Pastor Richard Wurmbrand knew suffering. (I say 'knew' because he now lives with Jesus, where there is no suffering to be known.) His story, Tortured for Christ, is worth reading for anyone who can appreciate that our Western Christian model is not the norm in our world, or perhaps even in history. Most believers in the world face the risk of real persecution for their faith. (John 16:33)
Wurmbrand's primary antagonist was Communism, which declares that there is no God, no heaven or hell, and nothing beyond what we encounter and experience with our five senses. I'm including a passage from his work, which suggests a logical answer to the communistic worldview. It is a quote from an underground church member who was pleading with an atheist to recognize that eternal life does in fact exist. I found it hopeful, intelligent, and simple, and I hope you enjoy it:
"Suppose that we could speak with an embryo in his mother's womb and that you would tell him that the embryonic life is only a short one after which follows a real, long life. What would the embryo answer? He would say just what you atheists answer to us, when we speak to you about paradise and hell. He would say that the life in the mother's womb is the only one and that everything else is religious foolishness. But if the embryo could think, he would say to himself, 'Here arms grow on me. I do not need them. I cannot even stretch them. Why do they grow? Perhaps they grow for a future stage of my existence, in which I will have to work with them. Legs grow, but I have to keep them bent toward my chest. Why do they grow? Probably life in the large world follows, where I will have to walk. Eyes grow, although I am surrounded by perfect darkness and don't need them. Why do I have eyes? Probably a world of light and colors will follow.'
So, if the embryo would reflect on his own development, he would know about a life outside of his mother's womb, without having seen it. It is the same with us. As long as we are young, we have vigor, but no mind to use it properly. When, with the years, we have grown in knowledge and wisdom, the hearse waits to take us to the grave. Why was it necessary to grow in knowledge and wisdom that we can use no more? Why do arms, legs, and eyes grow on an embryo? It is for what follows. So it is with us here. We grow here in experience, knowledge, and wisdom for what follows. We are prepared to serve on a higher level that follows death."
(Tortured for Christ is available free in the U.S. Request yours today!)
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