THE GOSPEL OF BARNABASBy Samuel GreenI can remember well one of my first conversations with aMuslim. One of the first things he did was to accuse theChurch of suppressing the Gospel of Barnabas. He said that ifI read this Gospel I would see that Jesus foretold the comingof Muhammad. Maybe you have heard or said something li!ethis yourself"# I had never heard of the Gospel of Barnabas soI sat there silently. However I wanted to !now whether or notthe Gospel of Barnabas was true so a bought a copy from aMuslim boo!shop and began to study it. $he following articleis a summary of my results. I hope that you find it helpful.Contents%. $he Gospel of Barnabas and the &pistle of Barnabas'. $he Gospel of Barnabas and the %st Century (.).*. $he Gospel of Barnabas and Islam+. $he Gospel of Barnabas and the %+th Century (.).,. -hen was the Gospel of Barnabas -ritten".. $he Muslim &vidence for the (nti/uity of the Gospel of Barnabas0. -hy was the Gospel of Barnabas -ritten"1. -ho wrote the Gospel of Barnabas"2. Conclusion1. The Gospel of Barnaas an! the Ep"stle of Barnaas$here are two boo!s which carry the name3 Barnabas. $here is the Gospel of Barnabasand the &pistle of Barnabas. $hese are two very different boo!s. $he Gospel of Barnabas is the boo! promoted by Muslims today3 while the &pistle of Barnabas is an ancient Christian boo! which teaches about the lordship3 death and resurrection of Jesus. $he &pistle of Barnabas is freely available and thoroughly Christian. $he distinction between these two boo!s needs to be understood because sometimes people confuse them4 they thin! that a reference to the &pistle of Barnabas is a reference to the Gospel of Barnabas3 but it is not. $hey are two completely different boo!s.#. The Gospel of Barnaas an! the 1st Century A.$.$he Gospel of Barnabas is promoted by Muslims as an original Gospel written by the man named Barnabas5%6 who it is claimed was a disciple of Jesus p. '#. $hus they claim it was written by a Jewish man in the %st century (.). who travelled with Jesus.If Barnabas really is the author then it is reasonable to e7pect that he would be familiar with the basic facts of Jewish life at this time. -e will now consider this boo!to see if he does.a% Chr"st. $he wordChrist# is the Gree! translation for the Hebrew word Messiah#. Both these words when translated into &nglish mean the Anointed One or the Chosen One. $his word is not an obscure or rarely used word3on the contrary it is one of the most famous words in the Jewish and Christian religions. $here is no doubt that a religious Jew li!e Barnabas would have been very familiar with this word.(t the very start of the Gospel of Barnabas Jesus is called the Christ8 God has during these past days visited us by his prophet Jesus Christ p.'#. However3 throughout the boo! Jesus denies being the Messiah8 Jesus confessed and said the truth, "I am not the Messiah" chap. +'#. How can Jesus be the Christ and deny being the Messiah when both words mean e7actly the same thing" -hoever wrote this boo! did not !now the Gree! meaning of the word Christ is Messiah. Barnabas was a Hebrew who lived on the island of Cyprus3 a Gree!9spea!ing island3 and travelled around the %st century Gree!9spea!ing world:5'6 He was Hebrew and !new Gree! and could not have made this mista!e with such a famous word.% The Rulers of the 1st Century A.$. In chapter * we are told that Herod and ;ilate both ruled in Judea at the time of Jesus< birth8 There reigned at that time in Judaea Herod, by decree of Caesar Augustus, and i!ate "as governor. $his is historically wrong for Herod and ;ilate never ruled Judea at the same time. Herod ruled Judea alone from *09+ B.C.3 while ;ilate ruled thirty years later from '.9*. (.).5*6 $he realBarnabas lived during the rule of ;ilate3 so if he really was the writer of this boo!3 how could he ma!e such a simple mista!e"&% Geo'raphy. In chapters '=9'% of this boo! we are told about Jesus sailing to >a?areth and being welcomed by the seamen of that town. He then leaves >a?areth and goes up to Capernaum8Jesus went to the sea of Galilee3 and having embar!ed in a ship sailed to his city of >a?areth. ... Having arrived at the city of >a?areth the seamen spread through the cityall that Jesus wrought done# ... then# Jesus went up to Capernaum chaps. '=9'%#.$here is a ma@or error in this account. >a?areth was not a fishing village3 in fact it wasabout %+ !m from the sea of Galilee and situated in the hills of a mountain range:5+6 Capernaum was the fishing village that Jesus arrived at with his disciples3 not >a?areth.5,6 >a?areth and Capernaum were two towns which Jesus often visited with his disciples5.6 therefore any disciple of Jesus would !now these towns well. However the author of this boo! does not: $his casts doubt over the claim that he was a disciple of Jesus. It also ma!e us doubt that he ever lived in that region.Conclusion8 the Gospel of Barnabas ma!es basic mista!es about the language3 history and geography of the Jewish world in the %st century (.). $hese types of mista!es cast doubt over the claim that it was written by Barnabas in the %st century.(. The Gospel of Barnaas an! )slam$he Gospel of Barnabas overwhelmingly supports the teaching of Islam. However3 there are a few rare occasions when it does not.a% The *ess"ah. $he Auro. %0. $ravels and teaching of the (postles. Ferial >o. %1. &pistle of Barnabas. Ferial >o. '+. Gospel (ccording to Barnabas. Jahim3 pp. +'9+*#In this case Jahim accurately represents the sources. Barnabas is mentioned in them3 and it is recorded that there was a Gospel and an epistle letter# in this name. However3 evidence is re/uired to establish that the Gospel of Barnabas mentioned in these documents is the same boo! that Muslims promote today. $here are in fact several reasons why we cannot @ust assume they are the same boo!.Eirst3 as we have seen already3 there is good evidence that the modern Gospel of Barnabas was composed in the %+th century (.).3 a date even some Islamic scholars accept.Fecond3 there is the related evidence from the &pistle of Barnabas. $he &pistle of Barnabas appears in these lists along with the Gospel of Barnabas. $hey are both attributed to Barnabas3 and are recorded in the same lists at the same time. Eor these reasons the &pistle of Barnabas provides us with the best available evidence as to the character of the Gospel of Barnabas mentioned in the same lists. In %1,23 a +th century (.). copy of the &pistle of Barnabas was discovered.5%16 I have provided the te7t of this epistle for you to read.5%26Fo what does the &pistle of Barnabas show" If it confirms the teaching of the Gospel of Barnabas that Muslims promote3 then this would provide good evidence that this boo! is indeed the same Gospel mentioned in these lists. But it doesne7t3 Jahim appeals to an old Gree! fragment of te7t8$here is a solitary fragment of a Gree! version of the Gospel of Barnabas to be found in a museum in (thens3 which is all that remains of a copy which was burnt8Jahim3 p. +*#$he problem with this evidence is that the te7t on this fragment is not the te7t of the Gospel of Barnabas: Here is a translation of the te7t from the fragment.Barnabas the (postle said that in evil contests the victor is more wretched because he departs with more of the sin.5'=6$his sentence bears no resemblance to any sentence in the Gospel of Barnabas. $he fragment is from a different boo! altogether. $herefore this fragment does not provideany evidence for the anti/uity of the Gospel of Barnabas. (gain Jahimo.B Einally they said3 B-ho are you" Give us an answer to ta!e bac! to those who sent us. -hat do you say about yourself"B John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet3 BI am the voice of one calling in the desert3 KMa!e straight the way for the Cord.