Many people may recognize Marvin Olasky's name as a Christian author, journalist, and Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, and former longtime editor of WORLD Magazine.

However, Marvin spent his early life as anything but a Christian. In fact, Marvin wasn't even sure if he wanted to be an American. Instead, he preferred to betray his country in the name of Communism.

Tick… tick… tick…

The little clock on the bedside table softly marked the passing hours; the hour hand now rested a little after 11 P.M. The bedroom was dim, illuminated only by a small reading lamp.

Marvin sat in his red chair, staring vacantly forward; his well-worn copy of Socialism and Religion by Vladimir Lenin lay half-closed in his lap. His hand still rested on a middle paragraph, “...Religion is opium for the people…”

Marvin’s eyes scanned the rest of the page, just as he had done for the past eight hours straight, absorbing the rest of Lenin’s argument: that atheism was the basis for Communism.

Marvin sighed.

“I’ve always accepted this. But what if—what if this just isn’t all there is?”

He shifted in his chair, trying for the millionth time to shake off the uncomfortable thought…

“What if there really is a God?”

Marvin pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes.

“What if Lenin’s not right?”

“What if Communism’s wrong?”

Slamming the book closed, Marvin tossed it onto his bed, frustrated.

“Come on, Marvin… I’ve been an atheist for over a decade now and I’m a committed member of the Communist Party. I know what I believe…”

Just months earlier, Marvin had traveled deep into the heart of Russia as he rode the Trans-Siberian Railway. He had been so eager for his first assignment as a secret journalistic mouthpiece for the Soviet Government… to covertly feed Communist propaganda back to the unsuspecting American public.

It had been so easy to justify. Marvin’s own words echoed in his mind.

“...anything for the cause...”

But now, for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel so sure.

“What if Lenin’s not right? What if everything I’ve believed about Communism is false?”

Marvin looked at the book on his bed, then out the window into the dark night. All the books and articles he had read and the haggard faces he had seen in the Soviet Union slowly rolled before his mind’s eye like a slideshow.

His mind checked off the atrocities he’d read about, but had ignored… the purges, the Gulag labor camps, the brutal Cheka secret police, the death tolls…

“What if there really is a God? Will He hold them accountable?”

A chill deeper than the cold wind outside prickled Marvin’s skin.

“Will He hold me accountable?”

🔗 Links

Marvin is a prolific author and has published 30 books to-date. Below is a selection:

Marvin also writes a monthly book review column for Discovery Institute, publishes his own weekly Substack, is the founder of the Zenger House Foundation, and writes for Christianity Today as their Editor-in-Chief.

🎧 3 Recommended Episodes

#87 KKK Terrorist Finds Christ - Tom Tarrants: In the 1960s, Tom Tarrants was a young man on a mission - to save America from Communism, Marxism, and desegregation. He was prepared to do anything, including joining the Ku Klux Klan, drive-by shootings, or even dying for his cause. Yet God had a far greater plan for this would-be revolutionary.
#79 The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel: Lee Strobel was a committed atheist and Pulitzer-nominated investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune. When his wife became a Christian Lee was disgusted and set out to prove her beliefs about Jesus to be untrue. But along the way, he was going to find more than he'd bargained for.
#31 He Came to Kill Me - Virginia Prodan: Virginia was an attorney in Communist Romania defending Christians in court. Her success angered the Romanian government, and she was blacklisted for assassination. Virginia was alone and unprotected when she came face-to-face with her assassin… until God intervened.