Saint Barnabas

Barnabas
Icon of Saint Barnabas
Saint, Apostle to Antioch and Cyprus
Born	unknown in Cyprus
Died	61 in Salamis, Cyprus
Canonized	pre-congregation
Major shrine	Monastery in Salamis, Cyprus
Feast	June 11
Attributes	Pilgrim's staff, olive branch, holding St. Matthew's Gospel
Patronage	Cyprus, Antioch, against hailstorms, invoked as peacemaker

Saint Barnabas was an early Christian whose dramatic conversion and missionary activity are described in detail in the Acts of the Apostles (in the Christian New Testament). In the biblical sources, he is described as a Levite who renounced his worldly possessions in order to follow in the footsteps of the apostles (cf., Acts 4:36-37). After traveling and preaching extensively with Saint Paul in Antioch, he is said to have proceeded on his own to Cyprus, all the while continuing to extol the message of Jesus of Nazareth. Though no historical accounts confirm this, he is traditionally thought to have been martyred in Salamis in 61 C.E.

In Acts 14:14, he is listed ahead of Paul ("Barnabas and Paul"), instead of the usual reverse ordering of their names, and both are called ἀπόστολοι, apostoloi, 'Apostles'. Whether Barnabas was, in fact, an apostle became an important political issue, engendering considerable debate in the Middle Ages (see below).

Saint Barnabas' feast day is celebrated by most Christian denominations on June 11.

Etymology of "Barnabas"

The saint's Hellenic Jewish parents called him Joseph (although the Byzantine text-type calls him Ιὠσης, Iōsēs, 'Joses', a Greek variant of 'Joseph'), but when he sold all his goods and gave the money to the apostles in Jerusalem, they gave him a new name: Barnabas. This name appears to be from the Aramaic בר נביא, meaning 'the (son of the) prophet'. However, the Greek text of the Acts of the Apostles 4.36 explains the name as υἱός παρακλήσεως, hyios paraklēseōs, meaning 'son of exhortation/encouragement'. From the evidence of Acts 13.1 and 15.32, this wording can be seen as suggesting someone who exercises a prophetic ministry.

Biography / Hagiography

Barnabas is notable among the Christian saints for his extensive presence in the biblical record, where his missionary efforts are described in considerable detail. This being said, other historical evidence is fairly scant, meaning that the following excursus is largely based on scriptural materials.

Early Life and Conversion

Though little is known of the life of Barnabas prior to his conversion, the Epistles contain the following biographical data. 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 author of the eponymous synoptic gospel. He was a land-owning native of Cyprus, though he divested himself of all mortal wealth upon his conversion to Christianity: "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet" (NIV).

When Paul returned to Jerusalem after his conversion, Barnabas took him and introduced him to the apostles (9:27); it is possible that they had been fellow students in the school of Gamaliel. Regardless of their potential historical connection, the biblical record suggests to readers that Barnabas was responsible for encouraging the early community to accept their former persecutor into their ranks, as it describes how he "'took him [Paul] by the hand' and vouched for him among the other apostles."

Missionary Activity: Barnabas and Paul

The prosperity of the church at Antioch led the apostles and brethren at Jerusalem to send Barnabas there to superintend the movement, which provides indirect evidence of his position within the early Christian community. While there, he met tremendous success in his missionary efforts, largely due to the overweening spiritual commitments of many of the region's residents:

News of this [the nascent Antiochene church] reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord (Acts 11:22-24 (NIV)).

Though he experienced considerable success, he found the work so extensive that he sought the aid of Paul, who returned with him to Antioch and labored with him for a whole year (Acts 11:25-26). At the end of this period, the two returned to Jerusalem (44 C.E.) bearing with them the contributions that the church at Antioch had made for the poorer members of the Jerusalem church (11:28-30).

Shortly after they returned, bringing John Mark with them, they were appointed as missionaries to Asia Minor, and in this capacity visited Cyprus and some of the principal cities of Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia (Acts 13:14). During their travels in Asia Minor, the spiritual charisma of the duo was such that they were mistaken for Hellenic deities by the native Lystrans, who saw Paul as Hermes and Barnabas as Zeus, and attempted to offer sacrifice to them (14:12). Returning from this first missionary journey to Antioch, they were again sent up to Jerusalem to consult with the church there regarding the role of Gentiles in the inchoate ecclesiastical order (Acts 15:2; Galatians 2:1). According to Gal. 2:9-10, the earliest church leaders (James, Peter, and John) decreed that they would continue to preach to the Jews, with Barnabas and Paul serving the needs of the Gentiles—with the proviso that neither contingent could renege on Jesus' commitment to the poor. This matter having been settled, they returned again to Antioch, buoyed by the council's decision that Gentiles were to be admitted into the church.

Missionary Activity: The Post-Pauline Period

With the conversion of Sergius Paulus, Paul begins to gain prominence over Barnabas from the point where the name "Paul" is substituted for "Saul" (13:9); instead of "Barnabas and Saul" as heretofore (11:30; 12:25; 13:2, 7) we now read "Paul and Barnabas" (13:43, 46, 50; 14:20; 15:2, 22, 35); only in 14:14 and 15:12, 25 does Barnabas again occupy the first place, in the first passage with recollection of 14:12, in the last two, because Barnabas stood in closer relation to the Jerusalem church than Paul.

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 in the Acts. However, in Gal. 2:13 a little more is learned about him, with this particular passage detailing the difficulties in ministering to a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles. Finally, Paul mentions him tangentially in 1 Corinthians 9:6 as an example of a hard-working missionary.

Martyrdom and Veneration

Certain Jews coming to Syria and Salamis, where Barnabas was then preaching the gospel, being highly exasperated at his extraordinary success, fell upon him as he was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out, and, after the most inhumane tortures, stoned him to death. His kinsman, John Mark, who was a spectator of this barbarous action, privately interred his body in a cave, where it remained till the time of the Emperor Zeno, in the year 485 C.E.

A monastery built in his name at Salamis, Cyprus, is where a tomb reputed to hold his remains was founded in 488. In commemoration of his extensive missionary labors in his home country, Barnabas is venerated as the Patron Saint of Cyprus.

Other Historical Accounts and Controversies

Other 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 of the Byzantine Empire. The [Cypriot Orthodox Church claimed Barnabas as its founder in order to rid itself of the supremacy of the Patriarch of Antioch, 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. The statements as to the year of Barnabas's death are discrepant and untrustworthy.

Alleged writings

Tertullian and other Western writers regard Barnabas as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. This may have been the Roman tradition—which Tertullian usually follows—and in Rome the epistle may have had its first readers. But the tradition has weighty considerations against it.

According to Photius (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 in the 130s.

A book named the "Gospel of Barnabas" is listed in two early catalogs of apocryphal texts. Another book using that same title, Gospel of Barnabas survives in two post-medieval manuscripts in Italian and Spanish. 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 a lot of evidence to suggest that it is the earlier listed Gospel of Barnabas. Contrary to the canonical Christian Gospels, and in accordance with the Islamic view of Jesus, this later Gospel of Barnabas states that Jesus was not the son of God, but a prophet, and calls Paul "the deceived." The book also says Jesus rose alive into heaven without having been crucified, and that Judas Iscariot was crucified in his place.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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.

• Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0140513124.
• Bulfinch Press. "One Hundred Saints: Their Lives and Likenesses Drawn from Butler's "Lives of the Saints" and Great Works of Western Art" Bulfinch, 2002. ISBN 978-0821228166
• Fenlon, John Francis. "Saint Barnabas" in in The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.
• Ford, Jesse Hill. "The Feast of Saint Barnabas" Boston Atlantic/Little Brown, 1969. ISBN 978-0370014029
• Stevens, Clifford. "The One Year Book of Saints" Our Sunday Visitor, 1989. ISBN 978-0879734176

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