Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

The Gospel of Barnabas 117

The Syro-Palestinian coast from Gaza to Antioch was
[udeo-Christian 'as witnessed by the Acts of the Apos­
tles and Clementine writings'. In Asia Minor, the exist­
ence of Judeo-Christians is indicated in Paul's letters to
the Galatians and Colossians. Papi as' s writings give us
information about Judeo-Christianity in Phrygia. In
Greece, Paul's first letter to the Corinthians mentions
Judeo-Christians especially at Apollos. According to
Clement's letter and the Shepherd of Hermas, Rome was
an 'important centre'. For Suetonius and Tacitus, the
Christians represented a J ewish sect. Cardinal Daniélou
thinks that the first evangelisation inAfrica was [udeo­
Christian. The Gospel of the Hebrews and the writings of
Clement of Alexandria link up with this.
lt is essential to know these facts to understand the
struggle between communities that formed the back­
ground against which the Gospels were written. The
texts that we have today, after many adaptations from
the sources, began to appear around 70 AD, the time
when the two rival communities were engaged in a fierce
struggle, with the [udeo-Christians still retaining the
upper hand. With the [ewish war and the fall of Ierusa­
lem in 70 AD, the situation was to be reversed. This is
how Cardinal Daniélou explains the decline:

'After the Jews had been discredited in the Empire, the

Christians tended to detach themselves from them. The

Hellenistic peoples of Christian persuasion then gained

the upper hand: Paul won a posthumous victory; Chris­

tianity separated itself politically and sociologica1ly from

[udaism: it became the third people. AlI the same, until

the [ewish revoit in 140 AD, [udeo-Christianity contin­

ued to predominate culturally.'

From 70 AD to a period situated sometime before 1W

AD the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John were

produced. They do not constitute the first written Chris­

tian documents: the letters of Paul date from well be­

fore them. According to O. Culmann, Paul probably

wrote his letter to the Thessalonians in 50 AD. He had

probably disappeared several years prior to the corn­

pletion of Mark's Gospel.