off."(Eph 2:14) Thus, the "twelve tribes" are not speaking of literal Jews, but rather of both Jew and Gentile as "one", those who are doing God's will. James' letter is therefore for those who can rightly call themselves Christian, having the "pure religion"(James 1:27,
King James Bible) or "form of worship" that is "clean and undefiled from the
standpoint of our God and Father...and (is keeping) oneself
without spot from the world."
The real issue should not be with the rendering of
thre·skei´a, as "religion", for this serves satisfactorily in English, but rather with
identifying what pleases God, how to
identify the "true religion". Straining "out the gnat" or minor issue and missing the "camel" or larger issue, is like being distracted by our shoe lace that is loose while a powerful tornado is coming, completely oblivious to it's presence. Which is more important to deal with ? If a person is busy with their cell phone and misses the "train", which takes precedence ? Hence, the critical issue is
who has the true religion or "form of worship" that pleases God, since there are over 10, 000 different religious sects that all profess to serve God.