On the 12th, Baba allowed a Christian minister on board to meet him. The minister was reading Rom Landau's book, God Is My Adventure , and pointed out a chapter about Baba in it. The following exchange then took place:
The minister began by stating, "Mohammedans say that Jesus was wrong in what he said [about being the Son of God]."
Baba replied, "Do you believe Muhammad could ever speak like that about Jesus?"
"So they say?"
"Who?"
"Books."
"Ah, books! Did Muhammad write these?"
"I don't know. But in Mohammedan literature it is written like that, and there are many other allegations against Christianity."
"But people may say or write anything. How can you blame Muhammad for that?"
"Because they are his followers."
"You are a follower of Jesus. Suppose, God forbid, you make some serious mistake or do something wrong. Would people hold Jesus responsible for that, because you are his follower and a minister?
"It is thus that Masters and Prophets are always misunderstood through misrepresentation of their teachings by their over-enthusiastic followers. Such statements about Jesus being in the wrong can never have been made by Muhammad. If he did, he wouldn't be a Prophet. It is the disciples and followers who, after the death of the Prophet, present their teachings to the world according to their own impressions and understanding. These interpretations of the followers invariably vary, sometimes quite contrary to the spirit of their Master's teachings.
"If a lecturer speaks today before a gathering of 500, and the same subject is repeated by the 500 listeners to others, there would be 500 different interpretations — some never dreamed of by the speaker! So what about the teachings of Masters like Jesus interpreted after him perhaps a thousand times through different interpreters in the past. The original thought is sometimes lost sight of — or made irrelevant — but yet each clings to his own different interpretation as the original.
"That is why so many today hesitate to believe in the Bible and other such books, whose interpretations do not appeal to them. There is more of the writers in the Bible than of Christ!
"Thus it is that there are always quarrels between fanatic followers of different religions over words and explanations that the Prophets never uttered, but were written in the holy scriptures by over-enthusiastic disciples and priests, which quite naturally creates a revolt in the minds of others."