Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

The Gospel of Barnabas 123

In the fourth year of the Emperor Zends rule in 478 AD, the
remains of Barnabas were discovered, and a copy of the Gospel of
Barnabas, written in his own hand, was found on his breast. This is
recorded in the Acta Sanctorum, Boland [unii, Tome il, pages 422­
450,publishedinAntwerpin 1698. It has been claimed by the Ro­
man Catholic Church that the Gospel found in the grave of Barna­
bas was that of Matthew, but no steps have been taken to display
this copy. The exactcontentsof the twenty-fivemile long libraryof
the Vatican continue to remain in the dark.
The manuscript from which the current English translation of
the Gospel of Barnabas was made, was originally in the possession
of Pope Sixtus V (1589-1590). He had a friend, a monk called Fra
Marino, who became very interested in the Gospel of Barnabas after
reading the writings of Iraneus, who quoted from it extensively.
One day he went to see the Pope. They lunched together and, after
the meal, the Pope fell asleep. Father Marino began to browse
through the books in the Pope's private library and discovered an
Italian manuscript of the Gospel of Barnabas. Concealing it in the
sleeve of his robe, he left and came out of the Vatican with il. This
manuscript then passed through different hands until it reached 'a
person of great name and authority' in Amsterdam, 'who, during
his lifetime, was often heard to put a high value to this piece.' Af­
ter his death, it cameintothepossessionof J.E. Cramer, a Council­
lor of the King of Prussia. In 1713, Cramer presented this manu­
script to the famous connoisseur of books, Prince Eugene ofSavoy.
In 1738, along with the library of the Prince, it found its way into
the Hofbibliothek in Vienna, where it now rests.
Toland, a notable historian of the early Church, had access to
this manuscript, and he refers to it in his Miscellaneaus Works, which
was published posthumouslyin 1747.He says of the Gospel:'This
is in scripture style to a hair,' and continues:

The story of Jesus is very differently told in many things

from the received Gospels, but much more fully ... and

particularly this Gospel ... being near as long again as

many of ours. Someone would make a prejudice in fa­

vour of it; because, as all things are best known just af­

ter they happen, so everything diminishes the further it

proceeds from its original. 5