Re Rediscovering Women’s Voices, May
The significant work Nancy Calvert – Koyzis and others are doing in bringing to light ‘the work of historical female interpreters’ of the Bible is to be celebrated. To the list of women who engaged in the study and explication of the biblical text should be added the Canadian Presbyterian, Anna Ross (1848 – 1933).
Anna (Duncan) Ross was widowed in 1887 when her husband, Rev. John Ross of Brucefield, Ont., died. She raised her five children while writing six books and numerous articles. Her The New Covenant: A Lost Secret grew out of a debate she had with Dr. J. Edgar McFayden, professor of Old Testament at Knox College, about the meaning of the covenant. Ross was the first principal of Ewart College, and was a frequent speaker at Women’s Foreign Missionary Society gatherings.
In the wake of The Komagata Maru tragedy, in 1914, she mounted a biblical defense for Canada having a more open immigration policy. In the 1920’s she published a commentary on the book of Revelation that engaged some of the biblical scholars of her time. Following Church Union in 1925, she was often the preacher in the Presbyterian congregation in Strasbourg, Sask., where she then lived.
I look forward to the discovery of more Canadian women’s voices among the historical interpreters of the Bible.
