Robert Balgarnie Young Scott (1899–1987), known as R. B. Y. Scott, was a minister of the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

and an

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

scholar.

Biography

Scott was born on 16 July 1899 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, the son of John McPherson Scott (a

Presbyterian Church in Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada (french: Église presbytérienne du Canada) is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to ...

minister). He was a graduate of

Knox College, University of Toronto , mottoeng = The word gives light , established = , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church , type = Federated theological college , principal = Ernest van Eck , city = Tor ...

, and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1922, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1924, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in 1928. He was ordained in the

in 1926. He started teaching at Union College of British Columbia in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 1928. In 1931, he moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

where he was a professor of Old Testament language and literature at the United Theological College. From 1948 until 1955, he taught Old Testament at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. In 1947, he became the first Dean of the Faculty of Divinity at McGill University. He was a member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

from 1949 to 1955. In 1951, he "helped recover several fragments of the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

... that had found their way into the hands of private dealers in Bethlehem." In 1955, he was appointed the Danforth Professor of Religion at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He was chairman of the department from 1963 to 1965. He retired in 1968. He was President of the

Canadian Society of Biblical Studies The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS) is a Canadian learned society established in 1933 to support teaching and research relating to biblical studies. It is the oldest Humanities, humanities-related academic society in Canada. Among those ...

from 1971 to 1972. He is noted for his staunch support for the

social gospel The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...

ethos of the United Church, both at Princeton and at home in Canada and for some 10 of his 24 hymns, many written in the cause of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order, especially the social gospel hymn "O Day of God, Draw Nigh" which is found in the hymnals of the United Church of Canada, the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...

, the

, the joint hymnal of the Uniting, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Church of Christ churches of Australia, and in hymnals of British and US churches. It was sung at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

at the memorial service for John Smith, the leader of the British Labour Party. His published writings include ''Towards the Christian Revolution'' (1936), ''Relevance of the Prophets'' (1953); ''Treasures from Judaean Caves'' (1955); ''The Psalms as Christian Praise'' (1958); ''Proverbs and Ecclesiastes'' (1965) in the Anchor Bible Series; ''The Way of Wisdom'', (1971) He died on 1 November 1987 in Toronto.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

The R.B.Y. Scott award of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, R. B. Y. 1987 deaths 1899 births 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Presbyterian ministers 20th-century biblical scholars Biblical archaeology Canadian biblical scholars Canadian Christian socialists Canadian hymnwriters Canadian Presbyterian ministers Canadian university and college faculty deans Christian hymnwriters Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Academic staff of McGill University Ministers of the United Church of Canada Old Testament scholars People of the World Council of Churches Presbyterian hymnwriters Presbyterian socialists Princeton University faculty University of Toronto alumni Writers from Toronto