Peter Ruckman died. In a Chick tract-style nightmare, he was stripped naked and hauled by a gigantic angel to stand before a glowing outline of Jesus as the universe watched his entire life play out on a enormous drive-in movie screen.
Ruckman was the grandfather of 20th-century wild-eyed, kooksville KJV Onlyism. He was to KJVOlyism what Rousas Rushdoony was to modern theonomy and L.Ron Hubbard to Scientology. A despicable character who was both unfit for the pulpit and unqualified to be called a minister of God, Ruckman’s brawling rhetoric spawned at least two generations of worthless, pugnacious, “bad attitude” fighting Baptists whose doctrines have become a malignancy upon Christ’s Church.
He had an overheated type-writer from which his fevered mind birthed a number of his false doctrines he published in rambling, often times incoherent commentaries, so-called “Bible studies,” and of course his monthly Bible Believer’s Bulletin screeds.
I was first bewitched by Ruckman’s written materials when I was a stupid, untaught new Christian in college. As a recent convert to KJVOnlyism, I secured his book, Problem Texts, that attempts to provide an explanation for every apparent contradiction in the King James Bible. I thought it would help me answer skeptics on my school campus. It only helped to keep me mired in error and made Christianity a laughing stock. Probably the most bizarre of his books is called Black is Beautiful in which he writes about UFOs, government conspiracies, and other paranormal activity. A full review can be read here, Refuse Profane and Old Wives’ Fables.
A commenter on another blog reminded us how Ruckman illustrated all of his book covers. In fact, his crude chalk drawing style is copied for a lot of the lame, seizure-inducing KJVO websites that look like they were created using Windows ME “Paint,” we see on the internet today.
Here are some of his better gems,
I think he is confusing garden variety, biblical Calvinism with hyper-Calvinism.
The donkey ears are a nice touch, though.
I think this is his take on the Brownsville Revival, which took place in Pensacola
Here’s another version,
A number of years ago, one of his sons contacted me out of the blue to fill me in on a particularly aggressive KJVO opponent I had been tussling with on my blog. His son was an amiable fellow, and though he was not in agreement with a lot of his father’s ministry, he said that his dad was the real deal, believing everything that he taught and producing the volumes of printed material all on his own.
As “real” and sincere as he might have been, his stuff will only lead a person to spiritual disaster. I can only pray his wretched teachings will fade from the collective memory of the faithful in the Christian church.
hipandthigh 
What’s with those ears…Calvinists ears…
I live in the Pensacola area and, sadly, know a number of people infected with his vile nonsense. A couple of them worked for me when I was in the Coast Guard over in Mobile; they were attending his ‘Institute’. I didn’t realize what they were involved with until I retired near Pensacola. Did have some interesting ‘discussions. with them; hard to reason with them, the stuff they’d learned was deeply entrenched. Know a couple folks in my SBC church that have been involved, too.
His obit was an interesting read. I found the phrase ‘try to rob you of your faith in your King James Bible’, instead of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ pretty telling.
It’s really the King James Bible you people despise, and if not for the Bible we wouldn’t know anything about Christ. God gave us a perfect Bible and you fleshies just resent that and any Christian, like Ruckman, who preaches it!