which was his great mistake, and led to Jesus being taken by his opponents as a dangerous man. But Jesus’ condemnation by the Jewish authorities was because he was a blasphemer. They reformulated their charge for the Roman Governor into a political one, so as to make their condemnation appeal to Pilate. It was very difficult for the early Christians, who were Jewish, not to think of their Saviour as one who was to reestablish the independence of Jewery in the face of the whole world. The New Testament is colored with this conviction.

The parallels between Jesus and Baba are very striking. Both were about 29 when they started their career as God-Man. They at once gathered disciples and retained disciples throughout their lives. We do not know when Jesus knew he was God-Man. It may have been at his baptism, when he saw the spirit of God descending upon him as a dove and heard a voice from heaven. Baba knew when Upasni Maharaj threw that stone at him. After his baptism, Jesus had a period of ordeal which is called "the 40 days’ temptation in the wilderness"; it may have been in fact much more than 40 days. Baba had nearly 7 years of ordeal after the knowledge came to him. Jesus spoke, but wrote nothing. His speaking, however, was in Aramaic, and we have no actual words of his, only Greek versions of what he said, and some apocryphal Coptic versions.

I am sure this is very important and not accidental but by design. Just as it is by design that we get what Baba says through other voices and in their words.* None the less, we recognize in Jesus, as we do in Baba, a gift of lucid language. Jesus taught a great deal, but his teaching was for his disciples. He performed many so-called miracles, but what actually happened is a matter of doubt. He certainly told people not to talk about what happened. These are mostly miracles of healing or exorcism, that is, mental illness. But he didn't hold himself out as a healer, certainly not as a spiritual healer. Jesus spent much of his time in solitude and seclusion, as Baba does. He prophesied catastrophe, as Baba does. His teaching was love and obedience, repentance and change of mind, and living on earth as in heaven. His values and methods were not worldly, he was unpredictable and he had authority. Unmistakable were his deep compassion and his lively humor. In all this, Baba is exactly like him, as indeed we would expect the God-Man to be.

* This opinion of the author is not shared by everyone. An errata to Purdom’s recent book, The God-Man, states the first part of God Speaks was dictated by Baba. There is also the unpublished book by Baba, written in his own hand.