What is the Gospel of Barnabas?
The Gospel of Barnabas is a book about the life of Jesus that survives in Italian and Spanish manuscripts from around the 16th century. It agrees with Islam on some points, but most historians, and many Muslim scholars, consider it a late work, not an early gospel. Muslims don't need it to support their faith.
What the book says
The Gospel of Barnabas claims to be written by Barnabas, a companion of the apostles. It's much longer than the four New Testament gospels. Some of its main points:
- Jesus is a prophet, not God or the Son of God.
- Jesus foretells the coming of Muhammad by name.
- Judas is made to look like Jesus and is crucified in his place.
Because of this, it became popular in some Muslim circles in the 20th century, and you may see it shared online as "the lost true gospel".
Why most scholars doubt it
- Late manuscripts. The oldest known copy is the Italian one, kept in Vienna, generally dated to the 1500s. No early Greek or Aramaic copy has ever been found.
- Medieval details. It mentions a jubilee year every hundred years, a custom started by the Catholic Church in 1300, and has other features that fit late medieval Europe, not first-century Palestine.
- Conflict with the Quran. In the book, Jesus denies being the Messiah and gives that title to Muhammad. But the Quran calls Jesus "the Messiah, son of Mary" many times (Quran 3:45, 4:171).
It's also different from the "Epistle of Barnabas", an early Christian letter that has nothing to do with Islam.
A Muslim approach: check before you share
Islam teaches us to verify information, even when it seems to support our side:
Using a doubtful source in a conversation with Christian friends can backfire and hurt your credibility. See Is it a sin to share fake news online as a Muslim? The same care applies to religious texts. See Do I need to check a hadith before sharing it online?
What Muslims rely on instead
Muslim belief about Jesus comes from the Quran and authentic hadith, not from this book. The Quran already teaches that Jesus was a great prophet and that he was not killed or crucified, but raised by Allah (Quran 4:157–158). See Do Muslims believe Jesus was crucified?
- The Gospel of Barnabas survives only in late Italian and Spanish copies.
- Most historians date it to the late medieval period.
- Parts of it contradict the Quran, such as denying Jesus is the Messiah.
- Muslims base their view of Jesus on the Quran, not on this book.
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