INTRODUCTORY NOTE

 

 

The following list of quotes is in response to an incident that occurred earlier this year* in which a Christian friend of mine was told by a pastor of a local church that Dr. Peter Ruckman was in support of his church’s stand on the power and authority of a pastor in the local church as being “just as” our Lord Jesus Christ’s Power and Authority over the entire church. *(1997)

 

My friend knew that I have read most of brother Ruckman’s books and so he asked me what I thought about this matter. I informed him that based on my knowledge of brother Ruckman’s books and tapes I did not believe that he would support such a statement but that I would review some of brother Ruckman’s books to see what he had to say about this subject.

 

I want to make one thing clear before I go any further into this inquiry. My final authority in all matters of faith and practice is the King James Bible (AV). I believe in my heart that God’s word, the Scriptures, should be the final and absolute authority for all born again Christians. In this treatise I do not appeal to Brother Peter Ruckman as an “authority”, although he was being referred to as an “authority” in support of a belief held by the pastor of the local church. I am simply providing for the reader direct quotations from brother Ruckman’s books to demonstrate what brother Peter Ruckman truly believes about this matter.

 

I have divided this inquiry into 5 Headings:

 

    1. Peter Ruckman’s quotes on Christ’s Headship in the church.

    2. Peter Ruckman’s quotes on a Pastor’s Authority.

    3. Peter Ruckman’s quotes on Apostasy in the church.

    4. Peter Ruckman’s quotes on Heresy and Heretics.

    5. Peter Ruckman’s quotes on Related Subjects.

 

Again let me reiterate. This is not an appeal to brother Ruckman to settle a doctrinal dispute. A claim was made that Dr. Peter Ruckman was in support of a belief held by this pastor and some Christian brethren on this island. The purpose of this treatise is to let the reader see for himself what brother Ruckman truly believes by reading his words from his books. If anyone knows of any other statements made by brother Ruckman regarding this matter, pro or con, I will add them on to this list.

 

Please note: All of the following quotes are cited verbatim from brother Ruckman’s books without any personal comments.

 

 

      Sincerely yours for The Lord Jesus Christ and for the Truth,

 

      George H. Anderson Jr.

 

 

PETER RUCKMAN’S QUOTES – CHRIST’S HEADSHIP

 

(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines are mine.)

 

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – EPHESIANS

 

BBC - EPHESIANS   Page 203 (Eph 1:1-6)

       Now these "Christians" who are only on earth must be a peculiar breed. We saved Christians are joined to a Body whose Head is in Heaven. . . . . . .

 

BBC - EPHESIANS   Page 223 (Eph 1:15-23)

       He is the "Head" of the church and the only "Head" the church has ever had or ever will have. There is no "visible head" to this Body, for you

       enter this Body by the Spirit (Eph 4:4) and are baptized into it by the Spirit (1Cor 12:13); and since "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24),

       the Head must be a Spiritual Head.

 

BBC - EPHESIANS   Page 258-259 (Eph 3:14-21)

       God has a "family" (Ps 45:9-14), and in that family there is ONE BRIDE (Eph 5:27, 2Cor 11:1-3), This Bride is for God's Son (Song 6:9), and she is not God's   Bride; she is Christ's WIFE (Eph 5:30).  . . . . . .

 

BBC - EPHESIANS   Page 320 (Eph 5:19-33)

       Christ is the head of the body (1:22) and the saviour of the body (5:23)

      

       "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (vs 25). The verse settles beyond any question the matter of the local church and the "church,        which is his body." To say that Christ died for the local church would be nonsense. The local church includes unsaved church members, and the first New   Testament local church had a devil for a treasurer.  . . . . .

 

BBC - EPHESIANS   Page 324 (Eph 5:19-33)

       . . . . . A man and wife are the same flesh and bones even when they are apart; since this is a mystery, it is a perfect illustration of a Christian on the planet   earth, in the back end of the universe, who is ONE with the risen Saviour now seated more than 50,000,000 light years above the solar system (see      extended comment under 1:20 and 3:18).

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – COLOSSIANS

 

BBC - COLOSSIANS   Page 496 (Col 1:18-29)

       The Christian's head is in heaven,  . . . . .

 

BBC - COLOSSIANS   Page 589 (Col 3:1-11)

1.       "CHRIST IS ALL." He is the Body into which the believer is placed and this body is a new creation (see Eph 1:23 and comments).

 

                  2. "CHRIST . . . IN ALL." He is the regenerator within the individual believer who

               restores the image which Adam lost when he sinned. This image is plainly the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and this is exactly what Paul told us in the

               Epistle (1:27).

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – HEBREWS

BBC - HEBREWS   Page 16 (Heb 1:4-9)

       . . . . . The anointing on the “head of Aaron” (Ps 133) clearly shows us that ourHEAD” is the Lord Jesus and that He is in heaven (Col 1:18). We are the body;        He is the HEAD. The Head should always run the body (1Cor 12).

 

BBC - HEBREWS   Page 49 (Heb 2:9-13)

       . . . . . But it goes beyond this; we are also, in a sense, His wife. We are the husband’s “bride” (Eph 5:27-32) and He is our Head as a man is the head of his wife   (1Cor 11:1-5). All of these figures are true:

 

1.       Christ is the head of a body that makes up his bride.

 

BBC - HEBREWS   Page 52 (Heb 2:9-13)

       . . . . . “Our Lord’s work issues in His becoming THE HEAD of a saved community.”

 

BBC - HEBREWS   Page 63 (Heb 3:1-6)

       . . . . .HE WHO FOUNDED THE CHURCH HAS MORE HONOR THAN THE CHURCH.

 

BBC - HEBREWS   Page 146 (Heb 7:18-28)

       The Christian priesthood (1 peter 2:9) headed up by one permanent High Priest (Heb 3:1) does not resemble the black-robed Catholic priesthood in any particular.

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – BOOK OF REVELATION

 

BBC - THE BOOK OF REVELATION Pages. 21 & 22

            When Jesus says in Revelation 1:8 that He is the “Almighty,” that means just what it says. If any church makes one statement contrary to a plain statement in     the word of God, then that statement is no more important than a three-year-old Eskimo discoursing on nuclear physics. The Lord Jesus Christ is the final authority. He is the Almighty; He is the beginning and the ending; He is the absolute authority, and where He speaks “the church” may shut its mouth and act   decently.

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 37

       3. The mystery of the Body of Christ (Eph. 3, 5). This is a mystery about a Body that is “ESPOUSED” to be married (2 Cor. 11) and yet has already become    one flesh” with it’s Head (Eph. 5).

 

HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, Vol. 1, Page 235

[Brother Ruckman commenting on the Paulicians]   . . . . . Another name applied to them by the apostate Catholics of their day was “Acephali” (headless),   which was the Catholic way of mocking them for not recognizing Peter and his “vicars” as the visible “HEAD” of the church. Unlike the Bible-rejecting popes,     they believed what the Apostle Paul said about the “HEAD” of the church” (Eph 1, Col 1).

 

HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, Vol. 2, Page 271

          . . . . God will not let any saved sinner (Fundamentalist or Evangelical) steal His Glory (Isa 48:11), no matter how godly he      thinks he is because of his secondary separation.

 

 

 

RUCKMAN’S QUOTES: ELDER (BISHOP, PASTOR) AUTHORITY

(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines are mine.)

 

BIBLE BELIEVER'S COMMENTARY – MATTHEW

 

BBC - MATTHEW   Pages 400-402 (Mt. 20:24-28)

               Pgs 401-402: "Minister . . . servant." The two words can be used almost interchangeably. The first one is the word for "deacon" (Gk diakanon). The       second is the word for "slave" (Gk. doulos), thereby identifying the "chief" or the "great one" as a bond-servant, running barefoot through the dust, to wait on     the Master's table. Thus the Christian concept of a "great one" or a "chief" turns out to be just the opposite from the one taught by Rome.

 

               Pg 402: . . . . . Thus the ministry has become a PROFESSION instead of a CALLING, and the ministers compete for success instead of obeying to be   faithful, and the successful are considered RIGHT and the failures are considered WRONG. Any method is resorted to, in the name of Christ, right or wrong.    in order to be "somebody" and put your name on the map. Shades of Rome!

 

       A minister, then, is a "servant," (See Romans 16:1, 1Peter 5:1.) As an ordained elder, he is admonished to be an EXAMPLE, and a "feeder of the flock" and       an "overseer" of a flock; but never a "dominator," exercising "dominion" )Latin: Domini, Dominus - God!)

 

               Pg 401 . . . . . "Dominion and authority" is characteristic of Rome, not "LEADERSHIP OR EXAMPLE."

 

BIBLE BELIEVER'S COMMENTARY - BOOK OF ACTS

 

BBC - ACTS   Pages 218-219 (Acts 6:1-4)

               Pg 218: The pastors of the first church - 12 pastors! (vs 2) - are relieved of all hindrances and encumbrances which might "entangle them" with the world    (1Tim 2:4) so they can labor in "word and doctrine" 1Tim 5:17), and anoint their teaching and preaching with PRAYER. A pastor is a spiritual leader whose   power and authority are SPIRITUAL, and no other dominion is recognized by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament (1Pet 5: 1-6, and Luke 24:49). The man who      "rules well" (1Tim 5:17) and has the "rule over" his brethren does it through PRAYER and the WORD, and his authority begins and ends there.

      

               Pg 219: . . . . . . You will notice that the authority delegated to the "eleven" (Matt 28:18-20) was SPIRITUAL authority,

 

 

               ". . . the MINISTRY OF THE WORD"  (vs 4), is the ministry that Paul is engaged in all of his life,

 

BBC - ACTS Pages 221-222 (Acts 6:5-8)

               Pg 221: In the first business transaction conducted by the local church that deals with money matters the "WHOLE multitude" (vs 5) is consulted. This sets     the precedence for a local church and shows that although the pastor and deacons may exercise spiritual authority, it is the congregation who decides the issues,       and they "vote" the deacons in "and THEY chose ... they set before the apostles" (vss 5,6).

 

BBC - ACTS Pages 221-222 (Acts 6:5-8)

               Pgs 221-222: Now, anyone familiar with the operation of the average Baptist church knows exactly what is involved in a church "vote" at a "business    meeting," and for this reason most of the larger churches in America are run by one man who hires and fires, selects teachers, appoints deacons, buys and sells,      teaches and preaches, and decides nearly all the issues for the congregation without consulting them first about anything. In religion (as in politics) it has been         found out long ago that the way to get a job done efficiently is by centralized control.

 

       Adolph did more to prosper Germany financially in 5 years (1933-1938) than his predecessors did in the 15 years before he came into power. Aside from        arguments about moral principles and political tactics, the fact remains that a dictator or a king can get more accomplished in 24 hours than a Democracy can in       three decades. [ The Devil knows this and so does the Lord, so the first form of government in Heaven was a Theocracy and the last one will be a Theocracy,        and the one preceding the last day (Rev 13,17) will be a Democracy.]

 

               Pg 222: The cost for true local church practice "according to the New Testament," is exposing the congregation to the wolves and peacocks of Acts 20: 29,   30; spending hours on your knees praying that the "politickers" in the congregation will hang themselves if they have enough rope; that the Associational       "Missionary" will not be able to bribe your deacons into getting the Sunday School literature of the NCCC; that Mrs. So-and-So will not be able to raise a majority     of her kinfolk to oust you because you hurt her feelings when you moved the piano (see Prov 18:19 and comments!); and that the two families who are trying to    get control of the finance committee will have their hands so full with "in-law problems" and job problems they won't have time to steal the ballots or bring people       to the business meeting who haven't been to church since Columbus discovered America. (Oh, yes! there is more going on in this country than bus ministries with 4000 in attendance!).

 

BBC - ACTS   Pages 420-421 (Acts 15: 6-12)

               Pg 420: Now we attend the second real "business meeting" of the church. The Holy Spirit is careful to avoid using the word "council" when describing this      meeting. Furthermore the church business here is doctrinal business (unlike Acts 6:1-5), and the purpose of it is to determine New Testament doctrine while the       Pauline Epistles are being written.  . . . . .

 

               Pgs 420-421: ". . . and when there had been MUCH DISPUTING" (VS 7) Sounds like a good old Wednesday night business meeting, doesn't it? . . . . .      Every local church that ever got "tore up" or "unhinged" was torn up and unhinged in a business meeting. I do not know of one exception to the rule in 24 years of        the ministry. The only way this can be avoided is for the pastor to control the meeting, the Sunday School, the Treasury, the board of Deacons, the teachers, the        bulletin, the church secretary, the flower committee, the janitor's closet, the parking lot, the pulpit, the nursery, and the principal. (Oh, I almost forgot the choir!)     Where there is real "liberty" in a local church there is always room for catastrophe, and there are always full-time "church operators" who think the highest calling on this earth for a Christian is to run other people's affairs. They all follow the same pattern; they all like to hold the reigns that control the horse, but none of them       like to be seen sitting on the "buckboard" when the wagon gets stuck.   When this happens it is always the pastor's fault! And the pastor - nine times out of ten -       hasn't had the reigns in his hands twice since the last time a wheel broke down. This kind of thing goes on day and night in more than 200 churches per state in     America. Where it is found in the New Testament I have no idea, but "much disputing" (vs 7) is so common among congregational church governments that if there wasn't a stink going on about something 24 hours a day you would think a Baptist Church had gone Liberal!        

 

BBC - ACTS   Page 434 (Acts 15: 13-23)

               The apostles (vs 23) are obviously the first class that needs to be mentioned. "The elders" (vs 1) are obviously the next class that needs to be mentioned,   since many of them were NOT "apostles." The "brethren" (vs 1) are obviously the third class, as many of them were neither "apostles" nor "elders." The        stupid conjecture that the "brethren" must be synonymous with the "elders" (on the basis of the Alexandrian and Western manuscripts) is just about as blind an exposition as you could attempt. The Holy Bible told you that it was "THE WHOLE CHURCH" (VS 22) that decided the matter: not the "elderly brethren." or      "the elders who were brethren." The "whole church" was NOT the "elders" or the "apostles," or the "elders and the apostles:" it was "THE BRETHREN."

 

BBC - ACTS   Pages 584-602 (Acts 20: 28-38)

               pg 597 "TAKE HEED therefore ... to all the FLOCK" (VS 28)!!

       "The flock," these days, is usually a ZOO. And if you are going to pastor the flock, you had better get prepared to either love them and give them their liberty in         Christ, or else avoid them and dictate terms of unconditional surrender to them; for as surely as Business Meetings tear up churches, there isn't one big church in   the United States where the members make the decisions. And if you are a "decision-making-member" you had better abandon all hope of ever getting credit for   "building a great work," for no first-rate pastor is going to tolerate your audacity and individuality for one minute: he is going to give you the boot!

 

BBC - ACTS   Pages 588 (Acts 20: 28-38)

               pg. 588: . . . . . You don't follow Paul (1Cor 11:1) unless you sit down with people in their homes and deal with them from an open Bible about their spiritual,        economic, domestic, religious, and mental problems; and if you think the Pauline epistles don't deal with those problems you've never read the Pauline epistles.

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – PASTORAL EPISTLES

      

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY   Page 56 (1Tim 3:1-7)

       The passage deals with the qualifications of a "bishop," called an overseer in Acts 20:28, and called a pastor by modern Baptists. All three titles apply to a         shepherd (more exactly, an undershepherd) of a flock (see 1 Peter 5:1-4). A pastor or bishop is an ordained "elder" (Phil 1:1; Acts 14:23; 1Tim 5:17) whose rulership is spiritual (1Tim 5:17; Heb 13:17). There are no ARCHBISHOPS in the New Testament.  . . . . . .

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 66 (1Tim 3:8-13)

       The pastor is to be a "steward" of these mysteries (1Cor 4:1-2), and pass them on to others (2Tim 2:2).

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 68 (1Tim 3:8-13)

       The "good degree" is a high standing in the sight of the congregation, but this high standing is a SPIRITUAL high standing (as in the case of the elder who rules     "well"(see 5:17).

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 92 (1Tim 4:10-16)

       "Meditate upon these things..." (vs 15): the GIFT, READING, EXHORTATION, and DOCTRINE. "...give thyself wholly to them..." (vs 15). Be "ADDICTED" to them (cf. 1Cor 16:15) be a Christian "addict." After giving yourself wholly to God (see Rom 12:1-4), give yourself wholly to God's work. That is the only order for any real pastor so that "...we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4).

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 93 (1Tim 4:10-16)

       '... that thy profiting may appear to all" (vs 15). Results and success are never to be the aims of the ministry, for all ministers will be tried for the QUALITY      of their work (1Cor 3:13, "of what SORT it is"). . . . . .

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 108 (1Tim 5:17-21)

 

       Five things are now said about the ordained “elder” (not just an older man as in verse 1) who functions in the church as a leader or overseer.

1.       If he rules WELL, he deserves twice the honor a man should ordinarily get.

2.       This is especially true in a case where his labor is in THE WORD and doctrine.

3.       You are to pay him for his work and labor (see 1 Cor 9:1-12).

4.      You are to rebuke him (or his adversaries) OPENLY when sin is apparent.

5.       You are not to believe any rumors about him unless two or more witnesses testify, and they have to confront him when they testify (see Matt 18:15-17 for an illustration).

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 109-110 (1Tim 5:17-21)

       What does it mean for an elder to “RULE WELL”?

1.       He is to volunteer for the office of Bishop or Pastor (1 Tim 3:1).

2.       His primary job is to FEED THE SHEEP (John 21:15-17, 1 Peter 5:1-4). It is NOT to win souls, it is NOT to control elections and governments, it is NOT to build large buildings, and it is NOT TO SET UP SCHOOLS AND RESCUE MISSIONS. His first job is to FEED THE SHEEP (1 Peter 5:1-4).

3.       He is to be an example to the flock: “Follow me. If I do it, you do it.”

4.       His motive for service is not to be the big paycheck (1 Peter 5:1-4).

5.       He is to nurse some sheep, father some sheep, and BEAT some sheep (1 Thess 5:14; 2 Thess 3:6).

6.       He is to kick some of the sheep out of the flock (1 Cor 5:13; 3 John 9-10).

7.       He is to pay his bills (1 Tim 3:7) and maintain the respect of the lost (not their LOVE: their respect).

8.       He is to declare ALL of the counsel of God (Acts 20:26-27), and he is to witness publicly and from “house to house,” as well as in the pulpit.

9.       He is to study and meditate in the Book day and night (Ps 1; 2 Tim 2:15)

10.   He is to follow the instructions given in 1 Tim 5:21-22, 4:12-16, and 6:1-12.

11.   He is to preach AGAINST people as well as things (1 Tim 6:3-5, 17, and 20-21; 2 Tim 2:17).

12.   He is to preserve the MYSTERIES in the faith (see comments under 1 Tim 3:16).

13.   He is to follow the instructions of 1 Thess 5:12-22 and Rom 12:7-21.

 

Now THAT is a good “ruler.” The rule is “over” other Christians in the Lord (Heb 13:17), and such a ruler is to be esteemed very highly in love for his      WORK’S sake, not just for himself (1 Thess 5:12-13).

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 111 (1Tim 5:17-21)

       The young pastor is to rebuke an elder if the two or three witnesses confront him in the pastor’s presence and he confesses guilt. Further, the pastor must rebuke   the witnesses if they turn out to be false. “OPENLY” means publicly, to the congregation.

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 114 (1Tim 5:22-25)

       “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins…” (vs 22). The two things come together by association, for if you ordain a    novice hastily (see 3:6 and remarks), you are indirectly responsible for his sins when he “blows it.”

 

BBC – TITUS  Page 353 (Titus 2:1-6)

       The WORD OF GOD IS “BLASPHEMED” WHEN:

1.A man preaches what he does not practice or teaches what he does not practice (Rom

   2:24).

2.       A servant refuses to obey his master with the right spirit (1Tim 6:1-4).

3.       A Christian woman argues and fights with her husband (text, and Titus 2:5).

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – HEBREWS

BBC – HEBREWS  Pages  218-219 (Heb 10:15-25)

       Now a “pastor” should have a natural love for people as PEOPLE, as well as individuals.

 

       . . . . . It is a great blessing every time I mount the pulpit to preach, because I am never prejudiced in favor of anyone. What you know about the individual lives        of the members of your congre-gation will not affect and twist your message because IT IS OF NO IMPORTANCE TO YOU.

       How is that for a blessing? I can be with Christians (say four or five hundred of them) and know all kinds of things about them that are just terrible and still love them in the Lord and overlook their failures . . . . .

 

BBC – HEBREWS  Page  240  (Heb 11: 1-7)

       There has to be a time in your life when you learn to live the life of faith, learn to trust God, and learn to act on faith.

 

BBC – HEBREWS  Page  241  (Heb 11: 1-7)

       Now, here is where the matter of FAITH pops up. When a young man answers the call to the pastorate, he is supposed to have been exercised in the life of faith.        “No pew can get any higher than the pulpit.” If the preacher hasn’t ever lived by faith, who in the congregation is going to learn anything about it?

 

BBC – HEBREWS  Page  261  (Heb 11: 14-22)

       Faith that is not tried is not real faith.

 

BBC – HEBREWS  Page  346-347  (Heb 13: 7-9)

       “Remember them which have the rule over you…” (vs 7). It is plainly a spiritual rule that he is talking about, exactly as Paul worded in 1 Timothy 5:17     (“let the elders that rule well…”) and 1 Timothy 3:4 (one that ruleth his own house…”).

       . . . . . “whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation” (vs 7). The “ruler” here is plainly a spiritual ruler . . . . .

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 5

       If you sit in judgement on the Book, then YOU are the final judge. You are superior to the Book, and that is the message you will convey to every young man     who sits in front of you. You will, consciously or unconsciously, take the Holy Spirit’s place in the Trinity and cause every man-following man in that room to     follow YOU instead of GOD ALMIGHTY.

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 8

       . . . . . When you are completely dedicated to establishing your authority at the expense of God’s word, you can never see the verses that are AIMED AT      YOUR SINS.

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 47

       This means that the first fundamental of all fundamentals, taking precedence over EVERY so called “essential doctrine” or “essential fundamental,” is “Who      gets to run whom?

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 69

       . . . . . A Bible teacher who cannot defend his position or destroy a false position with scripture is not in the action; he has deserted. He is not “a good soldier of       Jesus Christ”; he is a coward. If a “Bible teacher” cannot speak according to the scriptures (Isa. 8:20), he is not a Bible teacher; . . . . .

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 83

 

       Show the Bible student what the Book says about soul winning, prayer, assembling together, forgiveness of sins, self-judgement, devotions, personal work,    witnessing, charity, giving, praising God, and clean living. But never make the mistake of thinking that when teaching these things you are teaching the Bible: the    Bible is a BOOK, not a series of things taken out of a BOOK. You can use scripture, and you should use it in abundance in dealing with all of the human and       practical problems that will come up in life and in the ministry; but this is not teaching the BIBLE. This is USING the Bible to teach something. Do you get the       difference?

 

HOW TO TEACH THE BIBLE   Page 86

       A real BIBLE TEACHER will not hesitate to correct every one of them (plus the men who taught them) with THE BOOK. Where the Bible corrects them, he will follow it instead of them. The real Bible teacher can never be a follower of any man or group of MEN (note how that last definition condemns the educational   institutions who condemn others for “following a man”). No man or group of men are the final authority for ANYTHING. The Holy Bible is the final authority.

 

THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH – VOL. II, Chap. 3, Pg. 31

. . . . . Luther had come to be strongly suspicious of church-state setups of any kind-even Lutheran. The old Krauthead, if he had lived, might yet have made a   good Baptist. Baptists believe in congregational autonomy; the local church is the ruling body in all matters and is subject only to God’s Holy Word,” to quote        pastor Robinson.

 

THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH – VOL. II, Chap. 4, Pg. 49

                . . . . . Edwin Hall states that principles of the body of Christians in the Book of Acts were republican principles: voluntary association (not forced busing or race mixing), voluntary assembly, and majority voting (not by an electoral college), and that the leaders were chosen according to their ability to serve the body (not by their massive incomes or press reputations).

 

THE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY   Page 161

(Quote from Knights of Columbus literature) . . . . . One can almost see the “Knights of Columbus” penning, “Jesus delivered power to His one TRUE      CHURCH, which is the CATHOLIC CHURCH; therefore, the rulers of the Church HAVE THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST HIMSELF, AND HAVE POWER        TO . . . . . “

 

 

RUCKMAN'S QUOTE'S: APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH

(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines are mine.)

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – BOOK OF ACTS

 

BBC - ACTS   Page 418 (Acts 15:1-5)

                ". . . certain of the SECT of the Pharisees which BELIEVED . . ."(vs 5).

       The last two words are ominous for it shows that a born-again believer can take part in sectarian views which are typical of "Cults" - not "Denominations."

 

BBC - ACTS   Page 626  (Acts 21: 32-40)

               The persecuting spirit is seen demonstrated in this chapter. It is a formal spirit (vs 30) that centers around physical objects; it is an ignorant spirit (vs 34)   that comes from emotional feelings instead of investigation; it is a perverse spirit (vs 29) that refuses to accept a fact when presented; it is an unreasonable spirit         (vs 31, 36) demanding death for a man of different religious beliefs, and it is an intolerant spirit (vs 28) that will not stand for any opinion but its own.

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – COLOSSIANS

 

BBC - COLOSSIANS   Page 542-343 (Col 2:8-15)

       "The tradition of men" is to reject the truth, alter the truth, camouflage the truth, hide the truth, imitate the truth, slander the truth, resent the truth, disobey the truth, and get rid of the truth (Matt 15:2,3).

      

       "The tradition of men" (Mark 7:3,5,8,9,13) is to make it a practice of adjusting any truth which is detrimental to their own self interests to a place where it is        profitable and expedient to their own self interests.

 

BBC - COLOSSIANS   Page 633 (Col 4:12-18)

       We have known modern Christians in this century (who were "Fundamental, Pre-millennial, etc.") who professed to believe in the Absolute Authority of the Bible       and then stated their personal opinions as Divine Fiats of God's decrees. Every one of them rejected the AV as an "Infallible Authority." Every one of them   worshipped his WORK instead of his Saviour, and every one of them feared and hated real Bible believers.

 

BBC - COLOSSIANS   Page 634 (Col 4:12-18)

       . . . . . However, to all practical purposes, the modern Demas approaches "the ministry" in this same fashion. He is only using the Bible as a TOOL to present an earthly, literal, visible "testimony." He doesn't believe it any more than some of you do; he only finds it "expedient" to use it and profitable to profess faith in it. This is the opportunist of 2Tim 4:10, and Colossians is written to warn this class of Christians that they are NOT fulfilling the ministry given to them.

 

BIBLE BELIEVERS COMMENTARY – PASTORAL EPISTLES

 

BBC – 1 TIMOTHY  Page 167 (1Tim 6:17-21)

       B. THE MARK OF A LAODICEAN APOSTATE:

1.        He is proud.

2.        He knows nothing.

3.        He is hung up on questions and strifes.

4.        He is motivated by envy.

5.        He has a corrupt mind.

6.        He is destitute of the truth.

7.        He mistakes GAIN for godliness.

 

BBC – 2 TIMOTHY  Page 288 (2Tim 4:1-5)

       The passage is a reference to apostasy WITHIN the body of Jesus Christ.

 

<