In God's Underground

Communist Romania

If you want just an inkling of what occurred in Communist prisons behind the Iron Curtain, read In God’s Underground by Richard Wurmbrand. Wurmbrand, a Lutheran pastor, spent years in solitary confinement in a cell deep underground. He was incarcerated and frequently tortured for a total of 14 years for preaching the Gospel. In this book, Wurmbrand describes how he kept his sanity during years of solitary confinement, how he used many opportunities to share Christ with guards and fellow prisoners, how he dealt with his own doubts and depressions and found a deep personal relationship with Christ through his suffering.

Some of the descriptions of prison life in this book are graphic and not appropriate for children. However, through the darkness and depravity displayed in the dungeon, the light of Christ shone brighter, and adult readers will be encouraged by the faith of Wurmbrand and other Christians who were persecuted in Romania. The book relates real struggles that even those not in prison may find familiar. Wurmbrand shows that through Christ there is victory over loneliness, lust, and living for self. Portions of the book could be studied as lessons in Christian apologetics.