The Bible of Barnabas in Conflict with the Holy Quran

Joseph of Cyprus, which is commonly known as Barnabas is not among the twelve Disciples of Christ, but because of his unique status in propagation of primary Christianity among the non-Jewish, he, like Paul, is considered as one of the messengers and his name is mentioned 33 times in the New Testament. Although he, as in Christian tradition, wrote the Bible, neither Christians nor Moslems had access to his Bible up to the thirteenth century. In recent centuries, a copy ascribed to Barnabas was published and, like the Quran, it denies the Trinity and the Crucifixion and it has glad tidings about the coming of the Last Prophet. He believes that the words’’ There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet’’ are written above the entrance of paradise. Therefore, this view attracted the attention of a group of Muslim scholars. This paper first gives an idea about who Barnabas is and a historical account of his Bible, and then points out to the contradictions between the religious belifs of this Bible and those of the Holy Quran. For example, according to Barabas’ Bible man is God’s child and he is by nature sinful. Blasphemous sins and love are attributed to prophets including Abraham, Aaron, Job, and excluding Jesus. This Bible refers to, 144000 prophets and states that there are ten Gehennas, seven strata of hell and nine heavens and that angels commit sins and disobey, and the envoys of punishment are not angels but satans.