Internal Evidence
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.
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.
Geographical Errors
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.
Is the Gospel of Barnabas consistent with the Bible and the Qur’an?
Following are only some of its contradictions of one or of both:
1. Muhammad is referred to as the Messiah (GB 42). To be the Messiah, Muhammad would have to have been a Jew. Both the Bible (John 1:41) and the Qur’an (Al Imran 45; Maida 72) state that Jesus is the Messiah.
2. Mary gave birth to Jesus without pain (GB 3). The Qur’an (Maryam 23) states that Mary gave birth to Jesus with pain.
3. Only one wife is permitted (GB 115). The Qur’an says that a man may take 3 or 4 wives (Al Nisa 3).
4. The accounts of the Day of Judgement in the Qur’an and Gospel of Barnabas contradict each other (GB 53 vs. Surahs ‘Abasa 80:33-37 and Al-Haqqa 69:13-18).
5. There are nine heavens (GB 105,178), following Dante. The Bible states three heavens (2 Cor. 12:2). The Qur’an states seven (Surahs, Nuh, 71:15; Aal-Mulk 67:3; Al-Mu’minun 23:86; Ha-Mim Al-Sajda 41:12; Bani Israil 17:44; Al-Talaq 65:12; and Al-Baqara 2:29).
6. Ishmael was offered on the altar by Abraham (GB 44). The Bible names Isaac (Gen. 22; James 2:21). The Qur’an infers Isaac as well who is twice named in the surah (Saffat 100-113).
7. Circumcision is necessary for eternal salvation (GB 23). The Bible teaches that circumcision is not necessary for eternal salvation (Acts 15: 1-16).
8. A Biblical quotation from the Prophet Ezekiel (33: 11) is attributed to the Prophet Joel (GB 165), and a prophecy mistakenly attributed to Ezekiel (GB 67) is actually from the Prophet Jeremiah (31: 31). Also attributed to the Prophet Daniel is an historical account found much earlier in I Kings 22. It is strange that Jesus, knowing the Old Testament so well, does not correct ‘Barnabas’, if he were indeed the author of the record.
9. God is said to be the "God of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac" (GB 212). The Old Testament consistently reads the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob".
10. Adam circumcised himself (GB 23). The Bible declares Abraham to be the first man circumcised (Gen. 17: 24).
11. The Gospel of Barnabas totally ignores the existence of the Prophet John the Baptist (Yaha Ibn Zakariyya), so prominent in both the Bible and the Qur’an, yet the very words of John (John 1: 27) are put into the mouth of Jesus (GB 42,96), an obvious plagiarism.
12. Jesus supposedly relates a dialogue between the Prophet Elijah and a blind man that nowhere exists in Biblical history (GB 116,117).
13. Stranger still is the statement in The Gospel of Barnabas that the Jewish high priest, and perhaps also Herod and Pilate, wished ...to bow himself down and worship Jesus...(GB 93). The high priest, it should be remembered was the chief enemy of Jesus and would not be about to worship Him for two reasons: I) He considered Jesus guilty of blasphemy (Mark 14:63,64). 2) Jesus constantly convicted the priests of hypocrisy.
Other distortions and perversions in The Gospel of Barnabas could be exposed, but the above internal evidence ought to be sufficient to convince anyone of the false nature of this book. However, there are additional facts to be considered.
External evidence
Can be found here: http://www.spotlights.org/BarnabasTOC.htm
OTHER HELPFUL BOOKS AND BOOKLETS CONCERNING THE GOSPEL OF BARNABAS
Abdul-Ahad, Selim, and Gairdner, W.H.T. "The Gospel of Barnabas: An Essay and Inquiry." Hyderabad: Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies, 1985.
Campbell, William F. "The Gospel of Barnabas: Its True Value." Rawalpindi: Christian Study Centre, 1989.
Gilchrist, John. "Origins and Sources of the Gospel of Barnabas." Brighton: FFM Publications, 1980.
Jadeed, Iskandar. "The Gospel of Barnabas: A False Testimony." Rikon, Switzerland: The Good Way.
Sox, David. "The Gospel of Barnabas." London: George Allen & Unwin, 1984.
"The Gospel of Barnabas." Edited and translated by Lonsdale and Laura Ragg. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1907.
(bold, italic and highlight color are my emphasis)
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