Tortured for Christ [Paperback]

Richard Wurmbrand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2004

This classic story of amazing faith in shocking circumstances has been updated for a new generation. Its message remains urgent and relevant: thousands of Christians are still persecuted and tortured around the world today, suffering solely for their belief in Jesus Christ. Richard Wurmbrand endured months of solitary confinement, years of periodic physical torture, constant suffering from hunger and cold, the anguish of brainwashing and mental cruelty. His captors lied to his wife, saying he was dead. Yet he went on to tell the West the truth about Christianity behind the Iron Curtain. Millions of people have been touched by this story, and thirty years after its first publication it is now updated with a new foreword by Rob Frost, a picture section and details of the final years of Wurmbrand's life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'When you have read this book, pass it to your children. No generation should miss this story.' -- Rob Parsons 20040325 'It's a Christian classic. Approach with prayer. It could change your life.' -- Rob Frost 20040325 'This book was singularly instrumental in awaking the conscience of the free world to the horrors experienced by our brothers and sisters behind the iron curtain. I remember reading the book many years ago and being deeply moved and convicted. Millions of others were as well.' -- Charles W. Colson, Prison Fellowship Ministries 20040325 'Tortured for Christ made an impact on my life as a recently converted teenager in the sixties. I welcome this new edition of Tortured for Christ and pray that its story will shake many twenty first century Christians out of their complacency towards those who around the world today are still tortured for their Christian witness.' -- Rev John S. Smith, UK Director, Evangelical Allian 20040325

About the Author

Richard Wurmbrand was an evangelical Romanian minister who led a vigorous Underground ministry to his people enslaved by Communists between 1945 and 1966. During that period, he spent a total of fourteen years in prison, three of which were in solitary confinement. He died in 2001.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hodder Christian Books (October 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340863684
• ISBN-13: 978-0340863688
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Peek at the Undergound Church in Eastern Europe, January 17, 2005

By 

Matthew Gunia (Justice, Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tortured for Christ (Paperback)

Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Jew who gave up athiesm for Christianity in his youth, writes about his years working as a pastor in the secret, Underground Church in Romania. Wurmbrand writes about this very book that it has "no literary value," which is true. He writes in a "stream-of-consciousness" style, seemingly paying little attention to chronology and jumping from event to event.

But while Wurmbrand does not skillfully craft a litarary masterpiece, he does give the reader quite a masterpiece as far as emotions and history are concerned. I'm aware of little historical work on Undergrounc Churches anywhere--be it Eastern Europe, the Middle East, China, or other lands. Wurmbrand does history a great service as he provides a first-hand account of Romania's secret church, how they worshiped, how they evangelized, how they communicated and provided support for each other, etc. The resourcefulness of the Church was both inspiring and surprising.

This book is also very emotionally charged. Wurmbrand pulls no punches as he describes the means by which he and other Christians were tortured: placed naked in a freezer until nearly dead, warmed up, then placed back in the freezer repeatedly; made to partake in a mock-Communion service of urine and feces; cut several times then placed in a room full of starving rats; and then there's the conventional methods of torture: beating, attacking your family, and raping. Reading Wurmbrand's descripting of these acts shocked this reader several times.

I highly recommend this book for both its historical and inspirational value. It is also highly recommended because, while Romania's Underground Church no longer has to operate in secret, there exist Underground Churches in other nations of the world: China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba (just to name a few). Reading about this particular underground church has given me insight to how the other Underground Churches still opperate today.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Christian-Jew in a Communist Country, January 29, 2000

By 

RaChelle Glauser (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tortured for Christ (Paperback)

What a powerful book! Wurmbrand holds nothing back as he relates his many years in a Communist prison. Beaten, starved, totured... at yet he still came out of prison preaching about God's never-failing love.

In his son's book BETWEEN HAMMER & SICKLE (by Mihai Wurmbrand) he gives a most powerful and awe-inspiring message to his son:

"Mihai, you know that in prison I had no Bible. I have forgotten it. I have forgotten all my theology. But these things I know for sure. First, there is a living God and he is our loving father. Second, Jesus Christ is the savior and bridegroom of our souls. Third, the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more and more Christ-like. Fourth, there exists beyond question an eternal life. And lastly, love is the best of ways. This is what I have learned in prison."

If that doesn't stir you, what does?

...A Christian-Jew in a Communist Country. If you think you need an example of a true Believer, then you should definitely read TORTURED FOR CHRIST and BETWEEN HAMMER & SICKLE.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The cost of being a Christian in certain countries..., June 5, 2005

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tortured for Christ (Paperback)

Back in my preteen years, I first read Pastor Richard Wurmbrand's book Tortured For Christ. It had a big influence on how I viewed religious freedom in Soviet bloc countries. Wurmbrand wrote this book after his release from Romanian prisons in 1964, and he did so to share the story of how the underground churches in Communist countries have to operate in order to spread the Word and their faith. Rather than continue to minister to his countrymen, he was urged to leave and spread the news about the persecution. Wurmbrand probably did more to bring this situation to light than any other single person.

With the demise of the Soviet Union, the situation has improved somewhat. But by no means has religious freedom bloomed. There are more freedoms in the former Communist countries, but the surge in Islamic countries means that Christian persecution has just migrated to new locations. Much of what you read here is still valid around the world. The situation's the same, just the names have changed.

If you're wondering about the cost of being a Christian in many locations around the world, this book will help you to understand what that cost is.