Epistle of Barnabas
The Epistle of Barnabas is attributed to the highly intelligent early disciple Barnabas, a Hellenized Jew, was for a while a travel companion of Paul. Some even credit Barnabas as the anonymous author of the masterpiece Epistle to the Hebrews. This Epistle discusses the Two Ways towards its end, in chapters 18 to 21, similar to the Essenes' view of themselves as the "sons of light" fighting against the "sons of darkness" as included in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
There is a strong pro-life statement in the Epistle of Barnabas, at Barnabas 19:5:
| “ | Thou shalt not doubt whether a thing shall be or not be. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. Thou shalt love thy neighbor more than thine own soul. Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion, nor again shalt thou kill it when it is born. Thou shalt not withhold thy hand from thy son or daughter, but from their youth
thou shalt teach them the fear of God.[1] |
” |
also translated as:
| “ | You shall not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shall you destroy it after it is born. - Epistle of Barnabas XIX[2] | ” |
The Epistle of Barnabas is not typically part of the Bible today, but is included at the end of the Codex Sinaiticus, after the Book of Revelation and prior to the Shepherd of Hermas.[3]
This is not the so-called "Gospel of Barnabas," which is not authentic and was not written until the 13th century or later.
See also
References
- ↑ https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lightfoot.html (emphasis added).
- ↑ https://nearemmaus.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/reading-the-fathers-12-22-2012/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPro%2DLife%E2%80%9D%20Ethics:,%E2%80%9D%20%28Epistle%20of%20Barnabas%20XIX%29
- ↑ https://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/content.aspx
