I have three overlapping reasons why Ruckmanism spread so strongly among independent Baptists. God deprived their leaders of wisdom and He wanted to break the power that editors of their publications had over them. The third reason is going to take a while to explain.
During their heyday in the 1960's, independent Baptist leaders cautiously reached out to fellow Christians whom they disagreed with. They invited soul-winning, fundamentalist preachers from the Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, and others, to be friends. They printed their sermons, let them speak in independent Baptist churches, and spoke at Christian conferences with them.
Godly, soul-winning men had few problems with this. It was frightened, angry denominational leaders who fought this kind of Biblical fellowship. As a result, this unity was fragile and carefully-balanced.
All it would take was one key man, in a key position, saying the key words at the key time, to shatter this unity.
To be continued...
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