Tortured for Christ

Title: Tortured for Christ
Author: Rev. Richard Wurmbrand
Major Themes: Christian Living, Persecuted Church
Synopsis: A fresh look at the modern persecuted church, and Richard’s experiences under the Communists.

Tortured for Christ challenged me like few other books before. Beyond just retelling his prison experiences, Rev. Richard Wurmbrand goes into the heart issues—why we do what we do, and why we aren’t doing more of what we know to be right. Even though I loved the stories of God working mightily, Richard’s words dared me to reconsider my beliefs and see if I’d really be willing to pay the cost if it ever came to as serious situations as Richard and his fellow believers faced daily. I’m not sure I’d be willing to do that.

As a young person, Richard Wurmbrand was an atheist. He never saw the need for God, and he lived his life as he pleased. Then, by “chance”, he went to a village where an old Christian lived, who had asked God as a favor to send him a Jew to convert before he died. Richard was that Jew, and through a miracle, both he and his wife were saved.

As he grew in his Christian faith, he eventually became a pastor. As the years went on, the Nazis took over control of Romania—under whom the church there suffered, but not nearly as much as they did later when the Russian Communists took over. After the Communists gained control, Richard and the other church leaders devised methods of ministering to the Russian soldiers, resulting in winning many for Christ. For a while, Richard was able to retain his status as minister, but soon he had to stop his public ministry and work solely with the underground church. Even so, he was eventually captured, and sent to prison for many years because of his “dangerous” work.

Tortured for Christ is the true autobiographical story of Richard’s Christian life. Through the imperfections and trials of the underground church, he shows how God’s word triumphed time after time in the hearts of men and women. This story is not for children; but for adults. It is a fresh look at the modern persecuted church, a tribute to all those that have suffered and died for their faith, and a call to all Christians for greater holiness and more Christ-likeness.

WARNING: This book is for late teens and adults—it contains descriptions of horrific tortures the Communists used.