GOB ("Gospel of Barnabas") is a forgery

Submitted by Lactantius Jr (European Union), Sep 30, 2008 at 07:42

To sTs

Your post concludes with the claim that, "The Gospel of Barnabas is earlier than any Gospel exist in earth. rejected by the church, because the name of Mohammed is written their." (sic)

Is this really so? let's take a look at what you say.

GOB ("Gospel of Barnabas)

The GOB is readily shown to be a forgery, and nearly everybody who has studied it, including many Islamic scholars, consider it to be a forgery from the Middle Ages, it contains historical, geographical, climatic and internal inaccuracies, that is, it is self-contradictory. There are plenty of contradictions between the GOB and the Bible, and between the GOB and the Qur'an.

The Muslim scholar Cyril Glassé states: As regards the "Gospel of Barnabas" itself, there is no question that it is a medieval forgery. A complete Italian manuscript exists which appears to be a translation from a Spanish original (which exists in part), written to curry favor with Muslims of the time. It contains anachronisms which can date only from the Middle Ages and not before, and shows a garbled comprehension of Islamic doctrines, calling the Prophet "the Messiah", which Islam does not claim for him. Besides its farcical notion of sacred history, stylistically it is a mediocre parody of the Gospels, as the writings of Baha'Allah are of the Koran.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Harper & Row, 1989, p. 64

Some Ways in which GOB contradicts the Qur'an

• According to the GOB, Jesus expressly denies that he is the Messiah, whilst the Qur,an, says the Messiah is Jesus. eg. Surah's 3:45, 4:157, 4:171, 4:172, 5:17, 5:72, 5:75, 9:30, 9:31 So, the Qur'an teaches that Jesus is the Messiah, and it never teaches that Muhammad is the Messiah: Here, contradicting the Qur'an, is what the GOB says,

Jesus confessed and said the truth, "I am not the Messiah……..I am indeed sent to the house of Israel as a prophet of salvation; but after me shall come the Messiah ". (GOB chaps. 42&48). Then said the priest: "How shall the Messiah be called?" ... (Jesus answered) "Muhammed is his blessed name" (GOB chap. 97).

The GOB further compounds this confusion. For while it has Jesus denying that He is the Messiah, amazingly, the first words of "Barnabas" following his introductory title, read: "Barnabas, apostle of Jesus the Nazarene, called Christ ..." According to the GOB, Jesus is called Christ, but he is not called Messiah. Despite Barnabas being a Jew from Cyprus, probably speaking both Greek and Hebrew, and his obvious familiarity with the Bible, "Barnabas" does not know that Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) are identical in meaning. • The Qur'an (2:29) says that the Heavens are seven in number, while the GOB gives the number as nine (178). • According to the GOB man is endowed with a free will.(164). On the contrary, according to the Qur'an, man only does what Allah wills him to do (Quran - 76:30, 37:96, 17:13, 10:99-100). • Adam was not the first man circumcised as the GOB says (23). The words "circumcise" and "circumcision" do not appear in the Qur'an, although the Sahi Hadith of al-Bukhari has some curious things to say about circumcision. • According to the GOB (3), Mary brought forth her son without pain. This is contradicted by the Qur"an (19:23). • The Qur'an follows the Mosaic law of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth", "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. Exodus 21:22-25 But just at look at what the Lord Jesus Christ has to say about this Mosaic Law:- "Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: Don't hit back at all. If someone strikes you, stand there and take it." Matthew 5:38 whereas the GOB says "... ye shall not overcome evil with evil, but rather with good" * (81). "Woe unto them that call for vengeance ..." (63). "... kiss the hand of those who revile thee, and present gifts to those who persecute thee and strike thee much" (64). * compare this with these words from New Testament letter to the Romans:- "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary:
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:17-21 • The Qur'an approves of polygamy (Surah 4:3). The GOB does not tolerate it (115). • The Qur'an approves abrogation(Surah 2:106) The GOB condemns it (38). • The Qur'an condemns eating pork (Surah 2:173) but the GOB says "that which entereth into the man defileth not the man, but that which cometh out of the man defileth the man" (32), sounding very much like words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, and recorded in the Bible at Matthew 15:11 "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." • The GOB totally ignores the existence of Jesus' cousin John, the Baptiser (Yahya ibn Zakariyya), whilst the Qur'an speaks very highly of him, saying for example:- "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction before." Surah 19:7

Nowhere in the GOB is any mention made of John the Baptiser, who is a very prominent and important figure in the New Testament witness to the coming Messiah, the one commissioned to be the forerunner or the witness of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. John's primary mission was to confirm that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the "Anointed One" of God. The author of the GOB completely omitted any reference to John the Baptiser. In his attempt to make Muhammad the Messiah, he makes the Lord Jesus Christ to be witness to this, thus eliminating any need for the mission of John the Baptiser. By now it should be clear that all of this is contradictory to the teaching of the Qur'an!

You should stop mentioning the GOB if you believe the Qur'an means what it says sTs, but since you're not prepared to believe what the Qur'an says about the Bible, why should you believe what it says about the GOB? But these are your problems, all I can do, is to give you the information, and what you do with it is your responsibility.

With kind regards and best wishes

Lactantius Jr

‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'

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