Hugh Joseph Schonfield (1901-1988) was a British scholar who focused on the New Testament and the origins of Christianity. Born in London, he pursued his education in the city and in Glasgow. Schonfield identified as a liberal Hebrew Christian, sometimes using the term Nazarene, but his views, particularly his unwillingness to affirm Jesus's divinity, led to his exclusion from the International Hebrew Christian Alliance. He also briefly engaged with Messianic Judaism but found the experience disappointing. He referred to himself as a "Jewish historian of Christian beginnings."

Beyond his academic work, Schonfield was involved in pacifist and global governance movements. He was a founder and president of the Commonwealth of World Citizens and a signatory to agreements leading to the drafting of a world constitution. He also served as president of the H. G. Wells Society. Schonfield authored over 40 books, spanning history, biography, and religious studies. His translation, "The Authentic New Testament" (later "The Original New Testament"), aimed for a non-idealized rendering of the original texts. His most controversial work, "The Passover Plot," proposed that Jesus's crucifixion was part of a deliberate plan to fulfill messianic expectations that ultimately went awry.

Schonfield's religious identity was complex. Born Jewish, he embraced a form of liberal Hebrew Christianity, occasionally identifying as a Nazarene. However, his theological stance, specifically his refusal to accept the deity of Jesus, caused him to be expelled from the International Hebrew Christian Alliance in 1937, despite being a founding member since 1925. He later had a negative experience with Messianic Judaism. He described his own work as that of a "Jewish historian of Christian beginnings." In his later years and at the time of his death, he was characterized as a "non-practicing Jew." Politically, Schonfield was a proponent of world governance and pacifism. He co-founded and presided over the Commonwealth of World Citizens, also known as the "Mondcivitan Republic," and was involved in efforts to draft a world constitution, which led to the convening of a World Constituent Assembly.

Hugh Schonfield made significant contributions to the study of early Christianity and biblical texts. His translation work, notably "The Authentic New Testament" (1958) and its revised edition "The Original New Testament" (1985), sought to present the New Testament without theological embellishment, focusing on the intended meaning and original structure of the texts. His most widely discussed book, "The Passover Plot" (1965), posited a provocative thesis: that Jesus's crucifixion was the result of a conscious, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, plan to fulfill contemporary messianic prophecies. This theory generated considerable debate. He followed this with "Those Incredible Christians" (1968), another controversial work that, while less impactful, explored the early Christian movement. Schonfield also delved into linguistic reform, proposing a modernized Hebrew alphabet in "The New Hebrew Typography" (1932), which included features like distinct upper and lower case letters, though this proposal was not adopted.