stephan huller

I have always been intrigued by the Gospel of Barnabas. I was introduced to it at the San Diego Wild Animal Park by one of my employees who was a devout Muslim. According to many Muslims - if not most nowadays - the Gospel of Barnabas is the 'true' gospel, the canonical texts being western forgeries. I don't believe for a minute that any of this true but it dates back to the sixteenth century when it was assembled in its current form. Yet there are signs that it used a source related to a variant Syriac gospel text I know. More on that in the future.

This is what I thought was interesting while reading the text today in the sunshine. No one knows what to make of Mark 14:50 - 52 which in our gospel reads:

50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Yet the Gospel of Barnabas to me at least connects the nocturnal ritual to the Marcosian 'redemption' rite which Irenaeus reports - they claim that when their prayers are uttered "they can neither be apprehended, nor even seen by the judge. But even if he should happen to lay hold upon them ... as soon as the Mother hears these words, she puts the Homeric helmet of Pluto upon them, so that they may invisibly escape the judge." [Adv Haer 1.13.6]

In what is left of the Gospel of Barnabas we have bits and pieces of an original variant gospel including all the elements of the Marcosian rite. For instance we begin - as in our existing arrest narratives - with Jesus praying as the arresting party arrives. But in the Gospel of Barnabas the rite allows the good guys - all, including Jesus - to escape from the judges, some becoming invisible or unseen to the arresting party:

mountainman

A "Gospel according to Barnabas" is mentioned in two early Christian lists of apocryphal works: the Latin Decretum Gelasianum[2] (6th century), as well as a 7th-century Greek List of the Sixty Books. Some commentators point out that the Decretum Gelasianum has borrowed from Damasus in the later 4th century.

Therefore it cannot be ruled out that the "Gospel according to Barnabas", used by the Quranic editors, existed in some form before Muhammad (c. 570 – c. 8 June 632) and did not just suddenly appear in the 16th century.


Similar stories, laced with docetic overtones are found in the Nag Hammadi codices of the mid 4th century.

EG: The Apocalypse of Peter (NHC 7.3)




εὐδαιμονία | eudaimonia

stephan huller

No. Unfortunately you can't get the answer by just dealing with generalities. The gospel is strange because Mohammed is identified as the messiah - a concept which is at odds with normal Islamic exegesis. There are reasons for believing that the text was written in a European language - probably Italian. One theory is that it was used to discredit a prominent Italian church figure. The origins of the text have never been properly ascertained so it is unlikely that someone like yourself who brings massive preconceptions to the table is going to outdo people that aren't trying to make an (absurd) point.