New appreciation of James

For the most part, until the late 20th century, the Epistle of James was relegated to benign disregard.  It was shunned by many early theologians and scholars due to its advocacy of Torah observance and good works.  Famously, Martin Luther at one time considered the epistle to be among the disputed books, and sidelined it to an appendix.  This epistle aimed to reach a wide Jewish Christian audience.  During the last decades, the Epistle of James has attracted increasing scholarly interest due to a surge in the scholarly quest for the historical Jesus.  What was James’ role within the Jesus movement, his beliefs, and his relationships and views?  This James revival is also associated with an increasing level of awareness of the Jewish grounding of both the epistle and the early Jesus movement.  Do you appreciate the role that James played in the early Church?