View source for Jonathan Butler (historian)

{{Short description|American historian}}
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{{Seventh-day Adventism}}

'''Jonathan M. Butler''' (born 1945<ref>''Butler graduated from La Sierra College in 1967, as class president:'' see Associated Students of La Sierra College, ''Meteor'' [Riverside, CA: La Sierra College 1967] 160). Butler's own professed date of birth is April 16, 1945.</ref>) was a [[historian]] of [[religion]]. He was formerly employed as a lecturer by the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]].

== Biography ==
Jonathan Butler earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in religion at [[La Sierra College]] (1967) and an [[M.Div.]] at [[Andrews University]] before completing his doctorate at the [[University of Chicago]] (1975).

He worked as an associate professor of church history at [[Loma Linda University]] in [[California]], and also taught at [[Union College (Nebraska)|Union College]] in [[Nebraska]]. He was co-editor of the magazine ''[[Adventist Heritage]]''.

Other historians have praised his historical writing. The authors of ''[[Seeking a Sanctuary]]'' describe:
:The most valuable contribution to the study of the denomination's formative period is still Jonathan M. Butler's landmark essay, "Adventism and the American Experience," [...]<ref>''Seeking a Sanctuary'' 2nd end, p460</ref>

He authored an article in 1979 claiming [[Ellen G. White|Ellen White]]'s endtime scenario was culturally conditioned to the point of being more at place in her time than now.<ref>"[http://spectrummagazine.org/files/archive/archive06-10/10-2butler.pdf The World of E. G. White and the End of the World] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829122544/http://spectrummagazine.org/files/archive/archive06-10/10-2butler.pdf |date=2008-08-29 }}" by Jonathan Butler. ''Spectrum'' 10:2 (August 1979), p2–13</ref> [[Walter T. Rea|Walter Rea]] describes it as "a brilliant piece," which "sent shock waves through the church".<ref>''The White Lie'' by Walter Rea, [http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/rea/rea1.htm chapter 1 reprint] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124132126/http://ellenwhiteexposed.com/rea/rea1.htm |date=2011-11-24 }}</ref>

Yet like numerous other authors, the church found his writings on White and other history challenging and difficult to cope with officially.<ref>''The White Lie'' by Walter Rea, [http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/rea/rea7.htm chapter 11 reprint] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120731085932/http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/rea/rea7.htm |date=2012-07-31 }}</ref> He claimed, "many of the names identified with advances in [[Ellen White studies]]" (including himself) are no longer in church employment, "and most of them are no longer active church members."<ref>Butler, "The Historian as Heretic", p60</ref> Butler later stopped working as an academic historian.<ref>''Seeking a Sanctuary'' 2nd edn, p325</ref>

== Publications ==
Butler has authored publications on the debate over the [[inspiration of Ellen White]], charismatic experiences in early Adventism (see: [[charismatic Adventism]]), and others.

{{Expand list|date=February 2011}}

===Books and book chapters===
* ''The Disappointed: Millerism and Millenarianism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1987), co-edited with [[Ronald Numbers]]
* "Adventism and the American Experience" chapter in ''The Rise of Adventism: A Commentary on the Social and Religious Ferment of Mid-Nineteenth Century America'', edited by Edwin Scott Gaustad (Harper & Row, 1974)
* Butler with Rennie B. Schoepflin, "Charismatic Women and Health: [[Mary Baker Eddy]], Ellen G. White, and [[Aimee Semple McPherson]]", p337–365 in ''Women, Health, and Medicine in America: A Historical Handbook'', ed. Rima D. Apple (New York: Garland, 1990)
* "The Historian as Heretic", introduction to Ronald Numbers, ''Prophetess of Health'', 2nd edn. onwards, p1–41. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100626065403/http://spectrummagazine.org/files/archive/archive21-25/23-2butler.pdf Reprinted] in ''Spectrum'' 23:2 (August 1993), 43–64
* ''Softly and Tenderly: Heaven and Hell in American Revivalism, 1870–1920''. Carlson Publishing, 1991

===Articles===
* "Theological Roots of Pentecostalism", ''[[Church History (journal)|Church History]]'' 58:3 (S 1989), p408–409; a review of [[Donald Dayton]]'s 1987 book of the same name
* "Thunder and Trumpets: Millerites and Dissenting Religion in Upstate New York, 1800–1850". ''Church History'', 55:2 (1986), p240–241
* "From Millerism to Seventh-Day Adventism: 'boundlessness to consolidation'". ''Church History'', 55:1 (1986), p50–64
* "Prophecy, Gender, and Culture: Ellen Gould Harmon (White) and the Roots of Seventh-day Adventism." ''Religion and American Culture'' 1 (1991), p3–29; [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1123904 JSTOR link]

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
*[[New religious movement]]
*[[History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church]]

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
* [https://archive.today/20121204002101/http://jewel.andrews.edu:82/search/aButler+Jonathan Articles by Butler] and [https://archive.today/20121212061447/http://jewel.andrews.edu:82/search/dButler+Jonathan about Butler] as cataloged in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)

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[[Category:American historians of religion]]
[[Category:Seventh-day Adventist religious workers]]
[[Category:American Seventh-day Adventists]]
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]