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.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
“Lest the land become desolate and the Christian name be destroyed there, we exhort and command the faithful to take up the sign of the cross and bring aid to the Christians established in Livonia.”
Pope Gregory IX
During the time of Alexander Nevsky why were western Catholic powers seen as a greater spiritual threat than the Mongols?
The Golden Horde ruled the principalities of Russia. Noble Russians were still allowed to serve as the princes of the great cities, but they owed their power to the Horde. A tribute system was established and in practice in 1262.
Those who collected the tax were known as the Besermeny. The were usually Muslim merchants or tax farmers working for the Golden Horde. They were foreigners and they were collecting the wealth of the native Russians. This made them hated. Prior to 1262 the Horde conducted a census in Russia to determine exactly what tributes needed to be paid. This had been met with great hostility.
In 1262 the besermeny had great power. The Russian chronicle notes that they “created great violence among the people.” It seems clear that they were willing to abuse their power to accomplish their jobs. In addition to monetary contributions by 1262 the Russian population also had to contribute their men to fight in the wars of the Golden Horde. This further angered the local ...
