"They will now", by James O'Fee

In Martin Goldsmith and RELEASE, posted yesterday, where I quoted Martin Goldsmith thus -

I was anxious to question Goldsmith about his conversion and on Isaiah Chapter 53 in particular to which the Rabbis whom Wurmbrand met had no answer. Goldsmith replied to my query "They will now!".

On which Rudolf Fischer of Budapest has commented -

"They will now!" Sounds like a threat, doesn't it dear James?

What did Martin Goldsmith mean? What did you, at the time, think he meant?

Are you sure the Martin Goldsmith you spoke to in 2008 and the 2010 patron of RELEASE INTERNATIONAL are the same person ?

Perhaps Goldsmith didn't utter those precise words, but it was something of the sort, accompanied by a laugh and a shrug. By this I understood that, even if the leading Rabbis of Rumania in the years just before World War 2 had no answer to Richard Wurmbrand's questions on Isaiah Chapter 53 (perhaps because they had little experience of a Jew who was considering converting to Christianity for reasons of principle), today the Rabbis of Rumania and a fortiori those of the West would, in Goldsmith's opinion, certainly have found and adopted a defensible position on Isaiah Chapter 53. [Before I read Goldsmith's book I didn't know of Goldsmith's involvement in The Church's Ministry among Jews and European Jews for Jesus, so I guess that he would have been able to quote chapter and verse for his belief, had he so chosen.]

I can certainly confirm that Goldsmith's judgement is a just one, since my contact at the Belfast synagogue has offered to lend me a 2-CD set on Isaiah 53! And perhaps I will accept the offer. Besides, Goldsmith was just selling me a copy of his autobiography - he wasn't proposing a deep debate on theology.

I do believe that Martin Goldsmith is one and the same. The current issue of RELEASE magazine has-

A rare and exciting opportunity to hear Helen Berhane, the former Eritrean prisoner of faith who told her inspiring story in Song of the Nightingale, awaits those who attend Release's National Conference in London in November.

Helen, a gospel singer who was held captive for more than two years in appalling conditions in her native Eritrea, will be one of the key speakers alongside new Release patron Martin Goldsmith, the author and lecturer.

Goldsmith is described as "author and lecturer". The Martin Goldsmith that I met, besides his autobiography Life's Tapestry: Reflections and Insights from my life (1997), has written several other books, including Beyond Beards and Burqas (2009) and Islam And Christian Witness (1982). The last has attracted a "Refutation" by a Muslim scholar - see here. The Martin Goldsmith that I heard spoke of his experiences as a lecturer of longstanding at All Nations [Christian] College.

This Martin Goldsmith spoke besides of his many years of missionary work in Indonesia, a huge multi-ethnic country with a Muslim majority. Traditionally the form of Islam prevalent in Indonesia has been a tolerant one but recently the virus of Islamic extremism has begun to spead. As well as the chronic discrimination from which they suffer, the Chrisians of Indonesia have been exposed to sporadic bursts of violent persecution. Indonesia is one of the seven countries in Release's 7x7 plan, the others being North Korea, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Sudan and Nigeria. So it is entirely appropiate that Martin Goldsmith with his expertise would be welcomed to RELEASE INTERNATIONAL.

Helen Berhane's autobiography Song of the Nightingale: One woman's dramatic story of faith and persecution in Eritrea (Authentic, 2009) is an inspiriring story of faith - to my shame I find that I haven't yet reviewed the book here on Impala. Like thousands of others, Helen Berhane was imprisoned by Eritrea's dictator solely for her Christian faith. The title of her book comes from the pen of Richard Wurmbrand. A page of her book has -

Other prisoners and even the guards very often wondered at how happy Christians could be under the most terrible circumstances. We could not be prevented from singing, although we were beaten for this. I imagine that nightingales, too, would sing, even if they knew that after finishing they would be killed for it.

From Tortured for Christ, Richard Wurmbrand, founder of Release International

Like Richard Wurmbrand, Helen Berhane has been released and found freedom in a foreign land. After some months recuperation and recovery from the terrible injuries inflicted on him in captivity, Wurmbrand began to speak of his experiences, first of all before a Committee of the US Senate. From there Wurmbrand began to speak in many countries, where he founded branches of the mission whose branch in the UK and Ireland takes the name RELEASE INTERNATIONAL.

So it's good to learn that Helen will share the account of her experiences firstly in London in November. God willing, this will be the first of many appearances on public platforms.