Ellis T. Rasmussen

Ellis Theo Rasmussen (September 21, 1915 – June 6, 2011) 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.

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.

In the 1940s,

Church service

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

Throughout his life Rasmussen served in the LDS Church, including as a bishop, high councilor, counselor in a stake presidency, temple ordinance worker,

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. and then begin teaching full-time at BYU. from 1957 to 1958.

Career Rasmussen taught at BYU for over thirty years. By the 1960s he was chair of the Biblical Languages Department, and Assistant Dean of Religious Instruction. 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. He received the Division Faculty Teaching Award from the BYU Division of Continuing Education in 1980, and was retired from teaching by the mid-1980s.

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.

Rasmussen assisted several significant LDS Church publishing efforts. In the 1970s he served on the church's Correlation Committee and on a committee to assist the church's Ensign magazine with scriptural articles. 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. He later also assisted in developing the 1981 LDS editions of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. He contributed articles on the Old Testament to the 1992 Encyclopedia of Mormonism and participated in the encyclopedia's final editing.

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.

Writings

Rasmussen authored the LDS Church's 1965 Sunday School manual on the Old Testament,

Articles

Papers

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