Irenaeus and Luther were but men. James is no more inspired than Paul and must be understood in his context. I had an entire response to your message that apparently got lost and now I don’t have time to respond; but, suffice it to say I never said works weren’t necessary to the Christian life. They are. They just don’t have a part in saving you. Second, Luther is being misquoted when the right strawy epistle is applied. He was doing a little textual criticism COMPARING James to other books. He later did not include this criticism and obviously believed it was Scripture because he preached from it for goodness sake!!!! James said faith without works is dead and the context is in the text if you will let it soak in. He said SHOW ME your faith without works and I’ll show you my faith by my works. Someone who says they believe but doesn’t have works does not have the fruit of truly being a Christian. If you are a Christian, your life will show that fruit. Absent that, there is no evidence you are a Christian at all. That’s James. That’s his meaning. It doesn’t contradict Paul. The Scriptures are harmonious.
The scripture is harmonious my friend so the context is always the same. James and Iraneaus spoke the same Gospel because that was the transmission of the faith then and the Magisterial teaching is now, the Church’s teaching on the matter has not changed and is firm. I know you never said works aren’t necessary, but we in the Church believe it is essential to salvation. :-)