Comments on: Poland’s Three Uprisings

By: Tak Nomura

Tak Nomura — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:51:56 +0000

I have visited Poland twice, and both times I have visited Warsaw. On my second trip, I also visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. The first visit was in the early fifties, and the hotel in Warsaw was next to the Palace of Culture and Science. I could see the Palace of Culture and Science from my hotel room. On my second visit, that hotel was gone. I remember visiting Old Town and the square, but all the buildings were already renovated. I vaguely remember the church with two different towers, and the market place in the center of the square.

By: Glenn Allen

Glenn Allen — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:01:28 +0000

When I read the Gulag Archipelago, I was imprinted by the stories of Faith immersed in these accounts of horrific human suffering during Communist Rule in Russia. When I visited a missionary friend in Latvia in 2009, I met a gentleman about 70 who had lived through the occupation times of that country. When he knew that I knew something of this he gave me a book (his only book translated to English-We Sang Through Tears) which told first hand survivor accounts of Latvians swept up and taken to Siberia. Even though from Canada, he set no limit on returning his book. I again read of harsh tests of Faith-wondering why God chose them survive a another day of starvation, sickness and abuse.
I am now learning of the harsh poverty and corruption that exists in Ukraine in 2012.
These stories and experiences about Eastern Europe should give us a wake-up call. Solzhenitsyn stated about the move to a Communism in Russia….when the people understood what happened it was too late.
As a North American Christian, I know nothing about holding on to my faith in God.
I have been motivated into actions devoted to help young people in Latvia and Ukraine.
But the knowledge of their histories makes me feel that it is equally important for me to learn the lessons they can teach me.

By: gayle

gayle — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:23:42 +0000

Hi – This is a question about The Bible Jesus Read. While I am certainly not a Kissinger fan, I was taken aback that you included him in a category with Hitler and Stalin. Why?

Just curious!

I was mentioning some people that “self-appointed prophets” wrongly identified as the anti-Christ. I certainly don’t agree with them!
Philip

By: Kree Anthony

Kree Anthony — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:50:35 +0000

Beautifully written, thank you Phillip. The words ‘the execution of truth’ give me thought of what is truth in todays world and where can it be found? I wonder if because truth appears to be individual that there is such violence etc in todays world. There is nothing new under the sun, this I know, however, I remind myself that truth can only be found in Jesus and His word. There is hope in His truth .

Kree

By: John den Engelsen

John den Engelsen — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:45:32 +0000

I just finished a biography about Dietrich Bonheoffer and was very much disturbed to learn of the extent of the German church’s involvement with Hitler. It seems the gospel played second fiddle to nationalism. To a lesser extreme, or maybe not, I see a similar mentality in the N. American church, where perhaps the gospel becomes somewhat warped and skewed for the sake of protecting our self interests and moralities.

By: Ann Gaylia O'Barr

Ann Gaylia O'Barr — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:04:52 +0000

Raised in a loving family it took a visit to the WWII concentration camp at Dachau in Germany to bring home the awful brutality that we humans are capable of. It happened in a country that had been part of western “Christendom” for centuries.

By: Karen Craddock

Karen Craddock — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:42:24 +0000

Whenever I read about the atrocities of WWII, I ponder the Christians of that day begging Christ to return and end the horror. There are lessons there to learn but I have not figured them all out yet. It does make me so very thankful for this country and angry that we don’t take our citizenship responsibilities seriously.

By: Carol McClain

Carol McClain — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:57:45 +0000

One lesson to take from this is the revisionist history. We in America like to rewrite it–remove faith from the lives of our leaders, include events with less impact in order to be inclusive.

Another lesson, is allowing our government to control everything in our lives. I do love the freedom we have in our democracy, but it’s eroding and that scares me.

As an American of Russian/Polish descent, I thank you for a piece of history.

By: Bill Fleming

Bill Fleming — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:20:37 +0000

Great article Philip. I work as a youth worker in Northern Ireland and have had some contact with young Poles who come over here to work or volunteer. Many quite rightly have great pride in their country’s tradition of resistance against foreign oppression. The stories of what their grandparents suffered and the ingenuity of the resistance are amazing.

I love reading the history of world war 2. Stories like this bring into sharp focus huge moral dilemmas for me. I am a Christian committed to non-violence who has sought to practice his faith in a part of the world that has been torn by violence but I cannot help but wonder how I would have reacted or at least thought in the context of Poland under the Nazi’s. I think I know what for me would have been the right thing to do but the draw towards physical force resistance would have been enormous.

God bless Philip and thanks for this.