Category:Gospel of Barnabas (text)

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The Gospel of Barnabas (see [ Online Text]) is an "apocryphal" gospel.

The ancient Gospel of Barnabas

An ancient Gospel of Barnabas is mentioned in two independent lists of apocryphal work: the Latin Decretum Gelasianum (6th century), as well as the Greek List of the Sixty Books (7th-century). No extant portions or fragments of the document have been preserved.

The medieval Gospel of Barnabas

A Gospel of Barnabas (attested by two manuscripts, one Spanish, one Italian) became known by the 17th century. It contains a harmony of the four Canonical Gospels, but is strongly anti-Pauline and anti-Trinitarian in tone. In accordance with Islamic doctrine, Jesus is described of a prophet and his divinity is denied. The text also claims that Jesus escaped the crucifixion and Judas Iscariot was crucified in his place. Finally, Jesus predicted the coming of Mohammad.

The document however contains many details that are not in line with the Qur'an. Notably, in the Gospel of Barnabas Jesus denies that he was the Messiah.

The document has been used in Muslim apologetics as evidence that the "original" Gospel of Jesus before its "corruption" conformed to the Islamic interpretation. The Gospel of Barnabas however is a 14th-17th century work and no connection has been proven between it and the ancient Gospel of Barnabas mentioned in earlier sources.