The Most Famous Forgery in Religious History
The "Gospel of Barnabas" is a text that purports to be a lost gospel written by the apostle Barnabas, a companion of Jesus and Paul in the New Testament. It presents a version of Jesus's life and teachings that aligns remarkably with Islamic theology: Jesus is not divine, he was not crucified (Judas was substituted in his place), he predicted the coming of Muhammad by name, and he explicitly denied being the Messiah — declaring Muhammad to be the true Messiah instead.
For obvious reasons, this text has become enormously popular in Muslim apologetics. It is regularly cited as proof that the "original" Christian message was actually Islamic, and that mainstream Christianity corrupted Jesus's true teachings. But scholarly analysis — by both Muslim and non-Muslim academics — has conclusively demonstrated that the Gospel of Barnabas is a medieval forgery, written no earlier than the 14th century CE. It contains historical, geographical, and theological errors so egregious that no serious scholar, regardless of religious affiliation, considers it authentic.
Manuscript History
The Gospel of Barnabas survives in two manuscripts:
- Italian manuscript: Held in the Austrian National Library in Vienna (Codex 2662). This is the primary text, written in Italian, dating to the late 16th or early 17th century based on the paper, handwriting, and binding. It consists of 222 chapters.
- Spanish manuscript: A fragmentary Spanish translation, now partially lost. The surviving portion is held in the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney. It appears to be translated from the Italian, not an independent text.
No Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, or Latin manuscript exists — languages we would expect if the text were genuinely ancient. No church father, historian, or theologian from the first thirteen centuries of Christianity ever quotes or references this text. It appears in no ancient manuscript catalog, no heresy list, no ecclesiastical discussion. It simply does not exist in the historical record until the late medieval period.
The Confusion with the Epistle of Barnabas
Some Muslim apologists confuse the "Gospel of Barnabas" with the Epistle of Barnabas — a genuine early Christian document from approximately 70-130 CE. The Epistle of Barnabas is a real text found in ancient manuscripts (including the Codex Sinaiticus). However, it is an entirely different work with entirely different content. The Epistle of Barnabas is a Christian theological text that affirms Jesus's divinity and crucifixion — the exact opposite of what the Gospel of Barnabas teaches. The two texts share nothing except the name "Barnabas."
Anachronisms: A Medieval Text Pretending to Be Ancient
The Gospel of Barnabas contains numerous anachronisms — details that belong to medieval Europe, not 1st-century Palestine. These errors are so numerous and so obvious that they constitute proof of medieval authorship.
1. Wine Barrels
The Gospel of Barnabas repeatedly mentions wine being stored in wooden barrels:
"Having received the wine, he poured it into casks of wood to send it forth." — Gospel of Barnabas, Chapter 152
Wooden wine barrels were a medieval European invention, introduced by the Gauls and adopted throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. In 1st-century Palestine, wine was stored in clay amphorae, pottery jars, or wineskins (as the canonical Gospels correctly describe — see Matthew 9:17, "new wine into fresh wineskins"). The mention of wooden barrels reveals a medieval European author who did not know how wine was stored in ancient Palestine.
2. Medieval Feudalism
The text describes a feudal system with references to vassals, overlords, and feudal land tenure:
"Every one for the said cause working on his land, paying his tribute to the lord of the land." — Gospel of Barnabas, Chapter 122
Feudalism did not exist in 1st-century Palestine. The Roman system of governance was based on provincial administration, tax farming, and centralized imperial authority. Feudalism was a medieval European social system that developed from the 9th century onward. Its presence in a supposedly 1st-century text is a clear sign of medieval European authorship.
3. The Jubilee Year Error
The Gospel of Barnabas states that the Jubilee year occurs every 100 years:
"And then through all the world will God be worshipped, and mercy received, insomuch that the year of jubilee, which now cometh every hundred years, shall by the Messiah be reduced to every year." — Gospel of Barnabas, Chapter 82
In the Hebrew Bible, the Jubilee occurs every 50 years (Leviticus 25:10). However, in 1300 CE, Pope Boniface VIII declared a special Jubilee year and set the interval at 100 years. His successor, Pope Clement VI, later reduced it to 50 years in 1343. The Gospel of Barnabas's reference to a 100-year Jubilee matches the papal declaration of 1300, not the biblical standard of 50 years. This is among the most damning pieces of evidence for a post-1300 date of composition.
4. References to Dante's Divine Comedy
The Gospel of Barnabas contains descriptions of hell that closely parallel Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (written c. 1308-1321 CE), including:
- Multiple concentric circles of hell
- Specific punishments matched to specific sins
- A structured, hierarchical underworld with graduated levels of torment
The canonical Gospels contain no such detailed descriptions of hell's architecture. The New Testament's references to hell are brief and general ("eternal fire," "outer darkness," "weeping and gnashing of teeth"). The elaborate, structured hell of the Gospel of Barnabas mirrors Dante's literary creation, which was enormously influential in late medieval Europe. The simplest explanation is that the author of the Gospel of Barnabas had read (or was familiar with) Dante's work.
5. The "Nine Heavens" Cosmology
The Gospel of Barnabas describes a cosmology of nine heavens or celestial spheres — a model derived from Ptolemaic astronomy as transmitted through medieval European scholarship. This model was not known in 1st-century Palestine but was standard in medieval European thought (it also appears in Dante). The Quran, by contrast, describes seven heavens (Quran 2:29). The Gospel of Barnabas does not even agree with the Quran on this point.
Geographical Errors
The text reveals an author unfamiliar with the geography of Palestine:
- Jesus sails to Nazareth: The Gospel of Barnabas describes Jesus sailing to Nazareth (Chapter 20). But Nazareth is an inland hill town with no body of water. You cannot sail to Nazareth. This error suggests an author who had never visited Palestine and knew Nazareth only as a name.
- Nineveh on the seacoast: The text places Nineveh on the Mediterranean seacoast. Nineveh was located on the Tigris River in what is now Iraq, hundreds of miles from any sea. Again, this indicates an author with no firsthand knowledge of Near Eastern geography.
Theological Contradictions: With Both the Bible AND the Quran
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Gospel of Barnabas is that it contradicts not only the Bible but also the Quran — the very scripture whose theology it supposedly supports.
Contradictions with the Quran
- Jesus is not the Messiah: The Gospel of Barnabas explicitly denies that Jesus is the Messiah, stating that Muhammad is the true Messiah (Chapters 42, 96, 97). But the Quran itself calls Jesus "the Messiah" (al-Masih) eleven times (e.g., Quran 3:45, 4:157, 4:171, 5:72). The Gospel of Barnabas contradicts the Quran on one of Jesus's most basic titles.
- Nine heavens vs. seven: As noted above, the Gospel of Barnabas describes nine heavens; the Quran consistently describes seven (Quran 2:29, 23:86, 65:12, 67:3). An allegedly "Islamic" gospel should at least agree with the Quran on cosmology.
- Mary's painless birth: The Gospel of Barnabas states Mary gave birth without pain. The Quran explicitly describes Mary experiencing pain during childbirth: "The pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, 'Oh, I wish I had died before this'" (Quran 19:23). The Gospel of Barnabas contradicts the Quran on the circumstances of Jesus's birth.
Contradictions with the Bible
The text contradicts the New Testament on virtually every major point: the divinity of Jesus, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the nature of salvation, and the role of the apostles. While this is expected from an Islamic perspective (since Islam rejects these doctrines), the text also contradicts the Old Testament on matters like the Jubilee year, as noted above.
Scholarly Consensus
The scholarly consensus on the Gospel of Barnabas is unambiguous: it is a medieval forgery, likely produced in the 14th-16th centuries CE by a European author (possibly a Muslim convert from Christianity or a dissident Christian) familiar with both Islamic theology and medieval European culture.
Key Scholars
- Jan Joosten (University of Strasbourg): Analyzed the Italian text and concluded it was composed no earlier than the 14th century, based on linguistic analysis and theological content.
- John Toland (17th-century philosopher): Was among the first Europeans to write about the text (1718), but did not claim it was genuine.
- Lonsdale and Laura Ragg: Published the first scholarly English translation in 1907, noting in their introduction that the text was "a rather clumsy forgery" based on its numerous anachronisms.
- David Sox: In The Gospel of Barnabas (1984), conducted a thorough analysis concluding the text was a medieval fabrication.
- M. de Epalza: A scholar of Islamic-Christian relations who analyzed the text and identified its medieval Spanish and Italian cultural context.
Muslim Scholars' Opinions
Notably, several Muslim scholars have also acknowledged problems with the Gospel of Barnabas:
- Abbas el-Akkad, a prominent Egyptian intellectual, questioned the text's authenticity.
- The Turkish scholar Süleyman Ateş, a former head of the Diyanet (Turkish religious authority), stated that the Gospel of Barnabas should not be used as evidence for Islamic claims.
- The International Islamic University Malaysia has published academic papers acknowledging the text's problems.
Despite this, the Gospel of Barnabas continues to be promoted in popular Islamic apologetics, particularly in South Asia, Turkey, and among online Muslim communities.
Why Muslims Still Cite It
If the Gospel of Barnabas is a known forgery, why do Muslims continue to cite it? Several factors explain its persistent popularity:
1. It Tells Muslims What They Want to Hear
The text confirms every Islamic belief about Jesus: he was not divine, he was not crucified, he predicted Muhammad. For Muslims who want "Christian" evidence supporting Islamic theology, the Gospel of Barnabas is irresistible — even if it is fabricated.
2. Most People Do Not Check Sources
The vast majority of Muslims who cite the Gospel of Barnabas have never read it, let alone researched its manuscript history. They encounter the claim — "there is a gospel that confirms Islam" — in a sermon, a YouTube video, or a pamphlet, and accept it uncritically.
3. The Conspiracy Narrative
When confronted with evidence of forgery, some Muslims argue that the text was suppressed by the Church precisely because it contained the truth about Jesus. This conspiracy narrative is unfalsifiable: any evidence against the text's authenticity is reinterpreted as evidence of suppression.
4. Apologetics Over Scholarship
In popular Islamic apologetics, the goal is often to win arguments rather than pursue truth. The Gospel of Barnabas is a useful rhetorical tool, even if it does not withstand scholarly examination. As long as it persuades audiences who do not investigate further, it serves its purpose.
The Irony
The deepest irony of the Gospel of Barnabas is that a text promoted as proof of Islam's truth actually undermines it. The Gospel of Barnabas contradicts the Quran on multiple points (the Messiah title, the number of heavens, Mary's childbirth). Any Muslim who accepts the Gospel of Barnabas as authentic must explain why it disagrees with the Quran. And any Muslim who rejects it as a forgery has lost the "suppressed gospel" argument entirely.
The Gospel of Barnabas is not evidence for Islam — it is evidence that the desire to confirm one's existing beliefs can override the commitment to truth. For related topics, see our articles on Jesus in Islam vs. Christianity, the Islamic view of Jesus's death, and the Islamic Jesus: a different Isa.
Sources
- Lonsdale and Laura Ragg, The Gospel of Barnabas, translation and introduction (Oxford, 1907)
- David Sox, The Gospel of Barnabas (Allen & Unwin, 1984)
- Jan Joosten, "The Gospel of Barnabas and the Diatessaron," Harvard Theological Review, 95(1), 2002
- J. Slomp, "The Gospel in Dispute," Islamochristiana 4 (1978), pp. 67-111
- M. de Epalza, "Le milieu hispano-moresque de l'Evangile islamisant de Barnabé," Islamochristiana 8 (1982)
- Quran 3:45, 4:157, 4:171, 5:72 — Jesus called "al-Masih" (the Messiah)
- Quran 19:23 — Mary's painful childbirth
- Quran 2:29, 67:3 — Seven heavens
- Leviticus 25:10 — Biblical 50-year Jubilee cycle
- Austrian National Library, Codex 2662 — Italian manuscript of the Gospel of Barnabas