Epistle of Barnabas

The Epistle of Barnabas is a Greek treatise with some features of an epistle containing twenty-one chapters, preserved complete in the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus where it appears at the end of the New Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to the Barnabas who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, though some ascribe it to another apostolic father of the same name, a "Barnabas of Alexandria," or simply attribute it to an unknown early Christian teacher. A form of the Epistle 850 lines long is noted in the Latin list of canonical works in the 6th century Codex Claromontanus [1]. It is not to be confused with the Gospel of Barnabas.

History

In the early church, the Epistle of Barnabas was widely read and included by several of the Church Fathers in their lists of accepted scriptures. Toward the end of the second century Clement of Alexandria cited the Epistle as authoritative, as did by Origen. Eusebius, however, objected to it, and ultimately the epistle disappeared from the scriptural canon. However, in the West the epistle stands beside the Epistle of James in some Latin manuscripts of the New Testament. In the East, a list maintained by the ninth century Patriarch of Jerusalem mentions the Epistle of Barnabas in a list of books that are antilegomena— "disputed"— along with the Revelation of John, the Revelation of Peter and the Gospel of the Hebrews.

Origin and character

The Epistle of Barnabas contains fews clues to its author nor to the specific audience for whom it was intended beyond the fact that they appear to be Christians who may be influenced by Christian Judaism. Although traditionally ascribed to Barnabas, the senior partner of Saint Paul at Antioch, the letter itself nowhere claims to be written by him. The attribution seems to result from the letter's focus on refuting Christian Judaism, which was a major issue at Antioch.

Internal evidence suggests that Barnabas was written after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and before the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132 C.E. The place of its origin remains an open question, although the Greek-speaking territories of the Eastern Mediterranean is most likely.

Although the work is not gnostic in a heterodox sense, the author intends to impart to his readers the type of perfect gnosis (special knowledge). His concern is that his audience may perceive that the Christians, rather than Jews, are the only true people of God's covenant. Like the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Barnabas" holds that the Jewish scriptures served to foreshadow Jesus and Christianity. He goes Hebrews, however, by arguing not that the God's covenant with the Jews has been transferred to the Christians, but that the Jewish people had never actually been in a covenant with God.

The author's polemics are, above all, directed against Judaizing Christians. In no other writing of that early time is the separation of the Gentile Christians from observant Jews so clearly insisted upon. The covenant promises, he maintains, belong only to the Christians (e.g. 4:6-8). Circumcision and the entire Jewish sacrificial and ceremonial system are, according to him, due to misunderstanding. Jewish scriptures, rightly understood, contain no such injunctions (chapters 9-10).

Although he is a thorough opponent to Jewish legalism, "Barnabas" is by no means an antinomist. The closing Two Ways section (chapters 18-21), which contains a series of moral injunctions. At many points the Epistle seems quite Pauline, particularly in its concept of atonement.

The author quotes liberally from the Old Testament, including the apocryphal books. He also quotes from the New Testament gospels twice (4:14, 5:9), and is in general agreement with the New Testament presentation of salvation history. He quotes material resembling 4 Esdras (12.1) and 1 Enoch (4.3; 16.5), which did not become part of the Biblical canon in most traditions.

The first part of the work (chapters 1-5) is a hortatory address. In the evil days that are now at hand, in which the end of the world and the Final Judgment shall soon appear, the faithful are to practice the moral virtues and shun sin. However, the must also free from the bonds of the Jewish ceremonial law. The second part (chapters 5-17) is more speculative, concentrating on the idea of the freedom of Christians from the Mosaic regulations and real nature, in the author's opinion, of the Old Testament. He attempts to demonstration that the ordinances of the Law should be understood allegorically as referring to the Christian virtues and sacraments. He emphasizes passages of the Old Testament which, in his view prefigure, Jesus Christ and the church. The author then enlarges the exhortations of the first part of the epistle by apparently borrowing directly from the Didache the description of the "Two Ways"—the ways of light and darkness (chapters 18-20). Ironically, several experts have proposed that the teaching of the Two Ways (Didache, ch. 1-6), was originally a manual of instruction used for the initiation of proselytes in the Jewish synagogues.

Manuscript tradition

The most complete text is in the Codex Sinaiticus (=S; fourth century) and the Codex Hierosolymitanus (=H; eleventh century), which are usually in agreement on variant readings. A truncated form of the text also survives in nine Greek manuscripts (=G; from 11th century onward) in combination with Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians, without any indication of transition.

1. Until 1843 eight manuscripts, all derived from a common source (G), were known in Western European libraries: none of them contained chapters 1 to chapter 5.7a.
2. The fourth century Codex Sinaiticus, in which the Epistle and the Shepherd of Hermas follow the canonical books of the New Testament, contains a more complete manuscript of the text.
3. The eleventh century Codex Hierosolymitanus ("Jerusalem Codex"—relocated from Constantinople), which includes the Didache, is another witness to the full text. This Greek manuscript was discovered by Philotheos Bryennios at Constantinople in 1873, and Adolf Hilgenfeld used it for his edition in 1877.
4. There is also an old Latin version of the first 17 chapters which dates, perhaps, to no later than the end of the fourth century and is preserved in a single ninth century manuscript (St Petersburg, Q.v.I.39). This is sometimes significantly shorter than the Greek, often agreeing with the G manuscripts. There are also brief citations from the Epistle in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, and a few fragments of the Two Ways material in Syriac and elsewhere.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Epistle of Barnabas

• Greek text of Epistle of Barnabas
• Early Christian Writings: Epistle of Barnabas; e-texts of translations and introductions
• Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. i:introduction and text
• Catholic Encyclopedia 1907: Epistle of Barnabas from the official Roman Catholic point-of-view: "the chief importance of the epistle is in its relation to the history of the Canon of the Scriptures."

Sources

• Kraft, Robert A., Barnabas and the Didache: Volume 3 of The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation and Commentary, edited by Robert Grant. New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1965. [2]
• Treat, Jay Curry, in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 1, pp. 613-614.
• Prostmeier, Ferdinand R., Der Barnabasbrief. Übersetzt und erklärt. Series: Kommentar zu den Apostolischen Vätern (KAV, Vol. 8). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen 1999. ISBN 3-525-51683-5

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Epistle of Barnabas  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Epistle of Barnabas"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.