The Gospel of Barnabas is a best seller in predominantly Muslim countries all over the world which may come as a surprise to many Christians who don't have a clue what it is [1]. There are several reasons why Muslims are fascinated by it and if it were accurate would have dramatic consequences for Christians all over the world. You can actually get it for your Kindle
here. However as I will go on to demonstrate, the Gospel of Barnabas is an apocryphal fraud probably written sometime in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Thankfully some Muslims have acknowledged its dodgy origins and have admitted that its a fraud that should be ignored, sadly though its popularity means it is commonly brought up in conversations between Christians and Muslims. Hopefully this short article will help Christians to know a little more about the Gospel of Barnabas and will encourage Muslims to do a little more research before they make such extraordinary false claims about Jesus. The gospels we have in the New Testament are the most historically accurate and must be taken seriously by those wanting to know Jesus.
What have Muslims said about the Gospel of Barnabas?
Muhammad
Ata ur-Rahim, insists that
"The Gospel of Barnabas is the only
known surviving Gospel written by a disciple of Jesus.... [and] was
accepted as a Canonical Gospel in the churches of Alexandria up until
325 A.D." [2].
M. A. Yusseff, asserts that
"in antiquity and authenticity, no other gospel can come close to The
Gospel of Barnabas." [3].
Just those two quotes demonstrate just why so many Muslims around the world believe that the Gospel of Barnabas proves that what is taught as Christianity today is wholly false and that 'real' Christianity was preserved only in the true Injil (Gospel) of Barnabas.
