Tortured For Christ By Richard Wurmbrand

Summary In his book, Tortured for Christ, author Richard Wurmbrand retells the horrors he and countless other Christians faced under the control of the Russians and Communism. He begins his story by detailing his beliefs as a child. Surprisingly, Wurmbrand was not a Christian, but instead an avid atheist. He was, however, not satisfied with this worldview. He states, “I was an atheist, but atheism did not give peace to my heart” (12). Through the work of the Holy Spirit and a Romanian carpenter, Wurmbrand was lead to repent and give his life to Christ. Wurmbrand then lead many other individuals to Christ, including his wife. However, his real work began once the Russians and Nazis came to power. Although the Communists allowed there to be

At one point, Wurmbrand explains that they even made a compromise with the prison guards. Every time someone was caught preaching about God, that prisoner would be beaten, severely. Regardless of the threat, the Christians still spoke to the other prisoners about God, not worrying about their own survival. They simply wanted to express the love of God that was for all. Due to the brave efforts of the Underground Church, countless individuals were brought to Christianity. However, for Wurmbrand, this was not enough. He wanted to witness about God to the very people who were murdering his brothers and sisters in Christ. He wanted to save the Russians and atheists. “Christ, the Incarnate Love, wants all men to come to Him, including the Communists” (56). It was the duty of the Christians to love the Russians, no matter what had been done, because that is what Christ did for them. Creativity and slyness had to be implemented by the Christians in order to reach the Russian guards. However, it was not an impossible feat. In fact, Wurmbrand effectively met with a group of Russians while pretending to have a discussion on watches. At another point, Wurmbrand simply went to talk with a lone female officer. To his surprise, she already believed in and loved God, without even having any knowledge of Him. The witnesses were helped greatly by the work of the Holy