Biography
Ruth Paxson was born in Manchester, Iowa, and studied at the State University of Iowa before attending Moody Bible Institute. A contemporary account identifies her as Ruthana Paxson, born in 1876 and graduating from Iowa in 1898. Some later publisher summaries give a conflicting birth year; that discrepancy should remain visible rather than be silently harmonised.[1] [2]
Her early work included service with the Young Women's Christian Association and travel among students. In 1911 she went to China under YWCA sponsorship.[2]
Paxson taught Bible lessons to pastors, evangelists, and other Christian workers. At the request of Chinese and missionary colleagues, those lessons were expanded into the volumes known as Life on the Highest Plane. The book's origin matters because it was shaped by teaching relationships rather than written only as an abstract study.[3]
Health difficulties led her to leave China. She continued Bible teaching in Europe and the United States and wrote other works, including Rivers of Living Water.[2]
She died in 1949. Her legacy rests in teaching and books concerned with Christian life in dependence on the Holy Spirit. The contemporary biographical record and the publishers' histories together help readers separate documented chronology from repeated catalogue errors.[1] [2] [3]