Republished November 14, 2007 (first published August 25, 2005) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

Peter Ruckman of Pensacola, Florida, has done more harm to the cause of the King James Bible than some of its enemies. That is due to his cultic beliefs and his strange, ungodly spirit.

According to one of his books, “Black Is Beautiful” (1996), UFOs are real, and if you doubt it you are an unbeliever like David Cloud. (He mentions me at least thrice in the book, slanderously lumping me in with men who attack the King James Bible and labeling me an “apostate fundamentalist,” which is his working principle. If Ruckman says two plus two equals five and you don’t agree, you are an unbelieving “jack leg” and a “bloated egotist.”)

Peter Ruckman believes that some of the medieval plagues in Europe were caused by UFOs, that a B-52 bomber was downed by a UFO and that aliens disemboweled the crew members, and that a crew member of a US Navy ship was transported into the future. He believes the CIA has implanted brain transmitters in children, old people, blacks, and prisoners (p. 243) and operates underground alien breeding facilities (p. 256). He believes in Atlantis (p. 171) and the Bermuda Triangle, time warps (p. 160), creatures with one eye (p. 173), web footed aliens, blue aliens with blue blood (pp. 85, 86), black aliens with green blood (p. 244), and grey aliens with clear blood (pp. 310-11). He believes that Adam originally had water in his veins instead of blood (p. 185). He believes that the government is involved with UFO animal mutilations (p. 247). He believes that black helicopters carrying UN troops are “circling your homes” with the mission of attacking and imprisoning the populace (p. 233). He believes the U.S. federal government has kidnapped people and kept them alive in “amber liquid” (p. 230). He believes that the CIA flies around in space ships developed from technology gained when the government made a deal with aliens to allow them to kidnap children and use their organs as food and to experiment on U.S. citizens (pp. 291, 295-297).

Ruckman does not use facts he abuses them. When his arguments are examined carefully and the nonsense and ranting and misused documentation is filtered out, one finds that he often builds his case upon thin air, fables, and half-truths.

Consider one example of his reasoning. An old Bolivian legend tells of a non-human race that had webbed feet. Old comic books about Daffy Duck and Donald Duck depict creatures with webbed feet (p. 85). Wallah! The legend must be true and Donald Duck must be a secret depiction of aliens!!!!

Ruckman concludes his “summary of evidence” with these words: “If a twentieth-century college educated American does not believe in UFOs (and UFO occupants) he is MENTALLY SICK. He should see a shrink” (Ruckman, Black Is Beautiful, p. 343, emphasis in original).

If that is so, then please make me an appointment!

For 32 years, since I was converted by the grace of Jesus Christ, my sole authority has been the beloved King James Bible, and the bottom line is that the Bible says nothing about UFOs and therefore it is not something I need to concern myself with, because the Bible is able to make me “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The verses that Ruckman cites in support of UFOS are taken out of context and grossly misused, not even remotely supporting such nonsense (e.g., Gen. 6:1-5; 2 Sam. 5:24; 2 Ki. 2:11; Isa. 14:29; Ezek. 1:4; Zech. 5:1-3). Ruckman believes that the aliens are demons who are preparing to take control during the Tribulation and he cites Revelation 9:2-3, but this does not describe UFOs and it has nothing to do with events in our day. Revelation 9 describes demons who are currently imprisoned rather than appearing on earth.

Beware of men who claim to have found brand new things in the Bible that no one has seen in 2,000 years. Ruckman has an entire book of such claims. In The Unknown Bible, Ruckman claims to hold to 14 “biblical truths” which all other Bible teachers have overlooked. On page 347, Ruckman modestly claims: “Do you realize that in these last two chapters, you have learned a dozen things that were unknown to the greatest Bible teachers in the world? In 2000 years of church history, they haven’t even been able to find the passage which dealt with these things we have been talking about.”

That is delusion and arrogance, and pride goeth before a fall.

The Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles did not teach God’s people to worry about UFOs or to rage against the government. They taught us to honor those in authority and submit to them (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-25), to live obedient and holy lives and to dedicate our lives to preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth until Christ returns (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). You don’t see Paul ranting against the Roman Empire and mocking its emperor.

Someone who has read Ruckman’s book might be saying, “Brother Cloud, do you believe the United States is a godly country?” Of course it is not. “Don’t you believe the USA is coming under the control of the UN?” Of course it is. “Don’t you believe there are international conspiracies?” Of course there are. “Do you believe the mainstream media gives out the truth?” Of course I do not.

But none of this adds up to blue-blooded aliens and the CIA conducting experiments in alien cloning.

Dear friends in Christ, beware of the cultic element in the independent Baptist movement.