|  | PRAISE FOR
The Brother of Jesus
and the Lost Teachings of Christianity
"Compiling years of research, Bütz, an ordained Lutheran minister and professor, here explores the controversy and marginalization of James . . . His scholarly survey of the Gospels, apocryphal texts, and histories of the Church reveals the connection of Jesus to his siblings and their support of his teachings . . ."
- Library Journal
"Bütz does an excellent job of synthesizing all the information about James and presenting it in an informative, highly readable manner . . . a worthy acquisition."
- Booklist
". . . eminently readable and accessible to nonscholars while being thorough in its research. It raises the specter of a revisioned Christianity and challenges readers to rethink the nature of both orthodoxy and heresy."
- Publishers Weekly
". . . absolutely one of the BEST things out there. . . . simply marvelous!"
- Dr. James D. Tabor, chair of the Dept. of Religious Studies,
University of North Carolina, and author of The Jesus Dynasty
"If you are looking for an intelligent and readable book on James, the brother of Jesus, look no further. This is the best single book on James there is."
- Keith Akers, author of The Lost Religion of Jesus
"Bütz's book is good on so many levels it's hard to know where to begin. . . . Any serious scholar of Jesus or Christianity needs to have this book in his/her library."
- Dr. James Gardner, author of Jesus Who?
". . . may represent one of the most complete portrayals of the history of James the brother of Jesus . . . paints a grand scenario of the desperate battle for the heart of Christianity in the early Church . . ."
- Rev. Thomas Scarborough, Capetown, South Africa
". . . an excellent summary of the evidence that pertains to James . . . Perhaps Bütz's real contribution is to relate how this issue of Jesus' family relates significantly to Christian doctrine and its evolution."
- Dr. David A. Nock, Mid-Canada Center for Spiritual Transformation
"Jeffrey Bütz . . . has added [a] further important piece to the mosaic that is our image of Jesus. . . . The result can only be described as sensational and downright revolutionary."
- Dr. Georg Feuerstein, author of Holy Madness
". . . what gives this book 5 stars is the fact that Bütz boils all this information down to an easy and informative read that anyone can understand . . ."
- Rev. Mike Shaw, Amazon.com
"As an antidote to the highly-publicized drivel which often passes for 'research' into early Christianity, this book fills a great need."
- Stephen Triesch, Amazon.com
". . . presents James' life and ministry without hysteria or an 'agenda.' It is a well researched, well-written study."
- Norm Friedland, the Jesus Scroll blog
". . . well researched and documented. . . . shines a strong light on an undervalued aspect of early Christianity."
- Robert Burns, New Dawn (Australia)
"[T]his book is another in a growing movement that's changing our perspectives on historical and religious traditions."
- Nexus
| | From Booklist
Journal of the American Libray Association)
Feb. 1, 2005:
James, the brother of Jesus and head of the church in Jerusalem, gained prominence several years ago when an ossuary was found ostensibly carved with his name. Now the authenticity of that artifact has been questioned, just as the role of James in the founding of the church has always been controversial. Bütz does an excellent job of synthesizing all the information about James and presenting it an informative, highly readable manner (something that eluded scholar Robert Eisenman in his 1997 book James, the Brother of Jesus). Using both canonical and Gnostic gospels as well as the writings of historians and church fathers, Butz sheds light on the religious issues that divided James and Paul (with Peter often in the middle), and in a step-by-step approach, he clarifies what Christian writings said about the concerns that roiled the nascent church. Readers on both sides of topics such as whether Jesus repudiated Judaism will find things with which to disagree, but it is the exhilaration of the debate that makes the book such a worthy acquisition.
–– IleneCooper
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| | From Publishers Weekly
Feb. 14, 2005:
Bütz, adjunct professor of World Religions at Penn State University and an ordained Lutheran minister, explores the place of James, the brother of Jesus, in the tradition and teaching of the church. He suggest that ecclesiastical authorities have deliberately suppressed the role of James in order to minimize the Jewishness of Christianity while emphasizing the theology of Paul. Bütz sees the theologies of James and Paul as contradictory in many points, with Paul distancing himself from his Jewish roots and thus creating a religion that Bütz contends was not envisioned by Jesus. Paul, Bütz asserts, relegated good works to a secondary position, contrary to the teachings of Jesus. In calling attention to this dichotomy, Bütz raises a major question: " In other words, if the first followers of Jesus—including the apostles and Jesus' own family—were thoroughly Jewish in their belief and practice and opposed to Paul's interpretation of the gospel, then just what is 'orthodoxy' and what is 'heresy'?" This volume is eminently readable and accessible to nonscholars while being thorough in its research. It raises the specter of a revisioned Christianity and challenges readers to rethink the nature of both orthodoxy and heresy.
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| | From Amazon.com
April 14, 2005:
For those of us who have been studying James and the early church for many decades . . . for those of us who have waded through the expensive scholarly works with their overly dry presentations . . . for those of us who have kept up with the growing change in attitudes toward James the brother of Jesus . . . there is nothing new in this book. However, what gives this book 5 stars is the fact that Bütz boils all this information down to an easy and informative read that anyone can understand. If you have a free day you can read it and broaden your knowledge of early Christianity in one sitting. This book by Bütz will be another in a growing list that will help usher in a better understanding of the true and original church started by Jesus and his brother, James.
— Rev. Mike Shaw
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