I was re-reading portions of Thief in the Night and found this list of parallels drawn up by William Sears:The Remarkable Parallel
I began searching the libraries for all the available documents.
You can imagine my feelings of awe and wonder when I uncovered the
following facts.
The death of this young man occurred in July 1850. He was slain
publicly because of his words and his teaching. Everything I
learned about his life reminded me of Christ. In fact, after
carefully searching into his background, I could find but one
parallel in all recorded history to his brief, turbulent career;
only the moving story of the passion of Jesus Christ himself.
As part of my record of 'findings', I here set down the
remarkable similarity in the story of their lives:
1. They were both youthful.
2. They were both known for their meekness and loving kindness.
3. They both performed healing miracles.
4. The period of their ministry was very brief in each
case, and moved with dramatic swiftness to its climax.
5. Both of them boldly challenged the time-honoured conventions, laws, and
rites of the religions into which they had been born.
6. They courageously condemned the unbridled graft and corruption which
they saw on every side, both religious and secular.
7. The purity of their own lives shamed the people among whom they taught.
8. Their chief enemies were among the religious leaders of the
land. These officials were the instigators of the outrages they
were made to suffer.
9. They both had indignities heaped upon them.
10. They were both forcibly brought before the government
authorities and were subject to public interrogation.
11. They were both scourged following this interrogation.
12. They both went, first in triumph then in suffering, through the streets of
the city where they were to be slain.
13. They were both paraded publicly, and heaped with humiliation, on the way to their place
of martyrdom.
14. They both spoke words of hope and promise to
the one who was to die with them; in fact, almost the exact same
words: 'Thou shalt be with me in paradise.'
15. They were both martyred publicly before the hostile gaze of the onlookers who
crowded the scene.
16. A darkness covered the land following their slaying, in each
case beginning at noon.
17. Their bodies were both lacerated by soldiers at the time of their slaying.
18. They both remained in ignominious suspension before the eyes of an unfriendly
multitude.
19. Their bodies came finally into the hands of their
loving followers.
20. When their bodies, in each case, had vanished from the spot
where they had been placed, the religious leaders explained away
the fact.
21. Only a handful of their followers were with them
at the times of their deaths.
22. In each case, one of their chief disciples denied knowing them. This same disciple, in each case, later became a hero.
23. Each of them had an outstanding woman follower who played a dramatic part in making the disciples turn their faces from the past, and look toward the future.
24. Confusion, bewilderment and despair seized their followers in each
case, following their martyrdom.
25. Through their disciples (the Peters and Pauls of each age) their Faiths were carried to all
parts of the world.
26. They both replied with the same exact
words to the question: Are you the Promised One?
27. Each of them addressed their disciples, charging them to carry their
messages to the ends of the earth." (God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi)
From pp. 87-88 Thief in the Night by William Sears
