When I first heard of this book I decided I would read it. A few months later I did. I wasn’t sure what to expect especially since forward notes that the book has “no literary value.” Before starting this book I only knew that Richard Wurmbrand had been in prison because of his religious beliefs.
Wurmbrand describes his early life by saying “I was an atheist but atheism did not give peace to my heart.” He tells the story of how a Romanian carpenter converted him to Christ. After his conversion the Nazis arrested him several times. “The Nazi terror was great but only a taste of what was to come under the communists… these Nazi times had one great advantage. They taught us that physical beatings could be endured.”
Once Romania became a communist country it became illegal to preach the gospel and Wurmbrand spent 14 years in prison. He notes “What the communists have done to Christians surpasses any possibility of human understanding. I have seen communists whose faces while torturing believers shown with rapturous joy. They cried out while torturing the Christians we are the devil. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers of evil. We saw that communism is not from men but from the devil. It is a spiritual force, a force of evil, and it can only be countered by a greater spiritual force the spirit of God.”
Even while in prison Wurmbrand would continue to preach the gospel. He noted that the Christians and the guards had an understanding. He notes “It was a deal we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching they were happy beating us so everyone was happy.”
After his release from he has been asked if he hates the communists. He replies “Tortures endured in communist prisons have not made me hate communists. They are God’s creatures how can I hate them? But neither can I be their friend…they hate the notion of god. I love God.”
Overall this is a book that shows what humanity is capable of both in terms of brutality and in resilience and love. Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
“The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.”
Friedrich August von Hayek
Alexander walked down 7th Avenue for several minutes. The sheer number of people walking down the street was astounding. Many of them held small rectangular devices in their hands. Many of them also had strange ear coverings. Alexander continued to walk and soon found himself in Times Square. The flashing billboards and millions of illuminated pixels were dizzying.
Truly this was a remarkable civilization. The magnitude of their grandeur was unprecedented. Alexander could tell that this square was a shrine. As he had traveled to see the Oracle at Delphi so too had many thousands of people travel to this site. Was there something holy about it? What insights could be gathered from this glittering acropolis?
Amidst the jarring sounds of what must have been music Alexander gravitated towards a crowd that appeared to be watching something. As he drew closer he noticed a performer. Alexander watched the gyrations of the man’s body as the crowd cheered. Alexander was witnessing his first break dancing performance. He watched as the performer skipped around the rectangle formed by the crowd collecting money. Once he had secured the amount he was looking for he continued to perform. Alexander watched dispassionately as the performer spun on his head and then back before jumping onto his feet and concluding ...
