Jonathan Butler (historian)


Jonathan M. Butler was a historian of religion. He was formerly employed as a lecturer by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Biography

Jonathan Butler earned a BA in religion at La Sierra College and an M.Div. at Andrews University before completing his doctorate at the University of Chicago.
He worked as an associate professor of church history at Loma Linda University in California, and also taught at 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:
He authored an article in 1979 claiming Ellen White's endtime scenario was culturally conditioned to the point of being more at place in her time than now. Walter Rea describes it as "a brilliant piece," which "sent shock waves through the church".
Yet like numerous other authors, the church found his writings on White and other history challenging and difficult to cope with officially. He claimed, "many of the names identified with advances in Ellen White studies" are no longer in church employment, "and most of them are no longer active church members." Butler later stopped working as an academic historian.

Publications

Butler has authored publications on the debate over the inspiration of Ellen White, charismatic experiences in early Adventism, and others.

Books and book chapters

  • The Disappointed: Millerism and Millenarianism in the Nineteenth Century, 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
  • 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
  • "The Historian as Heretic", introduction to Ronald Numbers, Prophetess of Health, 2nd edn. onwards, p1–41. in Spectrum 23:2, 43–64
  • Softly and Tenderly: Heaven and Hell in American Revivalism, 1870–1920. Carlson Publishing, 1991

Articles