My long time friend Thomas called me from the UK and said his father had passed on and would be buried two weeks from the day he called. It would be a Saturday and he asked whether I could come for the Church service or at least come to the reception after the burial so we could talk for a while. We hadn’t spoken for the last year and a half and I told him I would be at the reception.
The reception was held in a park in Takoradi. It is a large plot of land probably reserved by the Municipal Council or earmarked for constructing a large building facility. Before the plot could be used for its main purposes, however, families would hire the space for funeral and wedding receptions where a rather large number of family, friends and guests were expected.
I arrived at the funeral reception grounds at 12noon and started looking around for Thomas. Just two steps into the reception grounds I spotted him at the back row. In these days of Covid-19, one can’t shake hands with a friend. We just touched elbows, sat down and started to talk.
Family members who had gone for the burial had just returned and two pastors were already upstanding to bless family members and the entire assemblage of friends and sympathizers before refreshments could start.
Prayers were over and the sombre music changed into a more brisk tempo. Servers of the catering company that had been engaged to provide refreshments started serving drinks: beer, wine, soft drinks and whatever after the short prayers. That was just about 12.30 pm. By 1 pm the reception area was now full of guests; family members, sympathizers and church members leaving some space for buffet type food service and a little more space of about 15 square meters for movement. At 1.30 pm, the MC announced that the food was ready. By 2 pm the music was becoming louder as guests, with a little alcohol in the belly were now talking in louder tones. A few guests took to the floor of the 15 square metres space.
The atmospheric pressure in the 15 square metres space suddenly changed. There were more than thirty tightly packed dancers on the floor; everyone on their own. The song was titled “Jesus has won the battle”. Women in their 20s and 30s bobbed their breasts up and down to the rhythm of the music. Women in their 50s and 60s sensuously shook their heavy backsides to the beat of the music; and the young men, standing in a row and swaying their chests left, right, left, right, vigorously punched the air with one raised, clenched fist to the rhythm of the music. The atmosphere was electric; it was pulsating. The pressure on the 15 square metres dance floor could only have been measured with a barometer.
As I watched the dancers, I noticed a young man who had come to our office some two months earlier. He looked 33-35 years old. When the music came to an end, I went over to his table, introduced myself and told him I recognized him because he had visited our office sometime earlier. He said, “Yes, Indeed.” I asked whether he had been able to talk to the “bossman”. He said he had inquired about job possibility with the company from the boss, but the boss said the company was very young and was running a tight financial schedule for some time, but would keep his name and particulars on file in case some opportunity came up for hiring a person with his professional qualifications.
We moved to the edge of the reception area where the noise was a little quieter. I asked him his profession and he said he was a photographer. He continued that he had worked in Liberia for three years and in Nigeria for six years and had come back to Ghana just two years ago. In all these places he worked on short contracts. In Ghana, he gets occasional jobs with private newspaper companies and this helps him to keep his body and soul together.
“Well, why don’t you set yourself up in your own private job?” I asked. He said, “I have planned for that, but right now I need a launchpad of two years of regular job before setting up a photographic business of my own. I have a Nigerian wife and we have a little boy. We have planned that she and our son will come to Ghana as soon as I land a good job. I pray to God twice a day. Jesus is a very important figure in my life and I know that one of these days my luck will change for the better. Jesus will answer my prayer in due time; He always knows best.”
The Bible of Barnabas
I asked, “Do you know that the Vatican has recently been shocked by the writings in a Bible that was supposedly written by Apostle Barnabas. The Bible, estimated to have been written sometime in the period 1,500-2000CE, claims that Jesus was not born by ‘Immaculate Conception; that Jesus was just a prophet; that Jesus was not crucified; rather Judas Iscariot was the one who was crucified; and that Jesus ascended back to heaven alive. The Bible of Barnabas also “contains teachings that agree with Islam, contradicting the new testament of the bible. Finally, Barnabas referred to Apostle Paul as ‘The Imposter.”
My photographer friend said he had read the content in that Bible in the way I was telling him and the shock it has supposedly caused the Vatican from a video he received from a friend three months ago.
I asked, “Were you surprised to read such information”? My photographer friend said he was disturbed by what he read, but not surprised. He said, “Adversaries are always around to destroy heroes and heroines.” He continued to say that after listening to the video, he did some quick checks on Barnabas and his role at the beginning of the Christian religion.
“In the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 4, verses 36-37,” he said, “Barnabas, whose original name was Joses but named Barnabas by the disciples, was one of the early Christians who sold their lands and houses and brought the money they obtained from such sales to the disciples for their upkeep. Barnabas sold his land and brought the amount received to the disciples. This was within the period of four to seven years after the death of Jesus and there is no record that Barnabas had yet met Saul. Indeed, Saul who was also called Paul was a bitter enemy of the Christians of that time. Paul had obtained letters to go to Damascus to bring any Christians he could find, men and women, bound in chains back to Jerusalem to be punished in the immediate years after the death of Jesus. In Acts Chapter 9, Paul, on his way to Damascus, was confronted by Jesus who blinded him with a very bright light and asked him why he was persecuting him. Every Christian knows the rest of the story. But the significant point is that when Ananias, who Jesus asked to go and lay his hands on Paul that he might receive his sight, complained that he had heard of Paul as the enemy of Christians, Jesus told Ananias not to worry. “Paul,” Jesus said, “is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.”
After receiving his sight, Paul started preaching in the synagogues of Damascus but the people were afraid of him, and moreover, the Jews plotted to kill him to the extent that the disciples had to put Paul in a basket and lower the basket over the city wall in the night.
Escaping from Damascus, Paul came to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples with no success. The disciples were afraid of him because of his past vindictive record against Christians. It was at this point that Barnabas came in. Obviously, Barnabas could have been informed of Paul’s conversion to Christianity by at least one person in the troop that accompanied Paul to Damascus and who was, therefore, an eyewitness of the incident in which Paul was blinded and his subsequent conversion to Christianity. However, having learnt a lot about Paul and his conversion, and importantly also as a preacher of the gospel, it was Barnabas who introduced Paul to the disciples in Jerusalem telling them that Paul had seen the Lord, and the Lord had spoken to him and that Paul had preached in Damascus in the name of Jesus. The convincing testimony of Barnabas led to the acceptance of Paul into the fold of the disciples.
The Journeys of Paul and Barnabas
When the church in Jerusalem heard that Christians who had run as far as Cyprus and Antioch after Stephen had been stoned to death, had preached the gospel to the Gentiles in those areas and had also made converts, the church sent Barnabas to Antioch. Before leaving Jerusalem, Barnabas travelled to Tarsus, Paul’s home town, to find Paul and ask him to accompany him to Antioch. The disciples in Jerusalem did not ask Barnabas to go to Antioch with Paul. Why then did Barnabas decide to find Paul to accompany him to Antioch? Because, from reports he had received, he had become very aware of its dynamism of Paul. He was very aware that Paul was a very effective preacher. After finding Paul, the two left together for Antioch.
The two preached together in Antioch for a whole year. At some point during fasting and prayer of the prophets and ministers of the church in Antioch, the Holy Ghost asked that Paul and Barnabas should leave for Seleucia. After further fasting and prayer, the prophets laid their hands on Paul and Barnabas ordaining them as apostles for the mission ahead. The two left Antioch for Seleucia, then to Cyprus, Salamis, and to Paphos where Apostle Paul fixed his eyes on a sorcerer called Barjesus who was trying to stop the assistant to the chief of the town from listening to Paul and Barnabas. Paul said to Barjesus, “You will be blind in the name of Jesus;” and immediately Barjesus became blind.
Paul and Barnabas and other apostles travelling with them came to Perga in Pamphylia where some of the other apostles decided to go back to Jerusalem. From Perga, Paul and Barnabas went to Pisidia The Jews in Pisidia stirred up the people of the town to expel Paul and Barnabas. The two consequently, left Pisidia and came to Iconium where they met a great multitude of Jews and Gentiles who eagerly listened to their preaching. As expected, the Jews convinced the people to stone the apostles.
Paul and Barnabas consequently left the town and came to Lystra in Lycaonia. It was at Lystra that Paul healed a man who had been a cripple and never walked in his whole life. Paul commanded the man to stand up on his feet. The man immediately stood up, leapt and walked. Jews came again and convinced the people to stone Paul. Paul was left on the ground for dead with the disciples surrounding him. Paul got up and left with Barnabas for Derbe, another town in Lycaonia, where they preached, returning later to Lystra, and then to Iconium.
In all the towns and cities Paul and Barnabas preached, they established the Christian church; and helped church members to ordain church elders. They also taught church members prayer with fasting.
The break between Paul and Barnabas
The church in Jerusalem, later after Paul and Barnabas had returned from their Christianizing mission, decided to send Judas Barsabas and Silas together with Paul and Barnabas to go back to Antioch, and to Syria and Cilicia to preach to the converts not to eat blood, not to eat foods that have been offered to gods, and to avoid fornication.
After accomplishing their mission in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia, Paul told Barnabas that they should go back and visit all the churches in the various cities the two of them had helped in establishing new churches and converting non-Christians to Christianity. Barnabas, at this juncture, decided that they should take along with them John who was also called Mark. Paul, on the other hand, thought that bringing Mark along would not be a good idea because Mark had left them in Pamphylia during their earlier trips, and did not continue working with them.
The disagreement between Paul and Barnabas on this matter was quite sharp and led to the separation between the two of them. Barnabas, however, took Mark with him, and Paul took Silas with him for the visits to the various churches they had helped to establish during their earlier trips.
Apostle Paul “The Imposter”?
On the issue of whether Apostle Paul was an imposter, my photographer friend asked the following question:
“How could anyone who knew Apostle Paul so we'll go on to call Paul an imposter?” He went on to answer his own question in these words:
The New Testament in the Bible I am using has 419 pages from The Gospel of Mathew to The Hebrews. Of the 419 pages, Apostle Paul wrote 123 pages or 29.4%. The Acts of the Apostles has 56 pages in my Bible. Of this number, Paul’s activities span 42 pages, that is, 75%. If we now add the pages on Paul’s work in the Acts to the pages taken by his epistles in the New Testament, we now have a total of 165 pages of practical action and serious evangelical writing, making a total of 39.37% contribution to the New Testament by Paul.
Jesus spoke to Paul on his way to Damascus when he was breathing fire and brimstone to arrest Christians and bring them bound in chains to Jerusalem to be punished. Jesus spoke to Paul again in Jerusalem after his conversion to Christianity.
Paul was the bedrock for the conversion of the peoples in Asia and Greece to Christianity.
Paul raised a young man from the dead: the man, seated near a window listening to Apostle Paul in an upper room with others, accidental fell through the window and died on impact with the ground.
Paul healed many people from their ailments and delivered many people from evil spirits.
Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons were enough to heal and deliver people from evil spirits.
Jesus called Paul his “chosen vessel” for the spread of Christianity.
Barnabas knew all about Paul’s achievements and his standing with Jesus as the “chosen vessel.” Barnabas never healed anyone and never delivered anyone from evil spirits so far as we note from the Bible. Whenever the occasion demanded, Apostle Paul’s presence caused wonders.
Barnabas could have had his personal differences with Apostle Paul, but to try to vilify Paul as an irrelevance and an imposter clearly indicates his jealousy of Barnabas. Jealousy, unfortunately, is the commonest and one of the most vicious vices in the world from ancient times to the present time.
A Christian who contributed approximately 40% of the New Testament could not and cannot be labelled an “imposter.” Apostle Paul was clearly the bastion and the bulwark of Christianity in both ancient times and modern times. He was a more courageous person probably more than any of the disciples. In Acts 21, Paul declared that he was ready to die in the name of Lord Jesus. The chosen vessel of Jesus is “considered as the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity,” writes an authority. A devil that was being exorcised asked the exorcist the following question: “Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?” Church Building - Photo by László Glatz from Pexels
Foundations of the Christian religion
My photographer friend continued as follows, “Christianity is built on the following foundations:
The conception of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost: Immaculate Conception
Death of Jesus by crucifixion
The resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his burial
The Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost
Salvation by “faith” alone in the name of Lord Jesus
If Barnabas knocks out Apostle Paul as an irrelevance; If he knocks out immaculate conception; if he knocks out the crucifixion of Jesus and says it was rather Judas Iscariot who was crucified; and if he knocks out the resurrection of Jesus, he has knocked out the bases of the Christian religion completely.
Implications of the Bible of Barnabas
“If the Bible of Apostle Barnabas has any merit,” my photographer friend continued, “it will mean that the Prophesy of Moses, who lived 3,500 years ago, that a prophet would be raised after him and that the people should listen to him, did not happen.
The prophecy of Isaiah, who lived in the period 740-701BCE, that is 2,500 years ago, saying that “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”, did not happen.
John the Baptist, “prepare ye the way of the Lord; I indeed baptize you with water, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, and shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire”; did not happen.
“The three wise men from the East,” did not happen.
My photographer friend continued:
Although it is said that the rift between Barnabas and Paul was later healed, it is doubtful if Barnabas ever found peace in himself, in Paul and in the Christian religion he had worked so hard for. He toiled and never received the anointing of Jesus. Bishop Ashimolowo has said that: “God uses the ridiculous to achieve the miraculous.” Paul, the man that Barnabas introduced to the Disciples to be accepted as a Christian, an apostle and a preacher; the man who was the scourge of Christians had now become the firebrand of Christianity.
Our thoughts and our habits form our character, and our character determines our actions. It is difficult for some of us to see a friend become successful in life without getting jealous. Even Absalom became jealous of his father King David and waged a war against King David. God is wonderful! Absalom was snapped up by the branch of a tree and could not free himself as the war raged on. Joab, the Commander of David’s army, came upon this ridiculous scene of Absalom entangled in a tree and shot a single dart into the heart of Absalom.
What changed Barnabas?
Frustration and jealousy precipitated the actions of Barnabas. The man who had been the closest person to Paul for many years could not stand the anointing that Paul had received from Jesus himself. Barnabas could not take this. Jealous people are usually those persons closest to you.
Was Barnabas a false apostle during the many years he spent with Apostle Paul, travelling and preaching the gospel together and establishing churches all over Asia? Probably not! Barnabas initially admired and appreciated Paul and introduced him to the disciples at the time when Paul was still feared by Christians for his past history. He could not have been a false Christian in those early years. Something else must have happened. It was Jesus who called Paul in the first place. Jesus was to blame. It was Jesus who called Paul to Christianity. Jesus was to be blamed for the successes of Paul. Even the handkerchiefs and aprons and pieces of Paul’s garment could heal and deliver without the presence of Paul himself. The soul of Barnabas could not take this. Jesus had denied Barnabas the spiritual gifts that he had so generously bestowed on Paul. Barnabas became an iconoclast casting away all the charisma, the euphoria and the glory surrounding the birth and life of Jesus; casting down the very foundations and canons on which the Christian religion was founded.
Views on religious founders and leaders in the world
My photographer friend continued further with the following:
I personally stand in awe at the power, the charisma, the zeal, and the reverence of leaders of world religions and will never open my mouth to denigrate any of them. I stand in reverence of Jesus. Photo by Alem Sánchez from PexelsI stand in reverence of Prophet Muhammed S.A.W.; and I stand in reverence of two religions that existed at least 500 years before Jesus was born: Buddha and Buddhism, the religion of most people in China, Japan and in Eastern Asia, and Lao Tzu (also known as Laozi), the founder of Taoism in China. Photo by Joel M B Marrinan from PexelsI stand in awe and admiration of the Japanese Shinto religion that preaches that people are basically good but it is evil spirits that have become the bane in this life and it is, therefore, our responsibility to perform rituals constantly to dispel evil spirits.
I also stand in awe at the Baha’i religion which believes “in the oneness of humanity and devote themselves to the abolition of race, class and religious prejudices.” Baha’i’s function in this regard “is to overcome the disunity of religions and establish a universal faith”; Baha’i believes that despite the differences among the world’s greatest religions, their function “is to teach an identical truth.’
All the five leaders of the great religions of our time had different religious philosophies and different systems of worship. Yet, they were all Men of God.
My friend reached for his Bible, opened it and continued:
Apostle Paul says in 1st Chronicles, Chapter 12, verses 4-6 and in verses 13-14:
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.
And there are differences in administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
For the body is not one member, but many.
My photographer friend continued:
All the major religions of the world, except the Shinto religion, acknowledge God as the centre of their worship. All the major religions of the world worship the same Spirit. There are many other religions but they all, as Apostle Paul said, “drink into one Spirit.”
I was born into a Christian family and though I have tried to learn about other religions, I have basically decided to stabilize myself in the religion into which I was born. The problem I have with the Christian religion is that it allows every person, whatever their character to form their own church at any time. It really dilutes Christian worship. Islam has just Shiite, Sunni and Ahmadiyya. There are of course some other less known sects, but these are probably the major branches or sects of Islam. On the other hand, there are probably thousands of Christian churches in this country, in Nigeria and in other African countries.
Principles for evaluating historical documents
My photographer friend continued:
When evaluating the content and authenticity of a historical document, there are some principles one needs to consider. These principles are intended to assess the reliability and validity of the content of the document. Reliability refers to the accuracy, consistency and truthfulness of the content of the document; and validity, in this case, refers to how far or how useful the material in the document could be used in other contexts.
The date of Barnabas’ Bible:
One has to consider the date on which the document was written or created first. The Bible of Barnabas is estimated to have been written sometime in the period 1,500-2000CE. Paul is estimated to have died in the period 62-64CE. Barnabas was clearly a contemporary of Paul and could have been in the same age bracket as Paul. Assuming Barnabas lived for 100 years, he could have been born around 30BCE and died at about 70CE.
The period when people lived for 500 years has been over for a long time now. If Barnabas wrote a Bible, that Bible would have been written in the period 20-50 CE, that is when he was between the ages of 50 and 80. Unless the dating of the Barnabas Bible was wrong, the estimated period of the Bible from 1,500-2000CE was clearly outside the possible period within which Barnabas could have written a Bible. The Bible should have been written, as I’ve said, in the period 50-80 CE, and the Bible would therefore be about 1,920 years old.
The Bible was not written by Barnabas and the estimated date of the Bible was wrong. Any estimated period for the creation of the Bible beyond 100 CE will not be correct.
Location where the document was found:
The Bible of Barnabas was found in the area of the Mediterranean and is the general Middle East area covering the lands of Israel, Arabia and other nations mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. There is no problem with this since documents can be moved from one location to another within the same territory or within contiguous territories.
Authority of the writer:
Here we consider whether the writer had the knowledge and authority in the material in which he or she was writing. Barnabas was close to the disciples after the death of Jesus and was also an Apostle throughout the period in which Christian churches were being established in Asia. Did he meet Jesus? The Bible does not give us any clue whether he met Jesus or not. We can, however, say that he had enough knowledge and authority to write a Bible on his own.
Consistency of the content:
The consistency in the presentation of the author is one other principle of critical importance. Barnabas’ statement that Jesus ascended back to heaven in his physical body form is supported by the Bible. But the question is if Jesus was propelled back to heaven in his body form by unseen forces, then what do we make of Jesus? He was not an ordinary man. He was a special person. He came from heaven. It means that Jesus was not a prophet of the genre of Elijah, Elisha and Samuel. Barnabas’ attempt to rubbish the concept of resurrection is inconsistent with his own statement that Jesus ascended back to heaven in his physical body form most likely propelled by some invisible forces. Nobody goes to heaven in their physical body form; if Jesus did, then he had the power, the authority and the capability of God the Creator.
Inconsistency in the statement of a witness casts doubts on the credibility and reliability of the witness. In any evaluation system, low reliability will imply minimum validity or invalidity. Even high consistency or reliability does not always imply high validity. A consistent liar does not help in arriving at a just or valid judgment.
The integrity of the author:
This refers to the truthfulness of the author, the integrity of the author, and therefore the credibility of the content of the document. Was Barnabas being truthful in writing the content of his Bible? Barnabas and Paul had bitter differences in a matter that presently, seems petty. But he had his way. From the sharp disagreement between the two apostles, it doesn’t seem that Barnabas particularly would be truthful in writing his Bible, especially in the absence of Paul.
Relevance of content: The issue here is whether the content of the document, in this case, the content of Barnabas’ Bible, is relevant and important for evaluating the Christian religion. The account of Barnabas in his Bible, by the little contained in the video that has gone around, indicates that Barnabas did not espouse the principles of the Christian religion; and the content of his Bible is therefore not relevant or valid for evaluating the Christian religion. The Council that made the selection of books for the Bible made the right decision by excluding the Bible of Barnabas.
Purpose of the content:
Purpose, in this case, refers to why the document was created in the first place. For purpose of the content, one has to find out if there is any prejudice in the material presented in the content. Although Barnabas had the authority, that is, the knowledge to write his Bible, that Bible cannot be a reliable source for assessing the value and impact of the Christian religion. The purpose of Barnabas’ Bible was not to support or give evidence of the holiness of the life of Jesus but to destroy the Christian religion completely.
Matching Support documents:
All the accounts in the accepted Bible, from Mathew to Revelations, provide adequate support for the bases of the Christian region. All the prophets, from Moses, Abraham, to Elija, Elisha, Samuel and all the great religions of the world support the view that there is only one God; The Shinto religion, however, has no God. There are also differences as to whether Jesus was the son of God. In the Christian religion, Jesus as the son of God is pivotal and cannot be excluded from Christian worship and beliefs. So far, there is hardly any support for the views expressed by Barnabas in his Bible. Barnabas’ Bible consequently, has extremely little reliability if at all, and absolutely no validity.
Agreement of teachings in the Bible of Barnabas with Islam
It is said that the teachings in the Bible of Barnabas agree with the teachings in the Quran. In the first place, a religion that started at the time of Jesus could not have copied from a religion that started 600 years after the death of Jesus. That is impossible. The agreement of teachings in Christianity and Islam occurs because both religions have Judaism as their basis. Both Christianity and Islam share the values and principles of Judaism and both religions are referred to as “Abrahamic religions.” Photo by Levent Simsek from PexelsJudaism was the religion of Moses, Abraham and the Hebrews and consists of elements of Jewish history from the time they lived in Egypt, and in Babylon and throughout Jewish history.
Judaism was brought to Arabia two hundred years before Prophet Muhammed S.A.W was born. Moses, the prophet of Judaism, is mentioned several times in the Qu’ran because he is also a prophet and a messenger of God in Islam. The two religions were related in the past; shared common values, and still share common values
Attempts to bring dissensions between Christianity and Islam to ignore the common values they shared in their history. In the 100 years of war between the clans of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Arabia, the leaders of the 12 clans thought it wise to invite Prophet Muhammed as the arbitrator in 622 CE. An arbitrator listens to all contending sides and comes to a decision that will bring peace. The arbitrator’s decision is final even in these modern times. Would the 12 clans in Arabia have agreed to invite Prophet Muhammed as their arbitrator, if the prophet was an adversary of the Jews and Christians in Arabia at the time? The agreement in some of the teachings in the Bible of Barnabas with teachings in Islam is therefore of no value in supporting the Bible of Barnabas. Islam and Christianity shared the same values and philosophy of Judaism, the religion of Moses and Abraham. Anybody starting something new, begins by studying and understanding what already exists before coming out with something original that could also incorporate existing and past elements. That is very normal.
“But really”, my friend said; “I do not think that the Bible of Barnabas is a genuine work.
First, judging by the close relationship that existed between Barnabas and Paul, preaching the gospel together in the area of Jerusalem and in Asia, it is not likely that Barnabas would have turned his back on Paul and the Christian religion by writing a Bible of that nature, even if Apostle Paul had passed away at the time Barnabas was writing his Bible.”
Second, the leading Christians in the Bible had multiple names. Example: Peter was also called Simon. John was called Mark, Saul was called Paul, and Barnabas was previously called Joses. Could it be that another Barnabas, and not Joses Barnabas, wrote the Bible of Barnabas sometime in the period 1,500-2000CE?
Third, It could be that the Bible of Barnabas was written 400 years after the death of Joses Barnabas by another person called Barnabas, but in no way related to Joses Barnabas. The Bible of Barnabas would have been written, as I’ve said in the period 50-80 CE, not 400 years later.
If Joses Barnabas wrote a Bible, that Bible should be at least 1,900 years old.
Fourth, the Dead Sea Scrolls which were written in the same Aramaic language before Jesus was born, were later found to consist of fake documents. Fraudulent persons realized that the original scrolls made a lot of money and therefore cashed in by producing other Dead Sea Scrolls. Further, the Shroud of Turin, the shroud that was purported to have been the shroud used in the burial of Jesus was later found to be a fake; produced by the ingenuity of a fraudulent artist.
All these are questions and issues we must ask about the Bible of Barnabas. The Bible of Barnabas could be a fake because it does not make sense that Apostle Joses Barnabas, the friend and colleague of Apostle Paul, could have turned around and rubbished Apostle Paul and the very bases of Christianity. It doesn’t make an iota of sense. The Bible of Barnabas must be a fake.
I just could not help myself. I said to my photographer friend: “Considering the way you danced the high-life, with so much gusto, I can’t believe you have this amount of religion in you.” My newly found friend said the following.
It was Gospel high-life.” I asked, “What’s the difference”? And he said, “The difference is in the lyrics and we danced with all our soul and with all our might in praise of the Lord, and in the way, David danced when he was leading the procession bringing the Ark of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom back to Jerusalem.
It was bewildering. I asked: “Are you all from the same church?“ He said most of the people at the reception were from the same church. I then asked the following: “As a photographer, where could you have learnt all these religious teachings?” “From my uncle; my father’s elder brother,” he said. “We were a household of seven people. Every morning all of us met in the living room for prayers before breakfast. Everyone above the age of 10 was required to come up with a Biblical text; explain the text and its moral implications. At the end of about 20-30 minutes of service, one of us was required to say the closing prayer.”
I thought I should change the subject, so I asked the following question: “Since you have so much to say, let me ask your opinion on what could be some of the reasons why development in Africa has been so slow”? He said the following:
“Basically Africans have not found the secret of world development. It is really not a secret the way I said it. Just look at how fast the world around us is going and then look at Africa. We seem to be in the past all the time; Never going forward. Well, I left Ghana at the age of 22 and as I’ve said, moved back to Ghana two years ago. Jobs are not easy to come by.
He continued that the apartment above where he lives is not occupied and is leaking water down to his apartment. He has called the plumber of the company that owns the apartment but he says he couldn’t come because it was the 10th of the month and he had not been paid. The plumber, my photographer friend continued, had told him that the company he works for, called Prestige Construction Ltd, complains that it has no money because the bigger companies Prestige works for on a sub-contract basis have not paid their debts to Prestige for two years now. The bigger companies also complain that they have no money because the public construction projects they have completed have not been paid for in nearly three years. The Minister of Finance complains that there is no money and the country has to make cuts in its budget to save the equivalent of about five hundred million US dollars. That is the state of affairs now. My photographer friend said he had to leave the reception very soon to find another plumber and personally pay for the work himself. Then he said: The money is gone, but hey, we still have the high life.
I asked him how old he was, and he said he was 33 years old. I then said the following: “You are a young man but from the little, you have said about Africa’s development, can you tell me whether you have sources for getting your information on Africa and Africa’s development.” He said his uncle usually discussed a lot with his variety of issues. “Where is your uncle now? Is he alive”? I asked. His uncle, he said is now 75 years old and has moved to live in a village in the Eastern Region of the country.
“What’s your name? I asked. “My name is Andrew Neequaye, but my friends call me Nick, in place of Neequaye.” I got a complimentary card out of my pocket and handed it to him. He looked at it and said, “When I set up my own photographic shop, I shall print my complimentary card, and send you one.”
“Well,” I said, I don’t know the plans of my boss yet, but if things work out, you may get your two years launch-pad working with me in the same office pretty soon. Good Luck to you in all your plans.” We touched elbows and I moved on to join Thomas. We concluded our small talk and I asked to leave after some 15 minutes.
On my way back to the house I started thinking that I had learnt virtually the whole of the New Testament in about forty minutes from a much younger person. The car radio had news on water and electricity shortages in Lebanon due essentially to the influx of immigrants fleeing from wars in the neighbouring regions. I got home but just before I switched off the car engine, breaking news came that Russia had invaded Ukraine. War had started between the two countries. I couldn’t think straight. I parked the car and went into the living room. My wife had switched off the radio, the TV, the fridge and all the lights in the house. She said she had had to switch off all lights at the crack of a storm to void a possible power outage that could damage electrical equipment in the house. The rainy season has just started and the electricity supply could be rather erratic.
I went into the bedroom and sat on the bed to give a little thought to some of the things Nick had said. Religious contention has become like politics with political parties fighting for votes and denying the electorate the right to think for themselves. The Shinto religion says there is no God. That’s okay. Members of the Shino religion have no quarrel with anyone who believes there is a God who created Heaven and Earth. It is that peace that we need in the world today: peace to join the political party one wishes; peace to belong to any religion of one’s choice; and cessation of political and religious warfare. All we need in the world is peace, morality and unity. The Preamble of the constitution of UNESCO written in 1945 states the following:
Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the DEFENCES for peace must be constructed.
Maybe we have to start thinking about ways for constructing a peaceful world through the school curriculum starting from kindergarten to tertiary level institutions. We could, for instance, build schools such as Mini Townships for Learning: Learning townships in which children will be exposed to different religions, their philosophies, their view about God and their general way of life. This will create open-mindedness about different religions and help improve ways in which people will relate with others without allowing religious backgrounds to interfere in relationships. Maybe we should also consider the Baha’i religion more seriously since it preaches equality of all races, equality of all classes, a world without prejudice, and the unity of humanity.
I began to think that I would like to meet Nick’s uncle one of these days. Maybe he could give me some further insights into this life.
