King James Onlyism Heresy (Part 2): The Cult of Peter Ruckman - Ruckmanism

See our playlist on the KJV Onlyites at • Dealing with Phony TV ... . Ruckmanites are cult-like followers of Peter Ruckman, a man who says the King James Version is "God-breathed," "given by inspiration," "infallible, " advanced revelation," "preserved," etc. Larry Wessels, director of Christian Answers of Austin, Texas/ Christian Debater (KZbin channel CANSWERSTV with 19 playlists on numerous subjects at www.youtube.com... websites: www.BIBLEQUERY.ORG, www.HISTORYCART... & www.MUSLIMHOPE.COM) presents Pastor Jackson Boyett of Daypring Fellowship (website: www.DayspringCh...), Bob L. Ross, publisher of CH Spurgeon (www.PilgrimPubl...), & Editor Gary, Baptist Biblical Heritage (www.KJVOnly.org) on the KJV Only movement.
King James Onlyism is a more recent fad (started circa 1930 by a Seventh-day Adventist & more heavily promoted in modern times by people like Dr Sam Gipp, Peter S. Ruckman & Kent Hovind). King James Onlyism is factually & historically erroneous, irresponsible & a detriment to real Christian apologetics against the arguments of an unbelieving world (for more on this see James White's excellent video series on KZbin entitled, " What's the Big Deal with King James Onlyism?"). See also our Christian Answers videos "Bible Translation Issue #1 & #2. on KZbin by Doug Kutilek (B.A. & M.A., Baptist Bible College; knowledgeable in Biblical languages Greek & Hebrew; PhD candidate in Old Testament Hebrew at Hebrew Union College; see his "The King James Only Resource Center" at his website: www.KJVONLY.ORG).
Benjamin Wilkinson -
In the investigation of King-James-Version-Onlyism, (KJVO) just such a genealogy of error can be easily traced. All writers who embrace the KJV-only position have derived their views ultimately from Seventh-day Adventist missionary, theology professor and college president, Benjamin G. Wilkinson (d.1968), and then through one of two or three of his spiritual descendants. In 1930, he wrote "Our Authorized Bible Vindicated," a book of several hundred pages which attracted almost no attention in its day (no doubt because it was awash in a vast ocean of unmitigated error).
In that book, Wilkinson attacked the Westcott Hort Greek text, in large measure by attacking Westcott and Hort personally (the common but fallacious ad Hominem method.
He also expresses a strong opposition to the English Revised Version New Testament (1881), in particular objecting to it because it robbed Adventism of two favorite proof-texts, one allegedly teaching Gentile Sabbath keeping (Acts 13:42), the other misused by the Adventists to teach soul sleep (Hebrews 9:27).
J.J.Ray -
Wilkinson's book lay unused and unknown (and how good it would have been had its errors died with him!), until 1955 when J.J. Ray, who is self-described as a "business manager, missionary, and Bible teacher" published a little volume, "God Wrote Only One Bible" (Ray is apparently still living, but we can find out nothing about him, and he refuses to reply to certified letters; if anyone can supply specific information about this man, we would greatly appreciate it). In his book, Ray heavily plagiarized, without note or acknowledgement, Wilkinson's book, repeating and propagating wholesale Wilkinson's errors and misstatements (the fact of Ray's plagiarism and dependence is documented in the article, "The Real 'Eye Opener'," Baptist Biblical Heritage, vol. 2, no. 1).
Ray's book has gone through numerous printings, with total copies numbering perhaps in the tens of thousands. I first saw a copy myself in 1971 as a first year student at Baptist Bible College, Springfield, Missouri, where I was also introduced-by students from Ohio-to Ruckman's "Bible Babel" and Fuller's "Which Bible?" It is of interest that Ray acknowledges that there are some erroneous translations in the KJV which do demand revision (pp. 30, 31, 102). A position today's KJVO mainstream would consider rank heresy.
David Otis Fuller -
The other chief disseminator of Wilkinson's misinformation was David Otis Fuller, a Regular Baptist pastor. Fuller must be counted as part of the third generation, since, according to Fuller's own words in the dedication of "Counterfeit of Genuine" (1975), Ray's book "God Wrote Only One Bible" "moved me to begin this fascinating study." Ray and his book were also repeatedly noted on pp. 2-4 of "Which Bible?" I imagine the scenario went something like this: Fuller reads Ray; Fuller writes Ray for more information; Ray directs Fuller to Wilkinson; Fuller reads Wilkinson, is lead astray, then reprints Wilkinson in "Which Bible?"
In 1970, Fuller issued "Which Bible?", which was in its 5th edition by 1975 and contained 350 pages. Of those pages, almost half were taken from Ellen G. White cultist Wilkinson.