An ordained Lutheran minister, the Rev. Jeffrey J. Bütz has been the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Nazareth, Pennsylvania since 1996, and an adjunct professor of Philosophy and World Religions at Pennsylvania State University since 2002.

The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity was published in 2005 by Inner Traditions International. This book is the most recent on James and has garnered much critical acclaim for both its depth of research as well as its readability. It has been printed in four languages and has sold over 15,000 copies. It is the most complete portrayal of the history of Jesus’ brother published for a lay audience.

The book is an expansion of a thesis Rev. Jeff wrote on James for a Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.) degree at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He also holds a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from Moravian Theological Seminary (magna cum laude), and a B.S. in Earth Science. His first career was as a high school science teacher.

Rev. Jeff'’s research interests lie mainly in the area of Christian origins, particularly the role of Jesus’ family in his ministry and in the founding of the church. He also is extremely interested in inter-religious dialogue and the emerging science & religion dialogue.

 

His latest book, released December, 2009, is The Secret Legacy of Jesus: The Judaic Teachings That Passed from James the Just to the Founding Fathers.

 

Rev. Jeff is presently co-writing a screenplay for a feature film on James with Hollywood mogul Harvey Rochman who is executive producing the project.