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(More customer reviews)The Gospel of Barnabas (GB) is a well known late-medieval forgery (most likely 15th or 16th Century Spain) which purports to be a lost or suppressed gospel by the apostle Barnabas. This edition is a re-release of the Ragg's early twentieth century translation amended to incorporate opening comments from an Islamic apologetic perspective. I offer the following thoughts for potential readers.
This book is probably only of interest for serious students of religious apologetics and religious history. Despite the publisher's claim the GB is not, nor has it ever been, recognized as a legitimate historic text by main stream scholars. It does, however, have some appeal for the insight it provides into popular apologetics.
Perhaps the GB's most interesting aspect is its enduring appeal as an apologetic tool. Undoubtably historic texts can make effective evangelizing tools - the GB, however, appears to be poorly suited for this role. It is a clearly an inauthentic document and exposes a message contrary to the religion in professes to support.
With regard to authenticity its challenges are numerous:
-it refers to jubilees occurring every 100 years rather than every fifty as was the case in the early Christian epoch (changed to 100 years intervals in 14th century)
-uses the fourth century Latin vulgate translation of the Bible (challenging for first century author)
-claims that Jesus was born when Pilate was governor (26 or 27 A.D.)
-claims that Nazareth is a seashore or lakeshore village
-despite the editors apparent attempt to confuse GB with the first century Epistle of Barnabus or the fifth century apocryphal Acts of Barnabas there is no reference to this text by either Christian or Islamic writers prior to approximately 1600
Despite it fabricated nature, perhaps what makes its use as an apologetic tool even more surprising is its heretical theology:
-contrary to Quran Mohammad is portrayed as a Christ-like entity
-the world was created for Muhammad
-Muhammad is an intercessor between God and man
-Contradicts Quran claim that Jesus is the Messiah
Overall, GB is an interesting read for students of religious apologetics. I cannot recommend the text for a broader audience - it is replete with misrepresentation and fabrication. Readers seeking a more serious examination of GB can see David Sox's the Gospel of Barnabas. Those interested in a discussion of GB within the genre of religious forgies may find J. Slomp's work helpful (some available for free on net). Those interested in serious comparative apologetics may wish to look at a series of public debates between Shabir Ally and William Craig.
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