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The Answer to the Atheist's Handbook
Paperback Living Sacrifice Book Co (June 2002) English 0882643398 978-0882643397 Product 0.5 x 6 x 8.8 inches
Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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About the author
Richard Wurmbrand
119 books273 followersEarly life
Richard Wurmbrand, the youngest of four boys, was born in 1909 in Bucharest in a Jewish family. He lived with his family in Istanbul for a short while; his father died when he was 9, and the Wurmbrands returned to Romania when he was 15.
As an adolescent, he became attracted to communism, and, after attending a series of illegal meetings of the Communist Party of Romania (PCdR), he was sent to study Marxism in Moscow, but returned clandestinely the following year. Pursued by Siguranţa Statului (the secret police), he was arrested and held in Doftana prison. Wurmbrand subsequently renounced his political ideals.
He married Sabina Oster on October 26, 1936. Wurmbrand and his wife were converted to Christianity in 1938 through the witness of Christian Wolfkes, a Romanian Christian carpenter; they joined the Anglican Mission to the Jews. Wurmbrand was ordained twice - first as an Anglican, then, after World War II, as a Lutheran pastor.
In 1944, when the Soviet Union occupied Romania as the first step to establishing the communist regime, Wurmbrand began a ministry to his Romanian countrymen and to the Red Army soldiers. When the government attempted to control the churches, he immediately began an "underground" ministry to his people. He was arrested on February 29, 1948, while on his way to church services.
Wurmbrand, who passed through the penal facilities of Craiova, Gherla, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, Văcăreşti, Malmaison, Cluj, and ultimately Jilava, spent three years in solitary confinement. His wife, Sabina, was arrested in 1950 and spent three years of penal labor on the Danube Canal.
Pastor Wurmbrand was released in 1956, after eight and a half years, and, although warned not to preach, resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959, and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured.
Eventually, he was the recipient of an amnesty in 1964. Concerned with the possibility of further imprisonment, the Norwegian Mission to the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania for $10,000. He was convinced by underground church leaders to leave and become a voice for the persecuted church.
Wurmbrand traveled to Norway, England, and then the United States. In May 1965, he testified in Washington, D.C. before the US Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee. He became known as the "The Voice of the Underground Church," doing much to publicize the persecution of Christians in Communist countries.
In April 1967, the Wurmbrands formed Jesus To The Communist World (later named The Voice of the Martyrs), an interdenominational organization working initially with and for persecuted Christians in Communist countries, but later expanding its activities to help persecuted believers in other places, especially in the Muslim world. However, when in Namibia, and confronted with the case of Colin Winter, the Anglican Bishop of Namibia, who had supported African strikers and was eventually deported from Namibia by South Africa, Wurmbrand criticized the latter's anti-apartheid activism, and claimed resistance to communism was more important.
In 1990 Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years. The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookstore in Bucharest. He preached about God together with pastor Ioan Panican.
The Wurmbrands had one son, Mihai. Wurmbrand wrote 18 books in English and others in Romanian. His best-known book is entitled Tortured for Christ, released in 1967. His wife, Sabina, died August 11, 2000.
Pastor Wurmbrand died on February 17, 2001 in a hospital in Long Beach, California. In 2006, he came fifth among the greatest Romanians according to a poll conducted by Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română).
Richard Wurmbrand, the youngest of four boys, was born in 1909 in Bucharest in a Jewish family. He lived with his family in Istanbul for a short while; his father died when he was 9, and the Wurmbrands returned to Romania when he was 15.
As an adolescent, he became attracted to communism, and, after attending a series of illegal meetings of the Communist Party of Romania (PCdR), he was sent to study Marxism in Moscow, but returned clandestinely the following year. Pursued by Siguranţa Statului (the secret police), he was arrested and held in Doftana prison. Wurmbrand subsequently renounced his political ideals.
He married Sabina Oster on October 26, 1936. Wurmbrand and his wife were converted to Christianity in 1938 through the witness of Christian Wolfkes, a Romanian Christian carpenter; they joined the Anglican Mission to the Jews. Wurmbrand was ordained twice - first as an Anglican, then, after World War II, as a Lutheran pastor.
In 1944, when the Soviet Union occupied Romania as the first step to establishing the communist regime, Wurmbrand began a ministry to his Romanian countrymen and to the Red Army soldiers. When the government attempted to control the churches, he immediately began an "underground" ministry to his people. He was arrested on February 29, 1948, while on his way to church services.
Wurmbrand, who passed through the penal facilities of Craiova, Gherla, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, Văcăreşti, Malmaison, Cluj, and ultimately Jilava, spent three years in solitary confinement. His wife, Sabina, was arrested in 1950 and spent three years of penal labor on the Danube Canal.
Pastor Wurmbrand was released in 1956, after eight and a half years, and, although warned not to preach, resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959, and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured.
Eventually, he was the recipient of an amnesty in 1964. Concerned with the possibility of further imprisonment, the Norwegian Mission to the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania for $10,000. He was convinced by underground church leaders to leave and become a voice for the persecuted church.
Wurmbrand traveled to Norway, England, and then the United States. In May 1965, he testified in Washington, D.C. before the US Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee. He became known as the "The Voice of the Underground Church," doing much to publicize the persecution of Christians in Communist countries.
In April 1967, the Wurmbrands formed Jesus To The Communist World (later named The Voice of the Martyrs), an interdenominational organization working initially with and for persecuted Christians in Communist countries, but later expanding its activities to help persecuted believers in other places, especially in the Muslim world. However, when in Namibia, and confronted with the case of Colin Winter, the Anglican Bishop of Namibia, who had supported African strikers and was eventually deported from Namibia by South Africa, Wurmbrand criticized the latter's anti-apartheid activism, and claimed resistance to communism was more important.
In 1990 Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years. The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookstore in Bucharest. He preached about God together with pastor Ioan Panican.
The Wurmbrands had one son, Mihai. Wurmbrand wrote 18 books in English and others in Romanian. His best-known book is entitled Tortured for Christ, released in 1967. His wife, Sabina, died August 11, 2000.
Pastor Wurmbrand died on February 17, 2001 in a hospital in Long Beach, California. In 2006, he came fifth among the greatest Romanians according to a poll conducted by Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 18, 2016
March 15, 2015: As a Christian caught in the grips of Atheism, Agnosticism, and plain Theism (tempted to acknowledge a Creator but not Christ), this book helped me get back on track with my hope, faith, and courage in Christ and the Bible. There are plenty of powerful metaphors and thought-provoking statements. The author of the book, Wurmbrand, is a pastor but he is stronger on the philosophical side than the theological side in my opinion. I wouldn't put him on the same plane as Martin Luther, but he is very effective at getting the point across in elaborate explanation that Atheism is utterly stupid, love, the thing that gives purpose to life, is more than chemical reactions, and that God is bigger than anything we can ever assume to know on this earth. I will definitely be revisiting this book in the future.
I see this book as a starter's kit to something much bigger about God and the nature of this universe. It has pointed me in a direction that will only grow brighter and brighter as I study more.
UPDATE December 18, 2016:
I am no longer a Christian or have any religion. Life will challenge whatever ideology you have, no matter how cherished. The process of my deconversion has made me a happier and stronger human being though, so I am grateful for it, though the change was painful at first.
I see this book as a starter's kit to something much bigger about God and the nature of this universe. It has pointed me in a direction that will only grow brighter and brighter as I study more.
UPDATE December 18, 2016:
I am no longer a Christian or have any religion. Life will challenge whatever ideology you have, no matter how cherished. The process of my deconversion has made me a happier and stronger human being though, so I am grateful for it, though the change was painful at first.
May 15, 2016
I've read this book twice. Once almost 30 years ago in the communist Romania, and another time recently in the US. For the contemporary US reader like me looking for a Christian apologetics book, this might not be the best, because it's not addressing the most current philosophical arguments of the new atheists, and the scientific parts are often outdated. You will have to read it in its proper historical perspective, and to start by knowing who the author was and what he has been through. For me the Christian kid living in communist Romania in the 20th century, confronted daily in school with propaganda and ridicule, this illegal book, published under a different title and fake author was a breath of fresh air, very much needed and powerful. I doubt it served to turn atheists into Christians, but it certainly served to strengthen the faith of many persecuted and marginalized Christians.
February 1, 2024
Fantastic book!
November 23, 2012
An excerpt from this book is the best advertisement.
Question: Is the concept of a god innate to human nature—perhaps, put there by that very god—or is religion all learned. Wurmbrand reminds us of what 'our honored opponents' contend:
Quoting the book:
“RELIGION IS not inherent to man. It is not an inalienable quality of human nature.” Our honored opponents say that science has proved this. “The archaeological discoveries have shown that during hundreds of thousands of years, man did not have any religion.” I am not a member of an Academy of Science. In my ignorance, I have believed that archaeology could discover only things which existed in the past, not things which did not exist.
This reminds me of a story. An Italian debated with a Jew: “You Jews are so proud. There is tremendous propaganda claiming that you are the most intelligent people in the world. Sheer nonsense! In Italy, excavations have been made, and in some strata of the earth at least 2,000 years old, wire has been found, which proves that our Roman ancestors at that time already had the telegraph.” The Jew answered, “In Israel, excavations have been made in parts of the earth 4,000 years old and nothing has been found, which means that we had the wireless before you had the telegraph.”
Question: Is the concept of a god innate to human nature—perhaps, put there by that very god—or is religion all learned. Wurmbrand reminds us of what 'our honored opponents' contend:
Quoting the book:
“RELIGION IS not inherent to man. It is not an inalienable quality of human nature.” Our honored opponents say that science has proved this. “The archaeological discoveries have shown that during hundreds of thousands of years, man did not have any religion.” I am not a member of an Academy of Science. In my ignorance, I have believed that archaeology could discover only things which existed in the past, not things which did not exist.
This reminds me of a story. An Italian debated with a Jew: “You Jews are so proud. There is tremendous propaganda claiming that you are the most intelligent people in the world. Sheer nonsense! In Italy, excavations have been made, and in some strata of the earth at least 2,000 years old, wire has been found, which proves that our Roman ancestors at that time already had the telegraph.” The Jew answered, “In Israel, excavations have been made in parts of the earth 4,000 years old and nothing has been found, which means that we had the wireless before you had the telegraph.”
April 27, 2012
I have in the past enjoyed reading Wurmbrand for the inspiration of his life of service and enduring through persecution. I have now gotten to know Richard Wurmbrand the intellectual. Fluent in nine languages and conversant with a vast body of classical literature, he speaks not as one who knows only what the Church has given him to believe, but has plumbed the depths of secular academia and found its offering wanting. This former atheist's faith was put to the test and survived not only 14 years of imprisonment and bodily torture, but also the attempts of his captors to brainwash him against it with their own atheistic mantras and literature.
January 5, 2017
This book was definitely biased, but having been written by a former atheist himself, it is forgivable. I did find parts of this book completely sympathetic to my way of thinking, and it sufficiently and satisfactorily may come back to the empty arguments of atheist. What I found interesting was the differentiation between scientific and atheist views, which are definitely different. I'm glad I read this.
March 2, 2016
Must Read
This book answers and refutes claims made by an atheistic communist government. You can tell he's not vindictive or bitter about his experiences, he simply answers the claims that are made by presenting proofs and sound reasoning to expose the lies. I really recommend this book.
This book answers and refutes claims made by an atheistic communist government. You can tell he's not vindictive or bitter about his experiences, he simply answers the claims that are made by presenting proofs and sound reasoning to expose the lies. I really recommend this book.
August 30, 2013
The Atheist's Handbook was a Soviet Russian publication. Richard Wurmbrand wrote his book to answer the archaeological, literary and philosophical criticisms leveled against Christianity specifically.
He did a very good job, in my opinion.
He did a very good job, in my opinion.
February 16, 2016
If I could choose a book that could help in bringing all Christians together, on a common ground, this would be the one.
I consider it a must-have in every Christian's library... and in the atheist's library as well :)
I consider it a must-have in every Christian's library... and in the atheist's library as well :)
August 28, 2016
A great apologetic resource!!!
A fantastic read and far better than i expected! I learned a lot!! Recommended for any apologist. Fair and respectful. This is my second voice of the martyrs book.
A fantastic read and far better than i expected! I learned a lot!! Recommended for any apologist. Fair and respectful. This is my second voice of the martyrs book.
March 29, 2017
This book is full of great information. It's well researched and the author is well informed. Much of it is facts I won't be able to remember to tell someone else, but at least I'll know where to look to find them again.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews