I.

Introduction

The wide availability and distribution of The Gospel of Barnabas demands a very careful scrutiny of its message and origin. The question its reading immediately raises is whether or not it is an authentic presentation of the accurate Gospel of Jesus. It purports to be the true gospel of Jesus, yet it is contrary to the Gospel record as accepted by Christians for centuries. Though the book is often regarded as authentic by Muslims, it is also contrary to the Qur’an and Islamic teaching. Because of these questions regarding its authenticity, it is necessary to examine The Gospel of Barnabas with care and objectivity to determine its true value for Christians and Muslims.

The purpose of this paper is to present in a limited fashion the results of the internal and external evidences which show that this gospel does not make a convincing or credible claim to be the authentic gospel of Jesus Christ. All references to The Gospel of Barnabas will be notated with the abbreviation GB followed by the numerical chapter of the book; e.g. (GB 52) for The Gospel of Barnabas, section 52.