This is the epilog of the Book by William Campbell.
{Footnotes I inserted in the text at the place where they belong}
EPILOGUE
Until this moment I have been presenting proofs that the Gospel
of Barnabas is a false Gospel: proofs which are the same for a
Muslim or a Christian and have nothing to do with the religious
content. Naturally, I hope that these 40 or 50 reasons and
proofs will convince all that this document cannot be the true
injil, the true Gospel of Christ, and is useless in Muslim-
Christian discussions.
Now I wish to present three serious and tremendous difficulties,
difficulties which make it almost impossible for any Christian to
take the Gospel of Barnabas seriously, even without the above
findings. These three reasons are:
1. The lack of any mention of John the
Baptist, called Yahya Ibn Zakariya in the Qur'an.
2. The statement that Jewish sacrifices did not come from God
even though almost every one of the New Testament writers
mentions them for a total of hundreds of times - and the
Qur'an mentions them at least three times.
3. The fact that pseudo-Barnabas calls himself one of the
Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and Thomas is omitted from the
list of apostles - a statement which disagrees with all four
of the Gospel writers.
No Mention of John the Baptist Yahya Ibn Zakariya
Yahya Ibn Zakariya is mentioned five times in the Qur'an. The
first passage is found in the Sura Al-Anbiya'(The Prophets)
21:89-90, from the middle Meccan period, where he is praised by
God, along with his father Zakariya and his mother, for their
good works and their revelence. The second passage in the Sura
Al-An`am (The Cattle) 6:8S, from the late Meccan period,
mentions him along with Jesus as being "in the ranks of the
righteous". Thirdly in the Sura Maryam (Mary) 19:1-1S, 7 AH,
Yahya is mentioned twice. In the second reference he is
commanded, "O Yahya! take hold of the Book
{"The Book" must refer to the Torah and the Zabur as
being available to him without having been changed.}
with might" and he is described as having wisdom even as a youth
and piety and purity.
The last passage which mentions Sidna Yahya is found in the
Sura Ali-`Imran (The Family of 'Imran) 3:38-41,45 from 2 or 3
AH. This is a very important passage and we must consider it at
some length because it says quite clearly that Yahya was a
prophet and prophesied that Jesus would come. Verse 39 reads,
While he (Zakariya) was standing in prayer in the chamber,
the angels called upon him, 'God gives thee glad tidings of
Yahya, witnessing the truth of a word from God, and (Yahya
will be) noble, chaste and a prophet of the company of the
righteous.'
And then in verse 45 we read about this word:
Behold the angels said, 'O Mary! God giveth them glad tidings
of a Word from Him: his name will be the Messiah, Jesus the
son of Mary, held in honour in this world and in the Hereafter,
and of those nearest to God.'
There is no doubt here that Yahya is to come witnessing the truth
of a Word from God whose name will be Christ Jesus, the son of
Mary. And this account agrees in all major details with the account
of Yahya's birth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke,
Chapter 1.
To show the importance of Yahya in relation to Jesus in another
way, we find that Yahya is mentioned in three of the 11 Suras
where Jesus is mentioned. This represents 27 percent of the time.
According to the Gospel as we have it in Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, there was a man sent from God named John the
Baptist (Yahya). He preached repentance and as a sign of this
repentance he had the people stoop down and cover themselves
with the waters of the Jordan river. This was a sign of leaving
their sins and turning to God and was called baptism. From this
sign he was called John the Baptist. He did no miracles but he
prophesied many times that Jesus, the Word of God, would come
and baptize with the Holy Spirit. His great importance in the
Gospel can be understood by the fact that in the Canonical
Gospels plus the Acts of the Apostles, John the Baptist is
mentioned 92 times, in 32 out of 117 chapters where Jesus is
mentioned. This is also 27 percent of the time just like the
Qur'an.
He is also mentioned in secular history by the Jewish historian
Josephus who wrote around 90 AD. In his long work called the
Antiquities of the Jews we read:
Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's
army came from God and that very justly, as a punishment for
what he did against John, that was called the Baptist. For Herod
slew him, who was a good man and commanded the Jews to exercise
virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety
towards God, and so to come to baptism. Herod, who feared lest
the great influence John had over the people might put it into
his power and inclination to raise rebellion, thought it best,
by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause.
{Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book xviii, Chap. 5}
It may be questioned however what this has to do with anything.
To leave a person out has no meaning at all. And with that response
I certainly agree. But when we look at the text of the pseudo-Gospel
of Barnabas and compare it with the text of the Canonical Gospels,
we discover that although John the Baptist (Yahya) is not mentioned,
he wasn't left out at all because his words are still there. Only
this time they are placed in the mouth of Jesus who is made to say
exactly the same words about Muhammad.
Let us look at the following comparisons:
Gospel According to Luke, Gospel of Barnabas Chapter 100
Chapter 3, verses 8 and 9
John said, "Produce fruit in Jesus says to his disciples,
keeping with repentance ... "go through all the region ...
The ax is already at the root preaching penitence: because
trees, and every tree that the axe is laid nigh unto the
does not produce good fruit tree, to cut it down."
will be cut down."
The Italian text for the following passage from the pseudo-Gospel
of Barnabas is found in the photograph of page 44r seen in Figure 9.
Gospel According to John, Gospel of Barnabas, Chapter 42
Chapter 1, verses 19 to 30
Now this was John's They (the priests) sent the
testimony when the Jews of levites and some of the
Jerusalem sent priests and scribes to question him,
levites to ask him who he saying: "Who are thou?" Jesus
was. He ... confessed freely, confessed and said the truth:
"I am not the Christ."* "I'm not the Messiah."*
They asked him, "Then who They said: "Art thou Elijah or
are you? Are you Elijah?" Jeremiah,
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?" or any of the ancient
prophets?
He (John) answered,"No". Jesus answered: "No".
Finally they said, "Who are Then said they: "Who art
you? Give us an answer to thou? Say, in order that we
take back to those who sent may give testimony to those
us. What do you say about who sent us."
yourself?"
John replied in the words of Then said Jesus: "I am a
Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice that cries through all
voice of one calling in the Judea, and cries: 'Prepare ye
desert, 'Make straight the the way for the messenger of
way for the Lord."' the Lord,; even as it is
written in Isaiah".
Now some Pharisees who had They said: "If thou be not the
been sent questioned him, Messiah* nor Elijah, or any
"Why then do you baptize if prophet, wherefore dost thou
you are not the Christ,* nor preach new doctrine, and
Elijah, nor the prophet?" make thyself of more value
than the Messiah*?"
"I baptize with water," John Jesus answered: "The
replied, "but among you miracles which God worketh
stands one you do not know. by my hands show that I
He is the one who comes speak that which God wills;
after me, the thongs of whose nor indeed do I make myself
sandals I am not worthy to to be accounted as him of
untie " The next day John whom ye speak. For I am not
saw Jesus coming toward him worthy to unloose the ties of
and said, "Behold the Lamb the hosen or the latchets of
of God, who takes away the the shoes of the Messenger of
sin of the world! This is the God whom ye call 'Messiah,'
one I meant when I said, A who was made before me,
man who comes after me has and shall come after me ...
surpassed me because he was
before me."
{* Here the Greek "Christ" clearly equals the Italian "mesia" or
"messia" which can be seen in lines 3 and 12 of Figure 9.}
We see from these comparisons that not only has the author of
Barnabas contradicted the Qur'an in calling Muhammad the Messiah,
but he has copied the Canonical Gospels practically word for word.
The only change he has made is to place the words of John the
Baptist in the mouth of Jesus, making Jesus call Muhammad the
Messiah; and eliminating Yahya from the book entirely.
Eliminating Yahya may seem a small thing to a Muslim for it would
only change five verses in the Qur'an. But omitting the greater part
of four chapters and changing 28 others in the Canonical Gospel is
a very large change. It surely can not be expected that Christians
should eliminate the great Yahya on the basis of one witness who has
shown himself false 50 times in other areas, and also contradicts
the Qur'an.
Barnabas Denies that God Ordered Burnt Sacrifices
in the Torah which He Gave to Moses
In Chapter 32 of the Gospel of Barnabas Jesus is talking with
the scribes and is made to say to them,
And I ask you, for what cause have you annulled the precept of God
to observe your traditions? You say to the sons of poor fathers:
Offer and make vows unto the temple.
The author declares clearly that offerings are not a precept or
commandment of God. They are only by tradition.
Then in Chapters 66 and 67 Jesus is made to make the following
statements:
Woe unto your scribes and Pharisees: woe unto you, priests and
Levites,.. For you say unto (those who come to sacrifice):
'Bring of your sheep and bulls and lambs to the temple of your
God, and eat not all, but give a share to your God (as a burnt
offering) of that which he hath given you.'
Here even the priests and Levites, the official religious leaders
ordained by God in the Torah, are rebuked for teaching people to
offer sacrifices. The reason given by the author of Barnabas is
that God does not need meat to eat. This is true, of course. God
revealed it by the Holy Spirit in the Zabur (Psalms). In Psalm
50:7-15 from 1000 BC God says,
Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will
testify against you. I am God, your God! I do not rebuke you
for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever
before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of
goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the
mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were
hungry I would not tell you for the world is mine, and all that
is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of
goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to
the Most High and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will
deliver you, and you will honor me.
In other words God is saying, "I don't eat food from you or need
your sacrifices as food, but I have commanded you to sacrifice.
Now sacrifice with a pure heart."
Is not God all-powerful and all-knowing? Does he not have the
right to order what he wishes? To say that he has no right to
order some of the meat of the sacrifice to be burnt by the Jews
as a "sweet-savour" rising to him is also to say that he has no
right to order the thousands of uneaten camels, bulls and sheep
offered to him now in the present by Muslims at Mecca during the
Hajj on Aid-el-Kabir.
In addition, the present practice of offering a sacrifice to
deal with ceremonial sin at Mecca would be wrong. If someone
makes an error during pilgrimage, wears the wrong kind of
clothes, for example, this would nullify the pilgrimage. In order
to "cover it", "pay for it", "atone for it", according to the Sura
Al-Baqara (The Heifer) 2:196, 2-3 AH, he must give a ransom (fidya)
and one of his alternatives is to offer a sacrifice (nusuk). This
happened to a friend of mine. He and seven other men went together
to buy a bull to cover, (pay for?, atone for?) their ceremonial
sins made during the Hajj.
The important thing, though, for Muslim readers is to know what
the Qur'an says about burnt offerings in relation to the Torah of
Moses. Did God order the Jewish believers to offer sacrifices or
not? In the Sura Al-Ma'ida (The Table) 5:30, from 10 AH, it says
about Cain and Abel:
Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam.
Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (qurban) (to God):
It was accepted from one, but not from the other.
This agrees exactly with what was revealed to Moses in Genesis 4:1-4
of the Torah where it says that "Abel brought fat portions from some
of the firstborn of his flock". Al Beidawi and Jallalo'ddin add
further details not found in the Qur'an saying that God declared his
acceptance of Abel's sacrifice in a visible manner, by causing fire
to descend from heaven to consume it, without touching that of Cain.
{Georgc Sale, The Koran, op. cit. note o on p. 77.}
Next we read in the Sura Ali-'Imran (The Family of 'Imran) 3:183,
from 2 or 3 AH, these words:
They said: 'God took our promise not to believe in an apostle
unless he showed us a sacrifice (qurban) consumed by fire
(from heaven).' Say, 'There came to you apostles before me
with clear signs and even with what you ask for. Why then did
you slay them, if you speak the truth?'
This refers clearly to Elijah. The account of his great victory is
found in 1 Kings 18:16-45. Elijah challenged the priests of the idol
Baal to a contest. The priests of Baal were to cup up a bull and
place it on an altar, and Elijah would do the same. The God who
answered with fire from heaven would thus show himself to be the true
God. Elijah even wet his sacrifices three times with jars of water.
Then he prayed and the Lord God of Israel answered with fire consuming
the meat, wood, and all of the water.
This great Victory is also mentioned in the Sura Al-Saffat
(The Ranks) 37:123-128, from the early Meccan period where we read:
So also was Elias (Elijah) among those sent (by us). `Behold', he
said to his people, will you not fear God? Will you call upon Baal
and forsake the best of creators - God, your Lord and cherisher of
your fathers of old?' But they rejected him, and they will certainly
be called up (for punishment), except the sincere and devoted
servants of God.
Finally we find in the Sura Al-Baqara (The Heifer) 2:67-72, from 2 AH,
the following words:
And remember Moses said to his people: 'God commands that you
sacrifice a heifer? They said, 'Do you make a laughing-stock of us?'
He said, 'God save me from being an ignorant fool!'... (then after
they ask several foolish questions because they do not want to obey,
the passage continues)... They said 'Now you have brought the truth.'
Then they offered her in sacrifice, but not with good-will.
Here it says in perfect clarity that God commanded the people through
Moses to offer a certain sacrifice. The story told in these verses
agrees with the command to sacrifice found in the Torah of Moses,
Numbers 19:1-10.
From all these Qur'anic quotations we see clearly that sacrifices
were commanded'by God. And again we find the Gospel of Barnabas
contradicting both the Bible and the Qur'an.
Sacrifice in the Old Testament
This contradiction may not seem very important to a Muslim, but for
Christians (and for Jews) it is a terrible contradiction. It means
that 57, or almost one third, of the 187 chapters in the Torah of Moses,
are in error. It means that 10 percent of the Zabur (Psalms) of David
is wrong. In total, 23 out of the 39 books of the Jews mention peace
offerings, or sin offerings, or trespass offerings. We can not believe
that they are all wrong. That is almost 2/3 of the Old Testament.
Sacrifice in the New Testament
In the Christian New Testament sacrifices are mentioned or implied
many times in all four of the canonical Gospels and in 9 of the 23
books given by revelation to Jesus' disciples. This represents 48% of
the Christian New Testament.
In Luke 2:22-24 we read that after Jesus' birth,
Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord...
and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of
the Lord: 'a pair of doves or two young pigeons.'
In Luke 5:12-15 where we read about Jesus healing the man with leprosy,
Jesus says to the healed man,
Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer
the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a
testimony to them.
In summary, sacrifices and offerings are mentioned in almost two thirds
of the Old Testament and nearly half of the NT. Surely Muslims do not
expect Christians to abandon the good news that Jesus opened Paradise
to all by dying as a sacrifice for our sins on the basis of a book
which is full of historical errors and even contradicts the Qur'an.
Barnabas Claims to be One of the Twelve Disciples
Who Knew Jesus Personally
According to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded by Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, Jesus chose 12 disciples for special training. Matthew, a
tax collector, was called right out of the tax office. Matthew 9:9 says,
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at
the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew
got up and followed him.
On another occasion,
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon (Peter)
and his brother Andrew casting a net, for they were fishermen.
'Come follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'
At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-18)
These and nine other men left everything and followed Jesus for a
period of three or four years, living with him and learning the Gospel.
And with this the Qur'an agrees for we read in the Sura Al Saff (The
Battle Array) 61:14, from AH 3,
As said Jesus the son of Mary to the Disciples, 'who will be my
helpers to the work of God?' The Disciples said, 'we are God's
helpers!'... But We (God) gave power to those who believed
against their enemies, and thqy became the ones that prevailed.
Jesus chose these 12 special disciples early in his ministry and
sent them with the message of his Gospel. Since they were specially
chosen messengers and specially sent by Jesus, Christians often
talk about them as "The Twelve Apostles", because "apostle" means
messenger in Greek. From this the reader can understand our
Christian definition of the word "apostle". It is a man who saw and
heard Jesus and was specially sent by Jesus as a messenger to preach
the Gospel. In three of the Gospels we find the names of these twelve
disciples. Thousands of Christians knew these men and their names are
as follows:
Matthew 10:2-4 Mark 3:16-18 Luke 6:13-16
Peter Simon Peter Simon Peter
Andrew Andrew Andrew
Matthew Matthew Matthew
John John John
James James James
Thaddaeus Thaddaeus Judas of James
(a second name
for Thaddaeus)
Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew
Philip Philip Philip
James of Alpheus James of Alpheus James of Alpheus
Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot
Thomas Thomas Thomas
Simon the Zealot Simon the Zealot Simon the Zealot
If the reader were to look through the New Testament, he would find
a great deal of information about some of these men. About others we
know almost nothing except their names. But one thing is vely clear.
The name of Barnabas is not on any of these lists.
The Twelve Apostles According to the Gospel of Barnabas
When we look at the Gospel of Barnabas we find that the author claims
to be an apostle. In the first lines of Chapter 1 we read:
Barnabas, Apostle of Jesus the Nazarene, called Christ, to all
them that dwell upon the earth, desiring peace and consolation.
There is a Barnabas, a church leader and friend of Paul, mentioned
many times in the New Testament book called the Acts of the Apostles.
He was probably a second generation Christian. "Second generation"
refers to those Christians who believed through the testimony and
preaching of the apostles. They may or may not have know Jesus of
Nazereth personally.
In the Acts of the Apostles 4:36-37 we are told that this Barnabas
was a Levite who came from Cyprus. He was the man who took Paul "and
brought him to the Apostles" after Paul was converted (Acts 9:27).
Some time later,
Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Paul, and... brought him to
Antioch, where for a whole year Barnabas and Paul met with the
church and taught great numbers of people. (Acts 11: 25-26)
Chapters 13 and 14 of Acts tell how Barnabas and Paul took a long
journey to preach the good news of forgiveness of sin to the idol
worshippers.
When we look again at Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Barnabas, we find
that the author claims to be that very Barnabas who knew Paul. He says,
Dearly beloved ... many, being deceived of Satan, under pretense
of piety, are preaching most impious doctrine... repudiating the
circumcision ordained of God for ever, and permitting every
unclean merit: among whom Paul has been deceived, whereof I speak
not without grief, for which cause I am writing the truth which I
have seen and heard in the intercourse that I have had with Jesus.
Perhaps he is using the word "apostle" with another meaning,?
Perhaps he only means that he heard Jesus' preaching and saw his
miracles? But, no, he claims to be one of the twelve closest disciples.
In Chapter 14 he also has a list of the Twelve. It reads as followers:
Peter, Andrew, Barnabas, Matthew, John, James, Thaddaeus, Judas,
Bartholomew, Philip, James, and Judas Iscariot.
Pseudo-Barnabas has included himself as one of the Twelve Apostles.
But there are other changes. Let us look at the font lists together:
Matthew 10:2-4 Mark 3:16-18 Luke 6:13-16 Barnabas 14
Peter Simon Peter Simon Peter Peter
Andrew Andrew Andrew Andrew
--- --- --- Barnabas
Matthew Matthew Matthew Matthew
John John John John
James James James James
Thaddaeus Thaddaeus Judas of James Thaddaeus
(a second name
for Thaddaeus)
--- --- --- Judas
Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew
Philip Philip Philip Philip
James of James of James of James
Alpheus Alpheus Alpheus
Judas Judas Judas Judas
Iscariot Iscariot Iscariot Iscariot
Thomas Thomas Thomas ---
Simon the Simon the Simon the ---
Zealot Zealot Zealot
What do we find? Not only has Barnabas been added, but "Thaddaeus"
and his second name "Judas" have become two different apostles. Finally,
two men whom we thought for 1900 years were apostles, are not found on
the list. The names of Simon the Zealot and Thomas are completely missing.
This is a mistake of the same order as giving a list of the 10 most
distinguished followers of Muhammad, "the ten who received glad tidings",
and missing out the name of Abu Bakr.
We may not know much about Simon the Zealot, but Thomas was a very
important person. He travelled as far as India to preach the Gospel.
To this day there is a church group in that country named for him, called
Mar Toma. The most important thing though is his testimony to the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. According to John 20:25, when Thomas
was told by the other disciples that Jesus had risen, he said,
Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where
the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.
The next week, the risen Jesus appeared to him and rebuked him for his
unbelief. It is from this happening that the phrase "doubting Thomas"
has entered into English and most of the other languages spoken by
Christians.
His doubt and subsequent acceptance of Jesus as Saviour and Lord has
been a strong proof to Christians, then and now, of the truth of the
Gospel. So what is to be done? The answer was simple for pseudo-Barnabas.
He left him out.
In summary we can say that if you compare the pseudo-Gospel of Barnabas
with the Canonical Gospels, you find long passages where the two are
identical. But any passage which does not agree with the doctrines of
Islam, as understood by the author of Barnabas has either been changed or
eliminated. Since John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus was to be the
Saviour of the world from sin, he was eliminated. Since Mosaic sacrifices
for sin were a type of Jesus' death for Our sins, it is claimed that God
did not order them. Since Thomas is a strong witness to the resurrection
of Jesus from the dead, he was left out.
Conclusion to the Epilogue -
A Fantasy
I ask my Muslim readers to imagine their reaction to the following
idea. Someone comes to you now in the 20th century with a book which
has never been mentioned before - a book which claims to be the true
original Qur'an assembled by Zaid Ibn Thabit during the first century
of the Hejira. It has a preface which mentions disagreements between
Omar and Ali, the prophet's son-in-law, and claims to have been hidden
until a future time when it will be revealed to correct the present
Qur'an.
You begin to read and arrive at the Sura Al-A'raf (The Heights) 7:158,
from the late Meccan period. There you find the following words:
So believe in God and His Apostle, the unlettered Prophet who
believes in God and his Words: follow him that ye may be guided
TOWARD THE LIGHT THAT WILL COME.
{Let me emphasize that I am speaking of a fantasy. The
boldfaced words are my creation, they are not part of the
Qur'an.}
Next you are reading in the Sura Al-Tahrim (The Forbidding) 66:8,
from 7 AH, and it says:
The day that God will not permit to be humiliated the prophet and
those who believe with him, NOR THE PROPHET OF LIGHT WHO WILL
FOLLOW HIM. Their light will run forward before them.
Another day you are reading the famous verse about the seal of
the prophets from the Sura Al-Ahzab (The Confederates) 33:40, from
5-7 AH. There you find the following words:
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the
Apostle of God and the Seal of the prophets AND THE REVEALER OF
THE ARM OF LIGHT WHO WILL COME IN THE FUTRUE. AND SURELY THE ARM
WHICH STAMPS THE SEAL IS GREATER THAN THE SEAL. And God has full
knowledge of alL things.
Another day as you near the end of the Qur'an, you find a new
Sura called the Sura Al-'Ashara Al-Mubashsharun (The Ten who Received
Glad Tidings). It is stated to be a Meccan Sura. As you read this
Sura of which you have never heard, you find a list of the ten most
distinguished followers of Muhammad (from which the Sura obviously got
its name), men who were promised the "glad tidings" of certain
entrance into paradise. You read through the names: Omar ben Khattab,
Othman ben Affane, Ali ben Abi Taleb, etc. to the end. Suddenly you
say to yourself, "Wait a minute' Where is the name of Abu Bakr Sadiq?
This is impossible! He was the most important of all!" You read the
list again and there is the name Aqba Ibn Nafia. "How could his name
be there? you say to yourself, "This is ridiculous. He was the son of
Omar's sister - a 'second generation' Muslim. He was not one of the
'Ten who Received Glad Tidings'!" As you read a few lines farther, you
find that Aqba Ibn Nafia is claiming that God told him to memorize all
that he heard from Muhammad. Next to write it all down. And finally to
keep it until a later date in order to correct all the mistakes that
false people like Zaid, the Prophet's adopted son, put forth.
In addition to the boldfaced words and the new Sura (which were added
by me of course) you find a reference to gunpowder being used in the
Battle of Badr and a steam battering ram being used in the battle of
Uhud. There are corrections written along the margins in Swedish and
French and to top it all off there is one final absurdity. In one of
the Suras the coolness of the rivers and streams in heaven is compared
to the coolness one experiences when he has an iced Coca-Cola on a hot
summer day.
Now what would Muslim readers say to this fantasy? They will say,
with great feelings of resentment, This is a lie' This is terrible'
How could an honest intelligent person believe such a thing? There is
no record of this book before the 20th century' No Muslim writer ever
mentioned such a reading' It's a pseudo-Qur'an' Not even a Christian
or Jewish writer ever spoke of it! And gunpowder? Gunpowder was
brought to Europe by Marco Polo about 1300 AD (700 years after the
Qur'an). How could it have been used in the Battle of Badr? Or the
steam battering ram in the Battle of Uhud. The steam engine was not
invented by James Watt until about 1800 AD (1100 Ol 1200 years after
the Qur'an was written) How could anyone believe this terrible lie?
This forgery could not have been written before the 20th century when
Coca-Cola was put on the market. This is a horrible, terrible, awful
thing. This, of course, is exactly how Christians feel when it is
said that this pseudo-Gospel of Barnabas is the true Gospel.
How could an honest intelligent person believe such a thing?
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