Ellis T. Rasmussen Explained

Ellis Theo Rasmussen (September 21, 1915 – June 6, 2011)[1] [2] was an American professor and dean of Religious Instruction at Brigham Young University (BYU). He helped produce the edition of the Bible published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1979.

Biography

Born to Wilford and Kate Nelson Rasmussen.[3]

As a young man in the 1930s, Rasmussen attended Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he was forensic manager of the student body and received an associates degree in education.[4] [5]

In the 1940s, Rasmussen married Oda Fonnesbeck. They had five children and resided in Orem, Utah.[3] Rasmussen died at his home on June 6, 2011.[6]

Church service

In 1939 Rasmussen served as a missionary for the LDS Church in the West German Mission.[7] When the German borders were closing during the onset of World War II,[8] Rasmussen led several missionaries in an escape to Denmark, then back to the United States.[9] He completed his missionary service in the Southern States Mission,[10] where he served as mission secretary.[11]

Throughout his life Rasmussen served in the LDS Church, including as a bishop, high councilor,[12] counselor in a stake presidency, temple ordinance worker, and Stake Patriarch in Orem, Utah.[13]

Education

After his mission, in 1942, Rasmussen received his bachelor's degree from BYU. That fall, he went to Weston, Idaho to teach in high school and LDS Church seminary. During the summer, he continued graduate work at BYU under his mentor, Sidney B. Sperry, who urged him to study Old Testament languages. Sperry helped Rasmussen become a part-time teacher at BYU in 1949.[10] This helped him complete his master's degree in 1951[14] and then begin teaching full-time at BYU.[10]

With Sperry's encouragement, a sabbatical leave grant, and a private donation,[10] Rasmussen pursued doctoral studies in the language and literature of the Old Testament at Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[15] from 1957 to 1958.[10] He completed his Ph.D. at BYU in 1967, with his dissertation entitled "Relationship of God and Man According to a Text and Targum of Deuteronomy".[16]

Career

Rasmussen taught at BYU for over thirty years.[15] [17] By the 1960s he was chair of the Biblical Languages Department,[4] followed by chair of the Ancient Scripture Department,[18] and Assistant Dean of Religious Instruction.[16] [19] In 1976, Rasmussen became dean of Religious Instruction and Director of BYU's Religious Studies Center, replacing Jeffrey R. Holland who had left to become Commissioner of Church Education. In 1981, Rasmussen stepped down from these positions and was replaced by Robert J. Matthews.[20] [21] He received the Division Faculty Teaching Award from the BYU Division of Continuing Education in 1980,[22] and was retired from teaching by the mid-1980s.[23]

At BYU Rasmussen had been an early member of the Society for Early Historic Archaeology in 1949, where he served on its advisory committee and as symposium chairman in 1972.[16] He also spent time in Israel for BYU as a leader of travel study tours[16] and Special Representative.[24]

Rasmussen assisted several significant LDS Church publishing efforts. In the 1970s he served on the church's Correlation Committee[25] and on a committee to assist the church's Ensign magazine with scriptural articles.[26] Being skilled in Hebrew, Rasmussen was given leave from his administrative duties at BYU during 1973–74 to work on the church's Scripture Publication Committee that produced the 1979 LDS edition of the Bible.[27] [28] [29] He later also assisted in developing the 1981 LDS editions of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.[29] [30] He contributed articles on the Old Testament to the 1992 Encyclopedia of Mormonism[31] and participated in the encyclopedia's final editing.[32]

Rasmussen has been described as among the LDS scholars familiar with "biblical languages and modern critical methodology" seeking academic credibility, yet "dogmatic" and "apologetic" in their support of traditional LDS orthodoxy.[33]

Writings

Rasmussen authored the LDS Church's 1965 Sunday School manual on the Old Testament,[4] and his best known work is A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament, published in 1993.

Books

Articles

Papers

Notes and References

  1. Ellis Theo Rasmussen Obituary 1915-2011 Web site: Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary .
  2. Rasmussen's middle-name and birth-year are from Web site: Time Had Come: Producers of Edition Remembered . LDS Church Periodical Index . . https://archive.today/20120707234443/http://chperiodicals.lds.org/search/Xellis+rasmussen&SORT=D/Xellis+rasmussen&SORT=D&SUBKEY=ellis%20rasmussen/1,16,16,B/frameset&FF=Xellis+rasmussen&SORT=D&1,1, . dead . 2012-07-07 . 2010-01-11.
  3. News: Death: Philo Rasmussen . . January 19, 1998 . 2010-01-12 .
  4. News: BYU Professor Writes Lessons . . . August 29, 1964 . 5 . 2010-01-12.
  5. News: Play Written In Utah Chosen at Snow College . . October 12, 1934 . 15 . 2010-01-12.
  6. Web site: ELLIS THEO RASMUSSEN Obituary (2011) Deseret News. .
  7. Boone . David F. . David F. Boone . The Worldwide Evacuation of Latter-day Saint Missionaries at the Beginning of World War II . Master's thesis . . Provo, Utah . 251 . August 1981 . 2022-08-18 .
  8. Rasmussen, Ellis T. . Border Incidents: Inside Germany . . December 1943.
  9. News: Williams, Lane . LDS Missionaries Used Lessons Learned From WWI to Flee Germany . September 1, 1989 . . Salt Lake City, Utah . 2010-01-12 .
  10. Rasmussen, Ellis T. . Sidney B. Sperry, As I Remember and Appreciate Him . . xxv–xxvi . 4 . 1 . Spring 1995 . 10.2307/44758760 . 44758760 . 165144843 . 2010-01-12.
  11. Southern States Mission . Liahona, the Elders' Journal . May 28, 1940 . 37 . 24 . 572 . 2010-01-12.
  12. News: Sharon Stake Names New Counselor in Presidency . . . March 9, 1955 . 8 . 2010-01-12.
  13. Rasmussen, Ellis T. . Sidney B. Sperry: Student of the Book of Mormon . . July 1986 . 24 . 2010-01-12.
  14. Rasmussen . Ellis T. . Textual Parallels to the Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Commandments as Found in the Bible . 1951 . Master's thesis . Brigham Young University, Division of Religion . Provo, Utah . 2010-01-12. .
  15. Web site: Ellis T. Rasmussen . DeseretBook.com . . 2010-01-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090216100534/http://deseretbook.com/authors/author-info/360 . 2009-02-16 . dead .
  16. Advisory Committee Created . Newsletter and Proceedings of the S.E.H.A. . . September 1972 . 10–11 . 2010-01-12.
  17. Beginning in 1949 to at least 1981.
  18. Christensen . Carl Landus . An Analysis of Visual Religious Symbols Appearing in the Improvement Era, Ensign, and New Era Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1952-1972 . Master's thesis . August 1974 . 14 . . Provo, Utah . 2010-01-12.
  19. Rasmussen, Ellis T. . What do we know of Jesus' use of the Hebrew scriptures? . . January 1975 . 23 . 2010-01-12.
  20. Rasmussen served as dean from 1976-81. See: McCarlie, V. Wallace . Sidney B. Sperry: Father of Religious Education at BYU . Religious Education Review . Winter 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100126183328/http://byureligiouseducationreview.com/2009WinterSidneySperry.php . 2010-01-26 .
  21. The Religious Education dean is also the RSC general director. For Rasmussen, see: Anderson, Lavina Fielding . Lavina Fielding Anderson . A Respectful Meeting of the Minds . . June 1978 . 70. 2009-05-18.
  22. Book: Richard H. Henstrom, Keith R. Oakes . A History of the Division of Continuing Education . . Provo, Utah . 1997 . 812 . 2010-01-12 .
  23. Professor emeritus of Religious Education in January 1987 Rasmussen, Ellis T. . What are the best evidences to support the authenticity of the Book of Mormon? . . January 1987 . 53–55 . 2010-01-12.
  24. Unpublished manuscript in BYU's Harold B. Lee Library:
  25. Rasmussen, Ellis T. . The Unchanging Gospel of Two Testaments . . October 1973 . 2010-01-12.
  26. Todd, Jay M. . Search the Scriptures . . December 1972 . 2010-01-12.
  27. Anderson, Lavina Fielding . Lavina Fielding Anderson . Church Publishes First LDS Edition of the Bible . . October 1979 . 9 . 2010-01-12.
  28. Mortimer, Wm. James . William James Mortimer. The Coming Forth of the LDS Editions of Scripture . . August 1983 . 35 . 2010-01-12.
  29. Harper, Bruce T. . The Church Publishes a New Triple Combination . . October 1981 . 2010-01-12.
  30. Book: The Explanatory Introduction: A Guide to the Doctrine and Covenants . Manscill, Craig K. . Craig K. Manscill . Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine & Covenants . . Salt Lake City, Utah . 2004 . http://rsc.byu.edu/pubCManscillExplanatoryIntroduction.php . 2010-01-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100127060204/http://rsc.byu.edu/pubCManscillExplanatoryIntroduction.php . 2010-01-27 . dead .
  31. http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Deuteronomy "Deuteronomy"
  32. Book: Acknowledgments . Encyclopedia of Mormonism . Daniel H. Ludlow . Daniel H. Ludlow . 1992 . lxiii . 1 . http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Acknowledgments . 2010-01-12. Encyclopedia of Mormonism .
  33. Hutchinson, Anthony A. . LDS Approaches to the Holy Bible . . Spring 1982 . 15 . 1 . 104–05 . 10.2307/45225055 . 45225055 . 254390256 . free .
  34. Largey, Dennis . Refusing to Worship Today's Graven Images . . February 1994 . 2010-01-12.

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