Catholic Encyclopedia: Barnabas, Epistle Attributed to

Epistle of Barnabas

Authorities for the Text and Editions

There is a triple tradition of the Greek text of this document. Up to 1843 eight
manuscripts of the Epistle of Barnabas were known to be in Western libraries. These
manuscripts were all derived from a common source, and no one of them contained
chapters i-v, 7a. Since then two complete manuscripts of the texts have been discovered
that are independent of each other and of the preceding group of texts, namely: the
famous Codex Sinaiticus of the Bible (fourth century), in which the Epistle of Barnabas
and "The Pastor" follow the books of the New Testament, and the Jerusalem Codex
(eleventh century), which includes the Didache. There is also an old Latin version of the
first seventeen chapters which is, perhaps, of the end of the fourth century (St.
Petersburg, Q., I, 39). This version is a very free one and can hardly serve for the
restoration of the text. The same is true for the citations from the epistle in the writings
of Clement of Alexandria, or Origen, and others.  The text authority for the text is the
Codex Sinaiticus.

 Contents

The Epistle of Barnabas contains no clue to its author not to those for whom it was
intended. Its aim is to impart to its readers the perfect wisdom (<gnosis>), that is an
exact knowledge of the economy of salvation. It is made up of two parts, the subject of
each being announced in verses 6 and 7 of the first chapter. The first part (ch. i-v, 4) is
hortatory; in the evil days that are now at hand in which the end of the world and the
Judgment shall appear, the faithful, freed from the bonds of the Jewish ceremonial law,
are to practise the virtues and to flee from sin. The second part (ch. v, 5-xvii) is more
speculative, although it tends, owing to the nature of the argument, to establish the
freedom of Christians in respect to the Mosaic regulations. The author wishes to make
his readers comprehend the real nature of the Old Testament. He shows how the
ordinances of the Law should be understood as referring allegorically to the Christian
virtues and institutions, and he pauses to make plain by a series of symbolical
explanations, that are often singular, how the Old Testament prefigures Christ, His
Passion, His Church, etc. Before concluding (ch. xxi) the author repeats and enlarges
the exhortations of the first part of the epistle by borrowing from another document
(the Didache or its source) the description of the two ways, the way of light and that of
darkness (xviii-xx).

Use of Allegory

The epistle is characterized by the use of exaggerated allegory. In this particular the
writer goes far beyond St. Paul the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and St.
Ignatius. Not content with regarding the history and institutions of the Jews as
containing types of Christianity, he casts aside completely the transitory historical
character of the old religion. According to many scholars he teaches that it was never
intended that the precepts of the Law should be observed in their literal sense, that the
Jews never had a covenant with God, that circumcision was the work of the Devil, etc.;
thus he represents a unique point of view in the struggle against Judaism. It might be
said more exactly that he condemns the exercise of worship by the Jews in its entirety
because in his opinion, the Jews did not know how to rise to the spiritual and typical
meaning which God had mainly had in view in giving them the Law. It is this purely
material observance of the ceremonial ordinances, of which the literal fulfilment was
not sufficient, that the author holds to be the work of the Devil, and, according to him,
the Jews never received the divine covenant because they never understood its nature
(ch. vii, 3, 11, ix, 7; x, 10; xiv).

Intent

The Epistle of Barnabas is not a polemic. The author takes no notice of paganism.
Although he touches on different points that had relations to the doctrines of the
Gnostics, still he has no knowledge of these latter. The perfectly composed manner in
which he expounds the wisdom he desires to impart shows that another, heretical
wisdom (<gnosis>) is not in his thoughts. Moreover, the way in which he speaks of the
Old Testament would not be explicable if he had known the wrong use that a Basilides
or a Marcion could make of it. Besides, there was nothing in the Judaizing theories to
alarm his faith. He speaks of Judaism only in the abstract, and nothing in the letter
excites the suspicion that the members of his flock had been exposed to the peril of
falling again under the yoke of the Law. No clear situation is described in the letter. In
short, it should be regarded rather as the peaceful speculations of a catechist and not as
the cries of alarm of a pastor. Consequently, it cannot be admitted that the author may
have wished to take part in the struggle against the Judaizers either at Jerusalem or at
Rome.

Date

This abstract discussion of Judaism is the sign of an epoch when the Judaizing
controversies were already a thing of the past in the main body of the Church. In
settling the date of the letter reference is often made to verses 3-5 of chapter four, where
the writer, it is believed, finds the fulfilment of the prophecy of Daniel (Dan. 7:7, sqq.)
in the succession of the Roman Emperors of his time. Starting from this, some critics
place the composition of the epistle in the reign of Vespasian, others in the reign of
Domitian, and still others in the reign of Nerva. But there is nothing to prove that the
author considers the prophecy to be already accomplished. Besides, he might have
taken the words of the prophecy to mean a series of kingdoms instead of a line of kings.
It is necessary, therefore, to fall back on verses 3-5 of chapter xvi. Reference is here
made to the command given by Adrian in A.D. 130 for the reconstruction, in honour of
Jupiter, of the Temple at Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by Titus. Adrian had
also forbidden the Jews to practise circumcision. The writer of the letter makes allusion
to this (ch. ix, 4). The epistle must, consequently, have been written in A.D. 130-131.

General Characteristics

In what befell Jerusalem and the Temple the author saw the refutation by events of the
errors of the Jews, or rather of the Ebionites, for it is the latter that he has in mind
whenever his language grows more definite (ch. iv, 4, 6; v, 5; xii, 10; xvi, 1). His flock
are not in danger of falling into these errors. Therefore, he never attacks them directly.
He simply takes advantage of the opportunity that occurrences offer him to give his
opinions as to the position and nature of Judaism and its Law. Hence the epistle, in its
general character, is more like a treatise or a homily than a letter. However, the
epistolary form is not entirely fictitious. The author is not writing to Christians in
general, but to a particular church in which he has exercised the office of a
<didaskalos> and from which he finds himself separated (ch. i, 2, 4; xxi, 7, 9).

From a literary pint of view the Epistle of Barnabas has no merit. The style is tedious,
poor in expression, deficient in clearness, in elegance, and incorrectness. The author's
logic is weak, and his matter is not under his control; from this fact arise the numerous
digressions. These digressions, however, afford no reason for doubting the integrity of
the letter, or for regarding as interpolations either entire chapters, or a consecutive
number of verses or parts of verses in each chapter. One scholar, Wehofer, thought that
he had discovered, in the arrangement of the epistle, an adherence to the laws of the
Semitic strophe. But the phenomena noted are found in all authors who work out their
thought without being able to subordinate the argument to the rules of literary style.

From the dogmatic point of view the chief importance of the epistle is in its relation to
the history of the Canon of the Scriptures. It cites, in fact, the Gospel of St. Matthew as
Scripture (ch. 4:14), and even recognizes as in the Canon of the Sacred Books
(<gegraptai>), along with the collection of Jewish writings, a collection of Christian
ones (ch. v, 2), the contents of which, however, cannot be determined. The author
regards several apocryphal books as belonging to the Old Testament--probably IV
Esdras (ch. xii, l) and without doubt Henoch (ch. iv, 3; xvi, 5). In his Christology, his
soteriology and his doctrine concerning justification the author develops the ideas of
Paul with originality. It has been wrongly said that he regards the pre-existent Christ as
only a spirit in the image of God. Without explicitly asserting the consubstantiality and
the true sonship, he evidently acknowledges the Divine nature of Christ from before
the Creation. The eschatological descriptions are decidedly moderate. He is a
millenarian, but in speaking of the Judgment to come he simply expresses a vague
belief that the end is approaching.

Nationality of the Author and History of the Epistle

The extremely allegorical character of the exegesis leads to the supposition that the
author of the letter was an Alexandrian. His way of constantly placing himself and his
readers in opposition to the Jews makes it impossible to believe that either he or the
larger part of his readers were of Jewish origin. Besides, he is not always familiar with
the Mosaic rites (cf. ch. vii). The history of the epistle confirms its Alexandrine origin.
Up to the fourth century only the Alexandrians were acquainted with it, and in their
Church the epistle attained to the honour of being publicly read. The manner in which
Clement of Alexandria and Origen refer to the letter gives confirmation to the belief
that, about the year A.D. 200, even in Alexandria the Epistle of Barnabas was not
regarded by everyone as an inspired writing.

P. LADEUZE

Transcribed by Janet Grayson

Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort aimed at placing the
entire Catholic Encyclopedia on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to contribute to this
worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-mail at ([email protected]). For
more information please download the file cathen.txt/.zip.

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