Ruckmanism

These quotes from Chapter 3 & 4 of “It is Written”. Go along ways in explaining why the “King James Only” extreme crowd is so troubling a witness. I’ve written about why I prefer the KJV in my own reading, and the Bible’s I’ve used in my walk of Faith. I’m referring to myself as: “KJV Preferred”. My reading of “It is Written” Book hopefully will provide me with even more evidence to support my preference. BTW…I never actually heard of Ruckman until I read this.

Despite this, I do very much respect that the KJV translators were Godly men, extremely well educated who undertook a noble task in making an excellent translation of an excellent Hebrew and Greek Text.

The Inspiration of Scripture
Murdo A. N. Macleod

Ruckmanism
It is a matter of considerable regret that a measure of confusion in this whole matter has been created by those who would adopt the position known as Ruckmanite. Dr Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), a native of Delaware and raised in Kansas, came to faith in 1949 and subsequendy became pastor of a Baptist church in Pensacola. Whilst he appears to have been initially orthodox in his beliefs, dangerous errors began to emerge and one of them had to do with the Bible itself.

The Word of God was not only given by inspiration but also providentially preserved. During the Reformation and in later Puritan periods a number of Protestant versions appeared, all based on the same authentic texts and translated according to faithful principles. Peter Ruckman would have agreed with this and strongly supported the sole use of the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Received Text.

Sadiy, he took matters a stage further and began to ascribe divine inspiration to the translators who produced the King James Version of 1611. This placed that version above all the Greek texts now in existence. He began to popularise the idea that the King James Bible was a form of new revelation, one that was better than what God had given to the church in the original Hebrew and Greek. This one English version has become, according to Ruckman, the final touchstone and is without any possibility of error.

Once a translation is viewed as superior to the text it translates, an important line has been crossed.

Furthermore, it places great power in the hands of the person who has apparently been enlightened, above all others, to the point where he, and it appears he alone, is qualified to make such a momentous decision.

God’s Inerrant and Infallible Word
Graham Chewter

In 1970 Ruckman published a book entitled The Christian’s Handbook of Manuscript Evidence. In it he claimed that the Greek texts could be corrected by the Authorised Version. Referring to one instance he claimed, “The A.V. 1611 reading, here, is superior to any Greek tex!* Lest we fail to grasp exactly what he is saying, he adds elsewhere, “If all you have is the original Greek, you lose light”36 and, “If the mood or tense isn’t right in any Greek text, the King James Bible will straighten it out in a hurry.”35

Clearly he believed that the Lord had failed to give the church the most reliable Scriptures until the King James Bible was published. In the words of David Cloud, “If Ruckman is right, where was the inspired Word of God prior to 1611? What did the churches do from the time of the apostles until the 17th century?”

Ruckman’s answer to this was to claim that they and everyone who did not agree with him were apostate. He used vile language and extreme expressions to pour scorn and vitriol on every other believer, going so far, on at least one occasion, as imagining secretly entering a Christian church with explosives in order to destroy the building and bring death to the apostates gathered there.

By following this path, Peter Ruckman has succeeded in reversing the proper order of Bible translation entirely and, ironically, managed to weaken the hands of those who wish to defend the use of safe and uncorrupted manuscripts. Ruckman died in 2016 but his followers, every bit as fanatical as himself, continue to press their erroneous claims and bring division and confusion in every place they settle. Their understanding of inspiration differs in the most crucial and fundamental way from what we have outlined here.

35 Peter Ruckman, The Christian’s Handbook of Manuscript Evidence (Pensacola Bible Press, 1970), p. 118.
36 Ibid., p. 336.
37 Ibid., pp. 348-9.