Most Christians are familiar with Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch woman who, along with her family, was arrested for hiding Jews during the World War II occupation of Holland. Corrie and several family members were imprisoned in German concentration camps, and that story is recounted in her book, The Hiding Place. But people may not realize that Corrie ten Boom also wrote several inspiring books about her own Christian life and ministry. CLC Publications has published several of Corrie’s books, including the wonderful Amazing Love. Subtitled “True Stories of the Power of Forgiveness,” this book is available in paperback for $8.99 at the CLC Publications website.

Amazing Love is filled with experiences Corrie lived out in the years following WWII, told in short chapters. Although the book is written for adult readers, teens and even older children would enjoy it. The short chapters lend themselves well to devotional reading or reading aloud, and the book would be an excellent addition to a homeschool Bible or history study. Originally published in 1953, Amazing Love does contain some archaic language in several chapters. However, Corrie’s overall message is as striking today, and as impactful for Christians who want to know and love God better, as it must have been over half a century ago.

Corrie herself would have said that she was not a debater or a theologian. Yet her life and focus, sharpened by her time imprisoned in the Ravensbruck concentration camp during the war, were always about knowing and believing God and His Word. And the stories she tells in Amazing Love are encouraging, truth-filled, sometimes convicting, yet always a display of God’s faithfulness, love, and desire to work on behalf of His children to draw them to Himself. Corrie’s travels took her all over the world, from her native Holland to England to Bermuda to the United States and even back to Germany. She spoke in Sunday schools, at large group meetings, at Hollywood Bible studies, and in prisons. Wherever she was invited to go, she accepted, trusting that God would give her a message and even the funds to get her there.

Amazing Love’s subtitle mentions forgiveness as its theme. But there are so many other ideas mentioned in the book that are integral to the Christian life. Corrie speaks of faith; God’s promises; the power of intercessory prayer; personal conviction; God’s guidance for His children for daily decisions and events. All her lessons or messages are drawn from and backed up by Scripture, which is quoted frequently in the book. Corrie’s example, always, was that she listened to God and applied His Word, and then shared those truths with those she interacted with. And lest the reader thinks that Corrie was a perfect person, she openly and humbly shares some of her own mistakes and struggles.

Several of the author’s stories moved me greatly. She discovered, after speaking with a hardened and discouraged woman, who opened her heart to God and was relieved of her pain, that a man from the woman’s city had been praying specifically that Corrie would be able to meet with and help her. I also loved Corrie’s story of how she fought fear by praying for other people until the fear left her. She shared how God can touch moments of pain or shame and bring healing to them. And that is just a tiny sampling of the wonderful and encouraging stories in this book from Corrie’s remarkable life.

Corrie ten Boom experienced stark and sometimes terrible suffering during her time in Ravensbruck. Yet her life and message following that were always: “This is how to know God and Jesus. This is what God says in His Word. This is how much He loves you.” What an incredible example Corrie ten Boom has left us of living a faithful, rich Christian life. Amazing Love will inspire you, bless you, and help you in your own walk of faith.

-Product review by Melanie Reynolds, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2020