| |
Barnabas was an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. His Hellenic Jewish parents called him Joseph, (although the Byzantine text-type calls him Joses, the Aramaic version of Joseph, (Aramaic of Jesus) but when he sold all his goods and gave the money to the apostles in Jerusalem  they gave him a new name: Barnabas, which means huios parakleseos (Greek: υιος παρακλήσεως) "son of exhortation," or 'man of encouragement.' see Acts 11:23) and connotes a prophet in the early Christian sense of the word (see Acts 13:1; 15:32). In many English translations of the Bible, including the
- New International Version (NIV),
- King James Version (KJV), and
- New American Standard Bible (NASB),
Barnabas is called an apostle. In Acts 14:14 of these translations, he is listed ahead of Paul, "Barnabas and Paul," instead of "Paul and Barnabas;" both men being described as apostles. Whether Barnabas was an apostle became an important political issue, which was debated in the Middle Ages.
|
8-10 There was a man in Lystra who couldn't walk. He sat there, crippled since the day of his birth. He heard Paul talking, and Paul, looking him in the eye, saw that he was ripe for God's work, ready to believe. So he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Up on your feet!" The man was up in a flash—jumped up and walked around as if he'd been walking all his life.
11-13 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they went wild, calling out in their Lyconian dialect, "The gods have come down! These men are gods!" They called Barnabas "Zeus" and Paul "Hermes" (since Paul did most of the speaking). The priest of the local Zeus shrine got up a parade—bulls and banners and people lined right up to the gates, ready for the ritual of sacrifice.
14-15 When Barnabas and Paul finally realized what was going on, they stopped them. Waving their arms, they interrupted the parade, calling out, "What do you think you're doing! We're not gods! We are men just like you, and we're here to bring you the Message, to persuade you to abandon these silly god-superstitions and embrace God himself, the living God. We don't make God; he makes us, and all of this—sky, earth, sea, and everything in them. -Acts 14:10-15 (The Message)
His lifeBarnabas is one of the first prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1). Luke speaks of him as a "good man" (Acts 11:24). He was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. His aunt was the mother of John, surnamed Mark (Colossians 4:10), widely assumed to be the same Mark as the person traditionally believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. He was a native of Cyprus, where he possessed land (Acts 4:36, 37), which he sold, and gave the proceeds to the church in Jerusalem. When Paul returned to Jerusalem after his conversion, Barnabas took him and introduced him to the apostles (Acts 9:27); it is possible that they had been fellow students in the school of Gamaliel.
|
 Statue of Saint Barnabas,
church in the Mafra National Palace,
Mafra, Portugal
(larger image) 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
(Acts 11:28-30) |
 Paul and Barnabas at Lystra.
1650 Oil on canvas.
Musée d’Art, Saint-Etienne
(larger image)Having returned to Antioch and spent some time there (15:35), Paul asked Barnabas to accompany him on another journey (15:36). Barnabas wished to take John Mark along, but Paul did not, as he had left them on the former journey (15:37-38). The dispute ended by Paul and Barnabas taking separate routes. Paul took Silas as his companion, and journeyed through Syria and Cilicia; while Barnabas took his younger cousin, John Mark, to visit Cyprus (15:36-41). He is not again mentioned by Luke in the Acts. However, in Gal. 2:13 a little more is learned about him, and his weakness under the taunts of the Jewish Christians is evident; and from 1 Corinthians 9:6 it may be gathered that he continued to labor as missionary. He returned to Cyprus and at Salamis was stoned to death, allegedly by Jews. Around his remains was built a monastery named after him. He is venerated as the Patron Saint of Cyprus.
Other sourcesOther sources bring Barnabas to Rome and Alexandria. In the "Clementine Recognitions" (i, 7) he is depicted as preaching in Rome even during Christ's lifetime, and Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, ii, 20) makes him one of the Seventy Disciples that are mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. Not older than the 3rd century is the tradition of the later activity and martyrdom of Barnabas in Cyprus, where his remains are said to have been discovered under the Emperor Zeno. The Cypriot church claimed Barnabas as its founder in order to rid itself of the supremacy of the Antiochian bishop, just as did the Milan church afterward, to become more independent of Rome. In this connection, the question whether Barnabas was an apostle became important, and was often discussed during the Middle Ages (compare C. J. Hefele, Das Sendschreiben des Apostels Barnabas, Tübingen, 1840; O. Braunsberger, Der Apostel Barnabas, Mainz, 1876). The statements as to the year of Barnabas's death are discrepant and untrustworthy.
Alleged writings
|
 St. Vitus Ellwangen,
Statue of Saint Barnabas, Permission:
GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
by Moros
(larger image)According to Photios (Quaest. in Amphil., 123), Barnabas wrote the Acts of the Apostles. (Current consensus ascribes the book to the author of Luke.)
He is also traditionally associated with the Epistle of Barnabas, although modern scholars think it more likely that that epistle was written in Alexandria close the 130 AD.
A book named the "Gospel of Barnabas" is listed in two early catalogs of apocryphal text. Another book using that same title, Gospel of Barnabas survives in two post-medieval manuscripts in Italian and Spanish (compare T. Zahn, Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, ii, 292, Leipsig, 1890). Although the book is ascribed to Barnabas, close examination of its text suggests that the book was written either by a 14th century Italian or a 16th century Morisco. There is no evidence to suggest that it is the earlier listed Gospel of Barnabas. In accordance with Muslim belief, rather than other Christian gospels, this later Gospel of Barnabas states that Jesus was a prophet, not the son of God, and calls Paul "the deceived." The book also indicates that Jesus rose alive into heaven without having been crucified, and that Judas Iscariot was crucified in his place.
Literature: Epistle of BarnabasDie Apostolischen Väter. Griechisch-deutsche Parallelausgabe. J.C.B. Mohr Tübingen 1992. ISBN 3-16-145887-7 Der Barnabasbrief. Übersetzt und erklärt von Ferdinand R. Prostmeier. Series: Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Vätern (KAV, Vol. 8). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen 1999. ISBN 3-525-51683-5
Notes
- The Life of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: And the Lives and Sufferings of His Holy Evangelists and Apostles, p.455, 1857 AD, Miller, Orton & Co., 25 Park Row, New York.
- Encyclopedia Britannica, micropedia vol. 2, p.903. Chicago:Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 0-85229-633-0.
- Compare C. J. Hefele, Das Sendschreiben des Apostels Barnabas, Tübingen, 1840; O. Braunsberger, Der Apostel Barnabas, Mainz, 1876.
- Compare T. Zahn, Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, ii, 292, Leipsig, 1890.
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140513124.
- This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. This article includes content derived from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914, which is in the public domain. See also: Index to the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge by George William Gilmore, M.A.:
References
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. "The Penguin Dictionary of Saints," 3rd edition, New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140513124.
|
|