The gospel of Barnabas

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First of all I apreciate all Muslims in this forum trying as best they can to explain their faith, good to see especially with all the prejudice and intolerance going around the world.

I read somewhere that Islam use the gospel of Barnabas as a source for their belief of Jesus as a prophet?

Any comments on the gospel, contents, who wrote it, when etc…?

If this has been covered before, I apologise, you can just direct me to the previous posts. Or to external sources too.

God bless

Alex
 
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alexaustralia:
I read somewhere that Islam use the gospel of Barnabas as a source for their belief of Jesus as a prophet?

Any comments on the gospel, contents, who wrote it, when etc…?
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i wouldn’t exactly say “source” as the source for our beliefs come from the Quran and the teachings of prophet muhammad (known as the sunnah). what one can say, though, is that it can be used as support for what is mentioned in our texts.

as for comments and such, i can’t really say much as i’ve never actually read the gospel of barnabas or researched into it. what i do know, is that there is a great deal of debate about its authenticity and things related to that.
 
A link I found on the topic:

answering-islam.org.uk/Nehls/Answer/barnabas.html

That book is full of some really obvious mistakes and general goofiness. For example, Jesus is refered to as the Christ in the introduction, but then the book says in chapter 42 that He denied being the Messiah (Christ means Messiah), and in chapter 97 it calls Mohammed the Messiah (yes, it calls him this by name).

Now why is Jesus called Christ, which is from the Greek for Messiah, when He’s not the Christ? 😛

That’s gotta be one of the worst forgeries I’ve ever seen in my life!

:rotfl:
 
Yeah, read this excerpt:-
They saw many who came to find him, for the chiefs of the priests took counsel among themselves to catch him in his talk. Wherefore they sent the Levites and some of the scribes to question him, saying: “Who are you?” Jesus confessed, and said the truth: “I am not the Messiah.” They said: “Are you Elijah or Jeremiah, or any of the ancient prophets?” Jesus answered: “No.” Then said they: “Who are you? Say, in order that we may give testimony to those who sent us.” Then Jesus said: “I am a voice that cries through all Judea, and cries: “Prepare you the way for the messenger of the Lord,” even as it is written in Esaias;.” (chap. 42)
Then said the Priest: “How shall the Messiah be called …” Jesus answered: "The name of the Messiah is admirable … Mohammed is his blessed name (chap. 97).

This book nevertheless is dealt extensively by some religious writers, for examples:-

**Ahmad Shafaat ** in his book *The Gospel According to Islam. * The book before you is a Gospel. It is written in the light of the revelation of God made to the prophet Muhammad. … This outline is supplemented in this book by some background material (derived mostly from the New Testament and sometimes transformed accordingly to the Qur’anic revelation) to form a Gospel of approximately the size of Mark. … As we said earlier, this book is offered as a new Gospel, a Muslim equivalent of, and alternative to, the existing Gospels. (Ahmad Shafaat, The Gospel According to Islam, New York: Vantage Press, 1979, pp. 1-2)

**Muhammad `Ata ur-Rahim ** in his book, *Jesus a Prophet of Islam. * In 325 A.D., the famous Council of Nicea was held. The doctrine of the Trinity was declared to be the official doctrine of the Pauline Church, and one of the consequences of this decision was that out of the three hundred or so Gospels exant at the time, four were chosen as the official Gospels of the Church. The remaining Gospels, including the Gospel of Barnabas, were ordered to be destroyed completely. It was also decided that all Gospels written in Hebrew should be destroyed. An edict was issued stating that anyone found in possession of an unauthorised Gospel would be put to death. (Rahim, p. 42)

He also states that The Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria up until till 325 A.D. (Rahim, p. 41)

Samuel Green, a Protestant, opts for the 14th century date for its composition.

I think many Christians don’t know about this book at all and it’s not of any interest to them. Maybe for the fact that its source is pretty much suspect and that it’s not in the Bible.

Peace

Reuben
 
Reuben J:
Yeah, read this excerpt:-
They saw many who came to find him, for the chiefs of the priests took counsel among themselves to catch him in his talk. Wherefore they sent the Levites and some of the scribes to question him, saying: “Who are you?” Jesus confessed, and said the truth: “I am not the Messiah.” They said: “Are you Elijah or Jeremiah, or any of the ancient prophets?” Jesus answered: “No.” Then said they: “Who are you? Say, in order that we may give testimony to those who sent us.” Then Jesus said: “I am a voice that cries through all Judea, and cries: “Prepare you the way for the messenger of the Lord,” even as it is written in Esaias;.” (chap. 42)
Then said the Priest: “How shall the Messiah be called …” Jesus answered: "The name of the Messiah is admirable … Mohammed is his blessed name (chap. 97).

This book nevertheless is dealt extensively by some religious writers, for examples:-

**Ahmad Shafaat **in his book *The Gospel According to Islam. *The book before you is a Gospel. It is written in the light of the revelation of God made to the prophet Muhammad. … This outline is supplemented in this book by some background material (derived mostly from the New Testament and sometimes transformed accordingly to the Qur’anic revelation) to form a Gospel of approximately the size of Mark. … As we said earlier, this book is offered as a new Gospel, a Muslim equivalent of, and alternative to, the existing Gospels. (Ahmad Shafaat, The Gospel According to Islam, New York: Vantage Press, 1979, pp. 1-2)

**Muhammad `Ata ur-Rahim **in his book, *Jesus a Prophet of Islam. *In 325 A.D., the famous Council of Nicea was held. The doctrine of the Trinity was declared to be the official doctrine of the Pauline Church, and one of the consequences of this decision was that out of the three hundred or so Gospels exant at the time, four were chosen as the official Gospels of the Church. The remaining Gospels, including the Gospel of Barnabas, were ordered to be destroyed completely. It was also decided that all Gospels written in Hebrew should be destroyed. An edict was issued stating that anyone found in possession of an unauthorised Gospel would be put to death. (Rahim, p. 42)

He also states that The Gospel of Barnabas was accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria up until till 325 A.D. (Rahim, p. 41)

Samuel Green, a Protestant, opts for the 14th century date for its composition.

I think many Christians don’t know about this book at all and it’s not of any interest to them. Maybe for the fact that its source is pretty much suspect and that it’s not in the Bible.

Peace

Reuben
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Talk about distortion of scriptures! This really takes the cake! Well, it’s good for a laugh if nothing else!:rotfl:
 
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alexaustralia:
I read somewhere that Islam use the gospel of Barnabas as a source for their belief of Jesus as a prophet?
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Salaam Friend Alex;
May be you meant that you have read Muslims and not Islam use the Gospel of Barnabas as a source, because you wrote “as a source for their belief of Jesus”. By stating Islam uses the gospel of Barnabas as a source, it is implying the official Islam does that, which is not the case.

In reality very few Muslims ever heard about that gospel. I, Myself did not hear about it until I got involved in chat rooms and message boards, and to be honest I have never read it and never wanted to. However I have seen some Muslims use it for polemic purposes when debating with their Christian counterparts.

As for your question about its contents, who wrote it, and when, I am in the dark and the answerer is no more knowledgeable than the asker.

Muslims believe what the holy Qur’an states about Jesus (PBUH).

Salaam.
Joseph.
 
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alexaustralia:
I read somewhere that Islam use the gospel of Barnabas as a source for their belief of Jesus as a prophet?

Any comments on the gospel, contents, who wrote it, when etc…?
Click to expand...
If it means anything to you, I’m a Muslim and I totally disavow the forgery that is the Gospel of Barnabas and its use by other Muslims. Please don’t overgeneralize about its use by some Muslims in polemics against Christianity. As others have told you, it’s not an official theological source for Muslims (it has no standing, really). We only use the Qur’an and Hadith.
 
While it’s suspected that there was a Gospel of Barnabas WAY back in the day, this is not it. What happened is that a forgery was written much, much later, and it was given the name Gospel of Barnabas, possibly to connect it with the ancient one. There are things said in the current Gospel of Barnabas, such as calling Jesus “the Christ” and then saying he’s not the Messiah, that simply wouldn’t have happened back with the original Gospel of Barnabas because the writers would have known the meaning of the Greek word “Cristos”.
 
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Ghosty:
While it’s suspected that there was a Gospel of Barnabas WAY back in the day, this is not it. What happened is that a forgery was written much, much later, and it was given the name Gospel of Barnabas, possibly to connect it with the ancient one. There are things said in the current Gospel of Barnabas, such as calling Jesus “the Christ” and then saying he’s not the Messiah, that simply wouldn’t have happened back with the original Gospel of Barnabas because the writers would have known the meaning of the Greek word “Cristos”.
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Jesus is called the Messiah in the Quran.

FYK
 
Jesus is called the Messiah in the Quran.
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I know, which is one of the reasons I find the Quran as unbelievable as the Gospel of Barnabas. It calls him Messiah, and then contradicts what Messiah means.

It’s obvious that the Quran was written with no understanding of Messianic belief, or usage of the term. I actually have to keep from chuckling whenever I hear a Muslim refer to Jesus as Christ. Jews I’ve spoken with who know that Christ means Messiah in Greek rightly refuse to call Him Jesus Christ 😛
 
Thank you every body for your replies I don’t know much about Islam so I have really enjoyed the posts in this forum and reading both sides of the argument.
Sorry if it seems I am generalising what some muslims believe to what Islam teaches. But so far my studies about the faith only amounts to maybe 2hrs (4hrs tops) worth so all I have read is a couple of people’s opinions.

Joseph Alison:
I assume saalam means friend…thank you saalam Joseph Alison.

BTW any Islamic apologetic sites worth visiting? also what does PBUH mean?

Thank you

God bless

Alex Aguilera
 
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alexaustralia:
Thank you every body for your replies I don’t know much about Islam so I have really enjoyed the posts in this forum and reading both sides of the argument.
Sorry if it seems I am generalising what some muslims believe to what Islam teaches. But so far my studies about the faith only amounts to maybe 2hrs (4hrs tops) worth so all I have read is a couple of people’s opinions.

Joseph Alison:
I assume saalam means friend…thank you saalam Joseph Alison.

BTW any Islamic apologetic sites worth visiting? also what does PBUH mean?

Thank you

God bless

Alex Aguilera
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Alex;
Salaam is the Arabic word for peace, so Salaam to you Friend Alex.
PBUH is the acronym for Peace Be Upon Him

If by apologetic you mean defense of the faith, no I don’t know any site with that specific aim, may be some other posters can help. However, you may find Islamic sites where you can ask questions and get answers. I leave it to God to direct you to the site(s) where He sees it most beneficial to you.

Salaam.
Joseph.
 
I was not aware that Jesus ever accepted the title of Messiah.
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Ghosty:
A link I found on the topic:

answering-islam.org.uk/Nehls/Answer/barnabas.html

That book is full of some really obvious mistakes and general goofiness. For example, Jesus is refered to as the Christ in the introduction, but then the book says in chapter 42 that He denied being the Messiah (Christ means Messiah), and in chapter 97 it calls Mohammed the Messiah (yes, it calls him this by name).

Now why is Jesus called Christ, which is from the Greek for Messiah, when He’s not the Christ? 😛

That’s gotta be one of the worst forgeries I’ve ever seen in my life!

:rotfl:
Click to expand...
 
I was not aware that Jesus ever accepted the title of Messiah.
Click to expand...
Yup, Matthew 16:15-17 is just one example of many, but one example is enough.
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
Click to expand...
 
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alexaustralia:
First of all I apreciate all Muslims in this forum trying as best they can to explain their faith, good to see especially with all the prejudice and intolerance going around the world.

I read somewhere that Islam use the gospel of Barnabas as a source for their belief of Jesus as a prophet?

Any comments on the gospel, contents, who wrote it, when etc…?

If this has been covered before, I apologise, you can just direct me to the previous posts. Or to external sources too.

God bless

Alex
Click to expand...

For a whole book on it, read: David Sox, The Gospel of Barnabas (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1984).​

See also: chrislages.de/barnarom.htm

answering-islam.org/Barnabas/saleeb.html

A thread with some interesting (& false) ideas about it, which IMO we need to be aware of: quran.ca/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=867

A translation of the book: comparative-religion.com/christianity/apocrypha/new-testament-apocrypha/3/2/3.php

Some problems
  • The Gospel of Barnabas says Jesus stated “I am not the Messiah” (sec. 42,48) which contradicts both the Bible (Matthew 16) and Quran (Sura 5).
  • It calls Paul apostate, circumcision is necessary for Salvation (Sec. 23)
  • Jesus did not die on the cross, Judas did in his place (Sec 217), and Jesus is not God incarnate.
  • “Jesus was born when Pilate was governor” (Sec 3)
  • “Jesus sailed to Nazareth” which of course has no seaport. (Sec 20)
  • Mary brought forth her son without pain. (Sec 3) This is contradicted by the Quran (19:23).
  • The Quran condemns eating pork but “Barnabas” says “that which entereth into the man defileth not the man, but that which cometh out of the man defileth the man” (32).
  • It does however teach the wise men worshiped Jesus (Sec. 6) which agrees with the Bible but contradicts the Quran…
It can be found here too: sacred-texts.com/isl/gbar/

Since it is often said by Muslims that this book was held to be scripture by Christians, it maybe be that the errors in the book are what Muslims have in mind when they speak of the corruption of the NT. ##
 
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