Benjamin Urrutia

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Benjamin Urrutia (born January 24, 1950 in Guayaquil, Ecuador) is an author and scholar. According to the Mormon Literature Database, Urrutia is "the only LDS Basque Israeli American anthropologist, linguist, and science fiction writer in the universe."[1] Urrutia co-edited, with Guy Davenport, The Logia of Yeshua, which collected what they consider to be Jesus' authentic sayings from a variety of canonical and non-canonical sources. Urrutia interprets Jesus' mission as a leadership role in the "Israelite nonviolent resistance to Roman oppression".

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[edit] Biography

Benjamin Urrutia lived in Ecuador until 1968, and has lived since in the United States of America, save for the years 1974-1977, when he resided in Israel (including an entire year at Ein Hashofet), studying the cultural and historical background of the life of Jesus. During this period he also participated in an archaeological excavation near Beersheba, contributed a page relating Psalm 51 with the Egyptian Opening of the mouth ceremony to a Hebrew University of Jerusalem periodical[2], and was interviewed by The Jerusalem Post.

At Brigham Young University, he studied under Dr. Hugh Nibley. Learning Nibley's claim that the Book of Mormon names Shiblon and Shiblom may be derived from the Arabic root shibl, "lion cub," Urrutia connected this idiom to the "Jaguar Cub" imagery of the Olmec people.[3] This theory has been widely accepted among LDS scholars.[citation needed] Urrutia has also elaborated on Nibley's argument that the word Makhshava, usually translated as "thought," is more correctly translated as "plan." Urrutia has made some contributions to the study of Egyptian Names in the Book of Mormon.

Over the years, Urrutia has written and published a number of articles, letters, poems and reviews on matters related to the work of J. R. R. Tolkien.[4]

Benjamin Urrutia has been a book reviewer since 1970 and a film critic since 1981. As of 2008, he is a book reviewer and the principal film critic for The Peaceable Table.[5] He is a strong advocate of Christian vegetarianism.

Benjamin Urrutia has the condition known as Anosmia: a total lack of a sense of smell.

[edit] Ideas

Urrutia contends that Rabbi Yeshua Bar Abba was the historical Jesus of Nazareth and was the leader of the successful nonviolent Jewish resistance to Pilate's attempt to place Roman eagles — symbols of the worship of Jupiter — on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Josephus, who relates this episode, does not say who the leader of this resistance was, but shortly afterwards states that Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified. (Many scholars believe this passage of Josephus may have been slightly but significantly altered by later editors.)

[edit] Translation of the Spangler Nodule

In 1984, Benjamin Urrutia claimed to have translated the 'Spangler Nodule', allegedly an iron nodule found in Ohio in 1800 which was reported to have an inscription carved on it. According to Urrutia, the text says YHWWY. [6]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Benjamin Urrutia from Mormon Literature & Creative Arts (hosted by BYU)
  2. ^ Benjamin Urrutia, "Psalm 51 and the Egyptian Opening of the Mouth Ceremony," in Sarah Israelite-Groll (ed.), Egyptological Studies (Scripta Hierosolymitana, Vol. 28; Jerusalem: Magnes Press of the Hebrew University, 1982) pages 222-223 (1982)
  3. ^ Benjamin Urrutia, “The Name Connection”, New Era, Jun 1983, 39
  4. ^ See Mythlore from 1978 to 1986, e.g.
  5. ^ VegetarianFriends.net
  6. ^ Benjamin Urrutia, "Translation of the Spangler Nodule," Newsletter and Proceedings of the Society for Early Historic Archaeology, number 155 (1984).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • The Peaceable Table, including a number of articles, poems, reviews and stories by Benjamin Urrutia, plus interview: