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Karl Marx and the Satanic Roots of Communism
Karl Marx, Coauthor of the revolutionary text The Communist Manifesto, grew up in a Christian family, and his early writings showed belief in Christian worldview. Yet in his adulthood, Marx embraced a deep personal rebellion against God and all Christian values. In Karl Marx and the Satanic Roots of Communism, Richard Wurmbrand explores the development of Marx's antireligious perspective that led to the philosophical foundations of communism.
By examining Marx's writings as well as biographical accounts, Wurmbrand builds a convincing case that Marx adhered to a belief system that opposes God. This book provides significant insight to why Christians and the church have been targeted by Marxists and Communists alike as it exposes the evil roots of a theory and government system that continue to persecute Christians in the present.
Richard Wurmbrand (1909 -2001) endured 14 years of prison in Communist Romaniafor his Christian witness. His wife, Sabina (1913 -2000), spent three years in prison for her faith. After Richard and Sabina were ransomed from Romania, They founded The Voice of the Martyrs in 1967 to help families of imprisoned Christians in Communist nations and other countries where Chrsitans are persecuted for their faith.
By examining Marx's writings as well as biographical accounts, Wurmbrand builds a convincing case that Marx adhered to a belief system that opposes God. This book provides significant insight to why Christians and the church have been targeted by Marxists and Communists alike as it exposes the evil roots of a theory and government system that continue to persecute Christians in the present.
Richard Wurmbrand (1909 -2001) endured 14 years of prison in Communist Romaniafor his Christian witness. His wife, Sabina (1913 -2000), spent three years in prison for her faith. After Richard and Sabina were ransomed from Romania, They founded The Voice of the Martyrs in 1967 to help families of imprisoned Christians in Communist nations and other countries where Chrsitans are persecuted for their faith.
164 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2022
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108 people want to read
About the author
Richard Wurmbrand
119 books272 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).
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 29, 2025
The author is more politically sensitive than I am. Long story short Karl Marx is a member of the Synagogue of Satan and he was as vile as the rest of them.
February 1, 2025
I did not enjoy this book and ended up not finishing the last few chapters because the author kept divulging more and more depraved and eerie information on Marx and his satanic group. The author did not need to go into as much detail as he did to get his point across. It is one thing to have a general knowledge of someone’s sin and another to write about so much of it that it becomes unedifying to God. Would not recommend this book for these reasons. All you need to know is that Marx was apart of the satanic temple, was a horrible person, and the later two influenced his ideologies of the Communist Manifesto.
August 3, 2024
I started listening to this book 4 days before Megan Basham’s Shepherds for Sale book released. I stopped in the middle to listen to her book and then came back to complete this one immediately afterward. The timing was very curious as Basham is showing how Marxist ideology is currently infiltrating the American church and Wurmbrand is not only showing the Satanic roots of Marxism but also how Christians in his time fell for it.
January 6, 2025
Reader, before you even think about speaking a single word of support for communism or socialism; before you loosely think that Karl Marx was truly trying to do a good thing by looking out for the oppressed who could not rise above their material poverty; or before you think that communism and socialism are viable choices for social and political structures that may help to organize societies and help to govern humankind, read this book!
After reading, you doubt? Then research the sources!
Because this book will help you see that what Marxist say about Karl Marx is a myth.
It is necessary to possess the knowledge that Jesus Christ is victorious over Satan, and the Satan's end is sure as you read this book. The perspective gained by reading this book will make the victory over Satan all the more real to the reader.
This book ought to be a good reminder that there is an active spiritual realm, of which we (especially 21st-century, comfortable, complacent Western World/North America) are incredibly oblivious to, to our great detriment. It is real-there are tentacles of evil reaching into our reality; knowing this, we must focus on the Victor. The scriptures are full of warnings. Why? Because the danger is real, and we ought to attend to it with far greater attention then we typically do.
May you never look at communism or socialism the same way again, after reading this book.
Soli Deo Gloria.
After reading, you doubt? Then research the sources!
Because this book will help you see that what Marxist say about Karl Marx is a myth.
It is necessary to possess the knowledge that Jesus Christ is victorious over Satan, and the Satan's end is sure as you read this book. The perspective gained by reading this book will make the victory over Satan all the more real to the reader.
This book ought to be a good reminder that there is an active spiritual realm, of which we (especially 21st-century, comfortable, complacent Western World/North America) are incredibly oblivious to, to our great detriment. It is real-there are tentacles of evil reaching into our reality; knowing this, we must focus on the Victor. The scriptures are full of warnings. Why? Because the danger is real, and we ought to attend to it with far greater attention then we typically do.
May you never look at communism or socialism the same way again, after reading this book.
Soli Deo Gloria.
August 8, 2025
You would expect a book with this title to be the unhinged ramblings of some fundamentalist Christian whose mind is still in the 1950s, but I am pleased to say it is not that at all.
I am amazed there have been so few reviews of this book. It is well researched and highly documented. This book shows that Marx and his milieu were not atheist intellectuals motivated by the plight of the working class.
Drawing citations from copious private letters, poetry and quotations from those who knew him, Wurmbrand demonstrates very compellingly that Marx's central goal in life was to destroy and ruin, and that his communism was merely a vehicle for that diabolical goal.
This is a short but heavy book, and I *strongly* recommend every history student and every Christian read it.
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Second review:
Honestly, my first review is pretty spot on. I would just say that alllll of the big names in the communist movement who were connected to Marx either (a) knew about his fiendish and wicked motivations or (b) also appear to have practised in satanic spirituality also.
In case it's not clear, there is absolutely and categorically no way to be both a Marxist and a Christian.
I am amazed there have been so few reviews of this book. It is well researched and highly documented. This book shows that Marx and his milieu were not atheist intellectuals motivated by the plight of the working class.
Drawing citations from copious private letters, poetry and quotations from those who knew him, Wurmbrand demonstrates very compellingly that Marx's central goal in life was to destroy and ruin, and that his communism was merely a vehicle for that diabolical goal.
This is a short but heavy book, and I *strongly* recommend every history student and every Christian read it.
-----
Second review:
Honestly, my first review is pretty spot on. I would just say that alllll of the big names in the communist movement who were connected to Marx either (a) knew about his fiendish and wicked motivations or (b) also appear to have practised in satanic spirituality also.
In case it's not clear, there is absolutely and categorically no way to be both a Marxist and a Christian.
November 12, 2024
I did not enjoy this, but at the same time... How needed. We must know what we are combating, and the true origins of anything we would dare consider!! Satanism. And just like satan, always promises so much, and never delivers. We need God, more than ever!! I pray anyone under the delusion of communism would dare to consider true history, as well as experience of those from nations besieged by it.
Character matters!!! There is nothing redeemable whatsoever about communism, but the Good News is any ideas for betterment for society and looking out for one another are found in the Bible, the Word of the living God over all. And He has already created the best system that could ever be conceived. We must dare to bring this Kingdom to this earth, and no other falseties, no misrepresentations of who He is. And we must first know Him. God bless you 💖🔥🙏
Character matters!!! There is nothing redeemable whatsoever about communism, but the Good News is any ideas for betterment for society and looking out for one another are found in the Bible, the Word of the living God over all. And He has already created the best system that could ever be conceived. We must dare to bring this Kingdom to this earth, and no other falseties, no misrepresentations of who He is. And we must first know Him. God bless you 💖🔥🙏
November 10, 2025
I remember when I read Wurmbrand's main book, I noticed his hatred for the Marx ideology felt especially pointed. (I don't blame him considering everything he went through, but it felt like there was more to it.)
In this book, he presents his case for Karl Marx and many other Socialist/Communist leaders not being an Athiest as most claim, but instead a Satanist. I found it compelling and interesting.
In this book, he presents his case for Karl Marx and many other Socialist/Communist leaders not being an Athiest as most claim, but instead a Satanist. I found it compelling and interesting.
February 18, 2024
A fun book.. a funny book, for many reasons. Yes- Marx was essentially a Satanist. Those early poems and such make no doubt about that, and we were fully aware of that before reading this. Some of the additional context, such as from the correspondence between Marx and Engles, and their relation to Moses Hess, was new to us, and certainly useful.
The funny thing is though, that the poor Christian writing this doesn't realize how far under the spell of the same blood demon he is himself. The "father" deity of the Catholic and Protestant Christians (Orthobros might be on to something else, we don't know enough about them to say precisely), is the same deity as the God of the Jews- only "mask on", rather than with the "real" Marx, when it goes "mask off". Of course, in the exoteric communism of Das Kapital, the blood demon goes "mask on", as it does in most of western (pistis>gnosis) Christianity, and this is why "communism" in theory looks and sounds a lot like Christianity: all are equal, love everyone and hold property in common, rich people bad/poor people good blahblah. It's all a crock of shite to cover a ressentiment fueled "rage politics" in the selfrighteous moral superiority state enforced altruism that ~just so happens to massively benefit centralized authority. Communism is simply the next logical step in the Christian logos, with paternal deity on its deathbed as the technical enfolding of industrial "progress" decimates the Occident.
There is the Promethean angle to this mode of thought that we certainly ascribe to, and to what extent Marx personally was motivated by Promethean aspirations, we cannot deign to judge- though certainly Wurmbrand does: he paints us a Marx-as-Satanist that is certainly true to some extent, but that also ends up seemingly in some form of character, as Christians so frequently frame their opposition: degenerate for degeneracy's sake; Satan as "the joker", who wantonly destroys whatever they can, psychotically out of spite, and against their own interest. There are some who are like this, to be sure- but they are the Satanic ~poseurs: the mere antitraditionalists, rather than the authentic counter traditionalists, who only react and so flail, rather than actively construct something of true alternative value. We could be wrong, but we suspect that Marx was something of the latter, rather than the former, and the limited characature offered here isn't able to confront that more pressing probability.
The funny thing is though, that the poor Christian writing this doesn't realize how far under the spell of the same blood demon he is himself. The "father" deity of the Catholic and Protestant Christians (Orthobros might be on to something else, we don't know enough about them to say precisely), is the same deity as the God of the Jews- only "mask on", rather than with the "real" Marx, when it goes "mask off". Of course, in the exoteric communism of Das Kapital, the blood demon goes "mask on", as it does in most of western (pistis>gnosis) Christianity, and this is why "communism" in theory looks and sounds a lot like Christianity: all are equal, love everyone and hold property in common, rich people bad/poor people good blahblah. It's all a crock of shite to cover a ressentiment fueled "rage politics" in the selfrighteous moral superiority state enforced altruism that ~just so happens to massively benefit centralized authority. Communism is simply the next logical step in the Christian logos, with paternal deity on its deathbed as the technical enfolding of industrial "progress" decimates the Occident.
There is the Promethean angle to this mode of thought that we certainly ascribe to, and to what extent Marx personally was motivated by Promethean aspirations, we cannot deign to judge- though certainly Wurmbrand does: he paints us a Marx-as-Satanist that is certainly true to some extent, but that also ends up seemingly in some form of character, as Christians so frequently frame their opposition: degenerate for degeneracy's sake; Satan as "the joker", who wantonly destroys whatever they can, psychotically out of spite, and against their own interest. There are some who are like this, to be sure- but they are the Satanic ~poseurs: the mere antitraditionalists, rather than the authentic counter traditionalists, who only react and so flail, rather than actively construct something of true alternative value. We could be wrong, but we suspect that Marx was something of the latter, rather than the former, and the limited characature offered here isn't able to confront that more pressing probability.
April 6, 2023
My quest att lära mig mera om diverse system och ideologier fortsätter. Denna bok var stundvis obehaglig, lärorik och sobering. En ny påminnelse om att jag behöver förbli i Kristi kärlek och förbli i hans ord. Sen är det bara plus allt det jag vet så jag kan undvika att sugas med i något gudsfrånvänt. Många tankar växtes av denna bok.
Obs. Detta är inte en bok som går igenom marxism eller kommunism, utan ett utforskande kring Karl Marx egna tankar och eventuella kopplingar till satanismen. Boken behandlar även delar från satanismen som överlappar med Marx skriverier.
Obs. Detta är inte en bok som går igenom marxism eller kommunism, utan ett utforskande kring Karl Marx egna tankar och eventuella kopplingar till satanismen. Boken behandlar även delar från satanismen som överlappar med Marx skriverier.
December 31, 2025
Wurmbrand is a wonderfully clear writer. You will be able to follow very easily. I listened to the audiobook, which this is a good book to do audio on. There are a couple sections you will want to re-listen to because you won't believe the quotes. The title seemed farfetched, but after reading and carefully listening Wurmbrand's case is at the very least thought provoking and convincing. He even addresses how to appeal to Christian's in the church who begin to give way to this line of thinking and how to reveal to them the core of this philosophy is rotten.
This book was a great companion to reading Dostoevsky novels considering Dostoevsky clearly was opposed to European liberal socialists and communists. Considering Marx and Dostoevsky lived almost exactly at the same time, and the majority of their work was published at the same time, this is a great book in many ways to understanding why Dostoevsky showed so much contempt near the end of his life for materialistic, European socialism. This book will help in understanding why so much great Western literature attacked this parasitic philosophy called Marxism.
This book was a great companion to reading Dostoevsky novels considering Dostoevsky clearly was opposed to European liberal socialists and communists. Considering Marx and Dostoevsky lived almost exactly at the same time, and the majority of their work was published at the same time, this is a great book in many ways to understanding why Dostoevsky showed so much contempt near the end of his life for materialistic, European socialism. This book will help in understanding why so much great Western literature attacked this parasitic philosophy called Marxism.
November 19, 2025
I began this book driven by morbid curiosity, but I finished it in a state of intellectual depression. Generally, it presents incredibly forced arguments, deploying a nearly exhaustive catalog of classical logical fallacies: taking quotes out of context, interpreting literary irony as literal fact, guilt by association, begging the question, and straw man arguments, among many others.
The book acquires a grim contemporary relevance when studying the author—a survivor of political persecution in the Soviet bloc—and comparing him to modern Christians who loudly cry "persecution" while they themselves persecute others. It is regrettable that such a poorly argued book undermines the author's credibility and puts the genuine horrors he survived on trial.
The only two redeeming qualities are its vast repertoire of unintentional humor and the fact that it triggered the curiosity to consult original sources, only to discover that he takes almost absolutely everything out of context. By his criteria, authors like Goethe would be considered consummate Satanists.
The book acquires a grim contemporary relevance when studying the author—a survivor of political persecution in the Soviet bloc—and comparing him to modern Christians who loudly cry "persecution" while they themselves persecute others. It is regrettable that such a poorly argued book undermines the author's credibility and puts the genuine horrors he survived on trial.
The only two redeeming qualities are its vast repertoire of unintentional humor and the fact that it triggered the curiosity to consult original sources, only to discover that he takes almost absolutely everything out of context. By his criteria, authors like Goethe would be considered consummate Satanists.
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October 18, 2024An interesting book-if I knew more on the subject I would say more. What I wanted more of is really substantive historical data on Marx and other’s actual involvement in the occult. But given who the author was, perhaps as it is well as it is.
I think this book is the beginning of some really worthwhile research.
Content warning for the book though: does quote and reference extensively Satanic texts and occult rites.
I think this book is the beginning of some really worthwhile research.
Content warning for the book though: does quote and reference extensively Satanic texts and occult rites.
November 11, 2024
"The chief guide, which must direct us in the choice of a profession is the welfare of mankind and our own perfection... Men's nature is so constituted that he can attain his own perfection only by working for the perfection, for the good, of his fellow man... If he works only for himself, he may perhaps become a famous man of learning, a great sage, an excellent poet, but he can never be a perfect, truly great man..." Karl Marx age 17.
Taken from a book that isn't a misleading pile of trash.
Taken from a book that isn't a misleading pile of trash.
February 18, 2024
The author has a personal vendetta against Communism due to him being inprisoned for being a pastor and preaching what he believes. This book is kind of like a biography of Karl Marx but geared specifically towards his idealogical roots in Satanism by giving first hand accounts by Marx himself and his contempories. The author also spends some time talking about Marx’s right hand man, Friedrich Engels and his ideaological roots in Satanism. Along with looking at the Soviet Union 1917-1991 and its implementation of Marxism.
June 7, 2023
This struck me as rather inane book. A bunch of quips and phrases stitched together to back up a specious thesis. At least I hope it is not true or there is a lot more satanism going on than I was aware of. Karl Marx, friend of the devil. Who knew?
May 22, 2024
Pretty good, short book with some good info in it. I wasn't able to put it down. It's definitely a must-read for Christians who think communism can coexist with Christianity. Also, it's a good read for Christians who wish to better understand our opponents in this spiritual war.
October 9, 2024
First read the Communist Manifesto. I am not sure I would have considered Wurmbrand's premise if I hadn't read that first. Towards the end, he reminds readers that the current summaries on Karl Marx portray a man focused on rescuing the poor are baseless.
August 10, 2024
Insane but unsurprising.
November 30, 2025
"What happens politically is just a manifestation of the spiritual, and we must be unafraid to engage in the spiritual." - Charlie Kirk
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews