Does Christs-Bride affirm
or deny gay marriage?

He arrives at his wacky conclusion by assuming that all saved women will become men at the Rapture - they will be changed into "the [exact] image" of Christ according to the good doctor.

"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body..." -Philippians 3:21

"And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." -1 Corinthians 15:49

From those three verses, Dr. Ruckman derives his teaching that in heaven all Christians will become exact replicas of Jesus Christ. All of us will become bearded 33 year old Jewish males. He then taught us in Bible class that this ALL-MALE bride of Christ will literally marry Christ in heaven and "physically consummate the marriage." He described life in heaven as "an orgasmic high."

He was teaching this perverse private interpretation in the late 1970s. Its difficult to avoid the conclusion that this bizarre belief says more about Dr. Ruckman's interior dialogue than about the realities of heaven.

Update: In 2010, Dr. Ruckman is still teaching his looney-toons private interpretation in print. In the May 2010 issue of The Bible Believer's Bulletin, pp. 10-11, Dr. Ruckman reiterated his goofy private interpretation with these words. Bold emphasis is mine.

"In the Millennium, stupid, Christ is right on a throne in Jerusalem where anybody can see Him. If that weren't enough, with Him will be all the saved people between Pentecost and the Rapture; according to 1 John 3:1-2, Philippians 3:21, and 1 Corinthians 15:44-49, each one will be a perfect replica of Jesus Christ. During the Millenium, there will be across this world a minimum, I would say, of 500 million exact reproductions of God's Son, minus the wounds." -Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, Ph.D.

On the subject of Christs-Bride, Dr. Ruckman teaches that God will transform all Christians into exact replicas of Christ so that everyone who gets saved in the church age, young and old, male AND female, will become 33 year old circumcised Jewish men because according to Dr. Ruckman, that's how old Jesus was when He died.

These Jewish men (hundreds of millions of whom used to be women) will then marry Christ, become Christs-Bride and physically consummate the marriage, according to Dr. Ruckman's teaching in Bible class in the 1970s.

This strange teaching from an Independent Fundamental Baptist pastor, that Christians, Christs-Bride will have sex with Jesus in heaven, did NOT come from the "homos" and "bull dykes" Dr. Ruckman delights to attack.

This odd-ball theory was taught by Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, the anti-gay, street-preaching pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. I wonder why he didn't preach his Christs-Bride theory outside the gay bars on Friday and Saturday nights in downtown Pensacola?

I and many others regard Dr. Ruckman's teaching about Christs-Bride as "way out in left field without a hat" false doctrine (and that's being charitable).

But the standard teaching about Christs-Bride from anti-gay Christians and the oddball musings of anti-gay Dr. Ruckman about Christ's bride raises interesting questions.

1. How can Christs-Bride, which includes men, actually marry Christ?

2. Why does the Bible depict Christs-Bride as having lots of men in it?

3. Since Complementarians use Christs-Bride typology to demean and argue against gay marriage, how can they then defend the concept of men marrying Jesus Christ, who is also a man?

"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" -Ephesians 2:6

"For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:30-32

1. If same sex marriage is wrong on earth, why does the Bible use bride typology to describe men (masculine gender) as part of the bride (feminine gender) which marries Christ?

2. Why is same sex marriage perfectly okay in heaven according to Dr. Ruckman's demented theory (Christs-Bride, which contains men, marrying Christ) but not okay on earth?

Please understand. I am not questioning the truth of the Bible. I believe every word of the Bible. I AM questioning why anti-gay Christians get away with using the Bible to exclude gays and lesbians. When you think about it, the Christs-Bride teaching just doesn't make sense, the way they use it to exclude gays and lesbians.

My advice is simple. Keep believing the Bible but don't accept everything anti-gay religious nuts tell you it means. Start reading and studying the Bible for yourself.

God gave you a brain and a mind and when God saved you, He gave you the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. Use those gifts from God to read, study and research the Bible on your own. You will be surprised at what God shows you.

The "love" of the anti-gay crowd is not mediated through the prism of Matthew 7:12 or Matthew 22:36-40. The anti-gay crowd would never be satisfied to be treated the way they treat gays and lesbians.

I believe God knows the longing of our hearts because He made us. God's loving care for Adam, in providing the orientation compatible help meet that Adam needed, Genesis 2:18, encourages me to believe that God is faithful to provide gays with the orientation compatible help meet that we need. The help meet God provides us will be same sex instead of opposite sex.

Equal rights for gays and lesbians are NOT special rights.

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