Jeffrey J. Bütz is an American writer on religion. Bütz is an ordained Lutheran minister and adjunct professor of

world religions World religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the five—and in some cases more—largest and most internationally widespread religious movements. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are always includ ...

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. Bütz' most recent book, ''The Secret Legacy of Jesus'' (2010), offers the thesis that the Judaic teachings of Jesus were passed in underground fashion from groups such as the Nazarenes and

Ebionites Ebionites ( grc-gre, Ἐβιωναῖοι, ''Ebionaioi'', derived from Hebrew (or ) ''ebyonim'', ''ebionim'', meaning 'the poor' or 'poor ones') as a term refers to a Jewish Christian sect, which viewed poverty as a blessing, that existed during ...

to the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, via the

Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follow ...

s and

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s. Bütz' previous book, ''The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity'', (2005) explores James the brother of Jesus (James the Just) and is, according to a reviewer, similar in content to

Robert Eisenman Robert Eisenman (born 1937) is an American biblical scholar, historian, archaeologist, and poet. He is currently professor of Middle East religions, archaeology, and Islamic law and director of the Institute for the Study of Judaeo-Christian Orig ...

's '' James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls''. Bütz' work follows in the line of Hugh Schonfield,

Hyam Maccoby Hyam Maccoby ( he, חיים מכובי, 1924–2004) was a Jewish-British scholar and dramatist specialising in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious traditions. He was known for his theories of the historical Jesus and the origins of C ...

, and

James Tabor James Daniel Tabor (born 1946 in Texas) is a Biblical scholar and Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has taught since 1989 and serv ...

. Bütz writes "It is my personal conviction that maligned scholars such as Schonfield, Maccoby, Eisenman, and Tabor will one day be vindicated as prophets."''Secret Legacy of Jesus'' 2010 p24

Works

* ''The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity'', 2005, * ''The Secret Legacy of Jesus: The Judaic Teachings That Passed from James the Just to the Founding Fathers'', 2010,

References

External links

The Brother of Jesus
Butz's website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Butz, Jeffrey Living people American male writers Year of birth missing (living people)