The Gospel of Barnabas: Bad News for Muslims and Christians I. Introduction The wide availability and distribution of The Gospel of Barnabas demands a very careful scrutiny of its message and origin. The question its reading immediately raises is whether or not it is an authentic presentation of the accurate Gospel of Jesus. It purports to be the true gospel of Jesus, yet it is contrary to the Gospel record as accepted by Christians for centuries. Though the book is often regarded as authentic by Muslims, it is also contrary to the Qur’an and Islamic teaching. Because of these questions regarding its authenticity, it is necessary to examine The Gospel of Barnabas with care and objectivity to determine its true value for Christians and Muslims. The purpose of this paper is to present in a limited fashion the results of the internal and external evidences which show that this gospel does not make a convincing or credible claim to be the authentic gospel of Jesus Christ. All references to The Gospel of Barnabas will be notated with the abbreviation GB followed by the numerical chapter of the book; e.g. (GB 52) for The Gospel of Barnabas, section 52. II. Internal Evidence Internal evidence is the evidence supplied by the contents of the book itself. These contents are certain to bear the marks of a particular age and a cultural setting of the events they claim to record. The claim to authenticity will be sustained or rejected by its agreement with the historical setting, the substance and the consistency of the text. A. Historical setting With even a superficial reading, The Gospel of Barnabas cannot be said to breathe the first century atmosphere. It bears too many traces of European Medieval times, some of which are: 1. The mention of casks of wood or barrels washed and refilled with wine (GB 152)*. In the days of Jesus skins were used for wine. Casks or barrels of wood were unknown in ancient Palestine. 2. ‘The Virgin’ (GB 219) as a title was not given to the mother of Jesus before 300AD. 3. Expressions (words and phrases) well known in Italy from the Italian poet Dante who lived 1265-1321 are scattered throughout the book (GB 23, 59, 60, 78, 217). 4. Adam and Eve were commanded by God to do penance (GB 41), a practice of the Middle Ages, not of New Testament times. 5. Reference to court procedure of the Middle Ages is given where a prisoner is questioned by a magistrate while a notary records the evidence (GB 121). 6. Reference is also made to a duel between two rival lovers which reminds one of the age of chivalry In Medieval Europe (GB 99). 7. Among the clearest of all European traces are those of feudalism. The Gospel of Barnabas represents Mary, Martha and Lazarus as feudal lords of whole villages (GB 194, 122). 8. The picturesque description of the summer season in the fields and valleys (GB 169) is much more suggestive of beautiful Italy than of Palestine in summer when the fields are utterly burnt dry. 9. Asceticism and other traces of Medieval society, customs, times and beliefs appear throughout the book, e.g. (GB 150) taking the habit of a monk-like Pharisee and dwelling in seclusion for 30(?) years. III. Substance A book such as The Gospel of Barnabas must stand or fall on the accuracy or inaccuracy of its statements and assertions in matters of historical, geographical, and physiological import (and others). A. Historical Errors The Gospel of Barnabas is filled with errors such as: 1. When Jesus was born ‘Pilate was governor in the priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas’ (GB 3). These men did not come to office until later - Annas 6 AD, Caiaphas 8 AD, Pilate 26 AD. 2. "...in the time of Elijah, friend and prophet of God, there were twelve mountains inhabited by seventeen thousand Pharisees..," (GB 145). There were no Pharisees in the days of Elijah. History first knows about Pharisees seven centuries later in the period between 135-104 BC. 3. The Gospel of Barnabas erroneously quotes Jesus as saying that the Year of Jubilee came every 100 years (GB 82, 83). From the time of Moses (Leviticus 25: 11 ) the Year of Jubilee came every 50 years. There was only one time in history that the festival was known to have fallen in 100 year cycles. That was when Pope Boniface VIII (about 1300 AD) announced that it should be celebrated every 100 years. Pope Clement VI (1343 AD) rescinded Boniface’s order and returned the celebration to every 50 years as it had always been. The Gospel of Barnabas was written, therefore, sometime after Pope Boniface 1300 AD for certain, not during the 1st century. 4. The Gospel of Barnabas records (GB 92) that Jesus and his disciples kept "the 40 days" at Mt. Sinai. The context clearly shows that this refers to the period of Lent before Easter. The Church meditates at this time on the suffering of Christ and his resurrection, which was obviously unknown when Christ was still alive. And it is most unlikely that Jesus and his disciples would have gone some 450 KM away to observe a fast of 40 days. 5. The Gospel of Barnabas (GB 80) has the Prophet Daniel only two years old when taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Since he interpreted the king’s dream In the 2nd year of the king’s reign (Daniel 2: 1), this would make Daniel only 3 or at the most 4 years old at the time. This is an impossibility, for the king immediately made Daniel ruler over the entire province of Babylon. Daniel was then still a young man, but not that young. 6. It was Darius who committed the Prophet Daniel to the lions’ den, not Cyrus as The Gospel of Barnabas (GB 50) states. Jesus as prophet would have been accurate in quoting from Daniel 6. 7. The Gospel of Barnabas (GB 54) has Jesus saying: ‘For he who would get in change a piece of gold must have sixty mites.’ The Italian version of the book divides the golden "denarius" into 60 "minuti." These coins were actually of Spanish origin during the Visigothic Period and betray a Spanish background to the manuscript. B. Geographical Errors Geographically, the location errors are numerous and incredible, especially since Barnabas, the supposed author, was the constant companion of Jesus as he traveled about Palestine. Glaring errors abound, such as the following: 1. Jesus traveled to Nazareth by ship (GB 20). This cannot be, for Nazareth is on a hill in Galilee at 2000 ft. elevation and half a day’s march from the sea. 2. The next section (GB 21) confirms the confusion where it is stated that Jesus went up to Capernaum (from Nazareth). Of course it is just the reverse. He would have landed at Capernaum (the seaport), gone up to Nazareth and then down again to Capernaum. 3. The mistake is further compounded, for the incident which is reported to have taken place in Capernaum in fact occurred on the other side of the lake (Sea of Galilee) in the region of Gerasenes (Mark 5: 1). 4. The same mistake is made again when Jesus comes to Nazareth (GB 143), gives a long uninterrupted discourse (GB 144-151 ) and then embarks on a ship (GB 151) and arrives (by ship?) at Jerusalem (GB 152), also far inland. 5. The Prophet Jonah (GB 63) mistakenly flees and sails to Tarsus (In present-day Turkey) instead of to Tarshish (present-day Spain) as in Jonah 1: 3. 6. Then the fish that swallowed Jonah cast him out near Nineveh (GB 63). It is well founded that Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire and was built on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, not on the Mediterranean coast. C. Errors of Exaggeration and Myth The Gospel of Barnabas contains many absurd statements. Many of these are scientific impossibilities, others are historical or theological fantasies. 1. "Whereupon, as the food (apple?) was going down, he (Adam) remembered the words of God wherefore, wishing to stop the food, he put his hand into his throat, where every man has the mark" (GB 40). Putting a hand to the throat will not stop the passage of swallowed food. Also, what mark is this talking about? 2. "...the planets, that are distant one from another five hundred years’ journey for a man; and the earth in like manner is distant from the first heaven five hundred years’ journey (GB 178) or "four thousand and five hundred years" journey’ (GB 105). These distances are in no way accurate but are rather fanciful conjectures. 3. "God having created a mass of earth, and having left it for twenty-five thousand years without doing aught else; Satan, who was as it were priest and head of the angels...knew that God of that mass of earth was to take one hundred and forty and four thousand signed with the mark of prophecy..." (GB 35). When has God ever left off caring for the earth? Also, Satan in no way can be considered a priest. Priests seek to reconcile man with God or gods by officiating over ceremonies and sacrifices. Satan in no way seeks to reconcile angels or men to God but seeks to foster rebellion toward God. 4. "Whereupon, in Mizpeh assembled three armies each one of two hundred thousand men that bare sword" (GB 91). These were Jewish armies, each believing something different about Jesus and ready for a three-cornered battle where each side would simultaneously take on the other two. But quieted by a word from the heathen governor and the high priest they all simply laid down their arms, embraced one another, saying "forgive me, brother." This story betrays itself as a phenomenal myth and fantasy, the author again resorting to wild exaggerations of facts and numbers in an apparent attempt to create a wondrous impact on his readers. Where did the Jews suddenly find six hundred thousand swords? During the Roman occupation of Palestine no manufacture of military hardware was permitted. If indeed the Jews were 600,000 strong, Pilate would only have been too delighted to see them decimate one another. And rather than fight among themselves, 600,000 armed Jews could with ease have driven the hated Romans right out of Palestine. The whole Roman army in the world at that time numbered only half this figure (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1966 ed. Vol. 19, pp. 527,528). 5. Jesus intercedes in vain for God to pardon Satan. Then Jesus warns Satan: "Thou must know that the angel Michael must needs on the day of judgment strike thee with the sword of God one hundred thousand times and each blow will give thee the pain of ten hells" (GB 51 57). This punishment is fanciful and meaningless, especially when compared to the actual punishments predicted for Satan in the Bible. 6. On the day of judgment "...the demons and reprobates with Satan shall weep so that more water shall flow from the eyes of one of them than is in the river of Jordon" (GB 55). Again, this is a fanciful description that does not befit holy scripture. 7. On the day of judgment "...the hair-shirt shall shine like the sun, and every louse a man shall have borne for love of God shalt be turned into pearl" (GB 57). Where is mankind commanded or exhorted to bear with lice out of love for God? 8. Because of drought one says: "O brother, it is now two months since I have drunk water" (CB 144,149). This is a physical impossibility. 9. "Rome alone hath twenty-eight thousand gods that are seen" (GB 152). This is no doubt another effort to impress with exaggerated numbers (as well as in GB 21,178,179,199 and elsewhere). Rome had many gods and goddesses in its pantheon, but not 28,000. IV. Consistency In any bona fide literary work consistency must be observed. Validity and honesty demand that the text be in consistent agreement with itself and with other authenticated sources of information. A. Is The Gospel of Barnabas consistent with itself? This work has many inconsistencies. The most glaring inconsistency and selfcontradiction is immediately seen in the author’s title. The real Barnabas, native of Cyprus with Greek as his lifelong tongue, would certainly know that Christ (Greek) is the equivalent of Messiah (Hebrew). As a Cypriot Jew he would have known both languages
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 15:24:08 +0000
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