In God's Underground

A difficult read at times due only to the hideous trials Wurmbrand endured but nonetheless a very inspiring account of a man who clings to Jesus and his grace no matter what. Would definitely recommend.

Love CHRISTian music! It can make your soul dance with joy, cry with joy & sadness, & anything in between. CHRISTian music is an awesome way to communicate with our Father God Almighty. Wish the whole world could only hear CHRISTian music that caused their dark souls to enter into His Light of Love, Forgiveness, Acceptance, Grace, Mercy, etc.

Richard Wurmbrand was an amazing man and has left a great heritage in the Voice of the Martyrs organization. If you think freedom of religion is available all over the world you need to read this book.

Wurmbrand has brought forth a little know part of history that is very pertinent in todays world of religious persecution. How we could end up there again. I found parts to be overly wordy as he tried to get the religious teachings in his writing. I would have enjoyed even more history, but again enjoyed the book.

Pastor Wurmbrand endured some harrowing experiences and, therefore, has a good story to tell. The problem is that the book is not very well written and I, as the reader, had to be terribly motivated to finish it.

I had previously read a few of Wurmbrand's books. Although "Tortured for Christ" is likely his best known, "In God's Underground" may be his magnum opus. In this inspiring if also very disturbing memoir, Richard recounts in sometimes excruciating detail his tribulations in Communist Rumanian from the 1940s to the 1960s. This included years of imprisonment, repeated torture, brainwashing sessions, and various forms of government intimidation. All the while Richard gives readers an in-your-face and remarkable honest account of both the joy of Christ and the difficulties of holding on to that faith.

The depth of Wurmbrand's faith is both inspiring and thought provoking. His honesty in admiting his flaws and short comings adds a very human angle to his remarkable story. The life lessons from both suffering and those he interacts with ranging from war criminals, to imprisoned pastors, to interrogators, to political figures make for fascinating reading.

Perhaps the most honest and disturbing sections of the book deal with how both fascism and later commuism hijacked official Christianity for their own ends. This ranges all the way for the anti-Semetic Iron Guard of the early 1940s all the way to priests reporting on congregants to the Communist secret police.

I highly recommend "In God's Underground" but warn readers that this is not for the feint of heart.

Rwverend Wurmbrand was a remarkable & saintly man who lived through awful times. It is hard to believe that this man had such courage & conviction to endure all his sufferings because of his faith & love for Christ Jesus. Richard experienced the living God & Jesus in these most intense & traumatic times. He didnt need to believe he knew. He walked with Jesus. He & others like him had the incredible courage to witness & testify to Christ at the risk of their lives. On the other hand we are living in a different time that calls for a new kind of courage to withstand a new kind of secularism & atheism that is undermining true love in the family & ushering in a confusing body centered culture that has no place for genuine faith & love for higher things of the spirit & the eternal life.

Pastor Wurmbrand is my hero! His brilliant intellect and his profound love for Christ shine in this stellar memoir. You cannot read this book without being amazed by his humble attitude and his extraordinary ability to overcome torture and soul-shattering mental abuse and extremely derelict prison conditions. Richard Wurmbrand was truly a Saint in every sense of the word.

This book captures the reader to read more and more. This is the story of a rare believer in the LORD Jesus Christ whose faith flourished in the midst of suffering. For those of us who wonder if we would cave under such pressure and torture, this testimony is a great encouragement of one who showed how it can be done. We see characters brought into Mr. Wurmbrand's life that had the appearance of strong religion, but under pressure had little relationship of the one they had professed. Like Jesus, he suffered betrayal, lies and brutal torture, enduring the pain and shame. Having traveled to Romania several times shortly after the assassination of Ceausescu, a sell indulgent Communist dictator, I had personally heard some of this brutality, but this book brought it to life.

I haven't read Wurmbrand's Tortured For Christ, so I'm not sure the difference.

This book is an autobiographical account of Wurmbrand's life from just before he was arrested for his faith to after he got released fourteen years later. The book is basically a chronological account of anecdotes filled in between with descriptions of the political an prison climates.

Wurmbrand was courageous, strengthened by Christ, and very smart. He stood up for his faith over and over again against heinous tortures and beating by different communist regimes that kept him imprisoned for his faith. When he had a chance to speak he would quote his attackers own literature in argument against them. He led people to Christ through tapping on prison walls with a cup (and learned Morse from a radio operator in another cell by tapping cups!). Though he struggled immensely in prison yet was able to depict the kind of person we (atleast I) would want to be under such circumstances; standing by the faith, leading people to Christ, loving enemies, and having intellectual discussions with those at hand.

The book is very inspiring and a very enjoyable read. I generally read more intellectual/doctrinal Christian books, and this was a nice break from that sort.

Mystic. Philosopher. Loving husband. Worried father. Proud member of the Jewish race. Creature with nerve ending that ache when you hit them and who hungers when you starve him. Social being who hallucinates apart from human voices, and hungers for sex and companionship as well as food. Martyr who stands up to tyrants and warns them to repent. Lutheran pastor with a weakness for jokes. Richard Wurmbrand may have been a "voice of the martyrs," but after reading this sensitive, deeply honest autobiography, what impresses me the most is the degree to which his voice is also the voice of humankind. I found it challenging to see how, as a well-read Christian in tough times who faces all the temptations I do, he integrated the various facets of his humanity with his faith.
In a literal sense, faith made Wurmbrand a free-thinker. Embracing a religion that fits the full complexity of life, miracles as well as madness, and sharing a broad and often painful experience with a knowledge of several spiritual traditions, he was free to think on many questions and come to unexpected conclusions both whimsical and sober. There are many modern names that could be added to the list of heroes of the faith of Hebrews 11. Wurmbrand tells us some of their stories, including his own.
author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

"In God's Underground" is a hugely compelling account of gross persecution and great spiritual truimph. Wurmbrand's style is lucid, naturalistic, and enjoyable, and his stunning portrayals of life in communist prisons are effective without being maudlin or lurid. While his subject-matter is gripping in it's own right, Wurbrand's spiritual insight and his portrayals of his own, vibrant relationship with the Almighty are what make this book truly great. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys great autobiographies, and I especially recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered why someone would choose to suffer for their Faith.

I knew Richard Wurmbrand personally. This is the 'Rest of the Story' if you have read 'Tortured for Christ'. These are the details and days you missed in that quick and easy to read book, which was hugely powerful, but merely a glimpse of what Richard, his wife, son, his congregation, and everyone who lived under the evil of Soviet Marxist Communism suffered.

After having read this book, i can only pray that i recieve the grace to stand for my faith in Jesus.. What an honour to take sides with God in the face of evil and adversity... Alongside the Apostle Paul i think this man Richard Wurmbrand is one of my greatest heroes... I love his practical and clever answers to difficult questions... The man is soaked i the wisdom of God and lives it out in a concrete way... I am so inspired by his life and actions and cant wait to see him crowned with many crowns by the only One who can reward His faithful children

Richard Wurmbrand, author of “In God’s Underground” presents to all who read his book the intense life and extreme hardships a Christian pastor in Romania had to face in his time. From continual torture to be stuffed in a cell for months on end, Wurmbrand never allowed his faith to crumble and continued to trust in God and his providence. Along with delineating upon his story and using it as a testimony for others to experience, he also states some strong spiritual truths within this book. He explains the importance of faith and the fact that faith without works is dead. A great autobiography, “In God’s Underground” is an excellent read for anyone struggling in the faith or in need for some spiritual inspiration.

This is an awesome book which gives the account of Richard Wurmbrand, a Jewish, Lutheran pastor, who endured suffering and torture in a Communist prison while being a Christ-like example to the many people around him. This book will inspire you (as it did to me) to walk closer to the Compassionate and All-loving God who used Wurmbrand to lead many prisoners to Christ and the grace that flows freely from the Cross to ALL who will accept it.