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"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
The Strange Case of Peter Ruckman
David Cloud
Peter Ruckman is a pastor in Pensacola, Florida, and has created quite a large following in the States. He makes amazing claims for himself and his writings, claims which could only be made for divine revelation.
For instance, he has stated in his paper that his next major work will be the final word on the Bible translation subject until Christ returns. He teaches that the English King James Version is actually better than the Greek and Hebrew Text from which it was translated.
He teaches that men will be saved by works during the Tribulation and that they were saved by works during the period of the Law; yet the Scripture plainly says none are justified by the law or by good works (consider Romans 3-4).
He teaches many other strange things such as the idea that the lost will become literal worms in hell. He is also an amazingly angry man and his writings are literally filled with bitter, unbelievably harsh accusations against everyone who does not agree with him. It is as if he were cursing without cursing – the same spirit. He is also a divorced man who has married a divorcee, yet remains in the pastorate [Editor’s note: Ruckman has been married 3 times, with 2 living ex-wives!]
It is to be regretted that such a man has identified himself so closely with the King James Bible. It’s common for the ‘Ruckmanism’ to be spread across the entire issue of whether the Received Text and KJV are the preserved Word of God.
The weighty proofs for supporting the Received Text and KJV and rejecting the Westcott-Hort Text are conveniently ignored while attention is drawn to Ruckman’s peculiarities... I am convinced that Peter Ruckman has done more harm to the cause of the King James Bible for which he fights than many of its enemies.