How a Sufi found his Lord, An Autobiography of John A. Subhan, 1942

Testimony of John Subhan, as recorded in by a later biographer:

"Before he became a Methodist Bishop in India, Subhan had been a Sufi Muslim preparing for the priesthood. In school, it was common to hear his instructors attack Christianity. But one day while Subhan was walking home from class, he noticed a scrap of paper tossed by the wind across his path. It turned out to be a page from Matthew's Gospel, describing the crucifixion and death of Christ. "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He read the words over and over again. Now this astonished Subhan. He had been taught that Jesus Christ had not really been crucified but that Christ's likeness had fallen on Judas. It was Judas who had hung on that cross, not Jesus. Christ had ascended to Heaven before the crucifixion. Subhan read and reread that single sentence again and again. "These are not the words of Judas," he thought to himself. "Judas would have known why God had forsaken him. These are not the words of an evil man. They are the words of a good man. Only a good man could have asked, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?'" Suddenly he knew that it was really Christ who had died on that cross, not Judas. And he accepted Christ as his Savior. Subhan then shared this revelation with his fellow students at the Muslim school. One day in class, while the professor was in the midst of a particularly bitter attack against Christianity, one of the students raised his hand. "We have a Christian in our class," he announced. "Who is that?" demanded the professor. The student pointed to Subhan. "Subhan is a Christian," said the student. "Subhan, are you a Christian?" asked the professor. "I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins," replied Subhan. The professor became furious! He hastily dismissed the class and rushed to the principal's office. They decided to hold a faculty meeting and order Subhan to appear before them. Although he was a very young Christian, the Holy Spirit gave Subhan a wisdom beyond human understanding. He was amazed at the answers that came out of his mouth at that faculty meeting. Finally the faculty proclaimed him guilty of heresy and expelled him before the whole school. But he told me his heart was filled with unspeakable joy at the privilege of suffering for his Lord. After that, Subhan began studying for the Christian ministry. The first seminary turned out to be liberal one in India. He realized they didn't have the truth as he knew it from the Scriptures. He next tried a Roman Catholic seminary. But while they didn't attack the Bible, they ignored it altogether. So he left and finally entered an evangelical seminary which emphasized the Scriptures. Later he became a Methodist Bishop in India." (More to be Desired than Gold, True Stories Told by Christy Wilson, pp. 20-21, 1992)

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