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The Epistle of Barnabas
http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/LostBooks/barnabas.htm
The Epistle of Barnabas
1
Chapter I.-After the Salutation, the Writer Declares that He Would Communicate to His Brethren
Something of that Which He Had Himself Received.
Chapter II.-The Jewish Sacrifices are Now Abolished.
Chapter III.-The Fasts of the Jews are Not True Fasts, Nor Acceptable to God.
Chapter IV.-Antichrist is at Hand: Let Us Therefore Avoid Jewish Errors.
Chapter V.-The New Covenant, Founded on the Sufferings of Christ, Tends to Our Salvation, But to
the Jews' Destruction.
Chapter VI.-The Sufferings of Christ, and the New Covenant, Were Announced by the Prophets.
Chapter VII.-Fasting, and the Goat Sent Away, Were Types of Christ.
Chapter VIII.-The Red Heifer a Type of Christ.
Chapter IX.-The Spiritual Meaning of Circumcision.
Chapter X.-Spiritual Significance of the Precepts of Moses Respecting Different Kinds of Food.
Chapter XI.-Baptism and the Cross Prefigured in the Old Testament.
Chapter XII.-The Cross of Christ Frequently Announced in the Old Testament.
Chapter XIII.-Christians, and Not Jews, the Heirs of the Covenant.
Chapter XIV.-The Lord Hath Given Us the Testament Which Moses Received and Broke.
Chapter XV.-The False and the True Sabbath.
Chapter XVI.-The Spiritual Temple of God.
Chapter XVII.-Conclusionof the First Part of the Epistle.
Chapter XVIII.-Second Part of the Epistle. The Two Ways.
Chapter XIX.-The Way of Light.
Chapter XX.-The Way of Darkness.
Chapter XXI.-Conclusion.
The Epistle of Barnabas
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The Epistle of Barnabas
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Chapter I.-After the Salutation, the Writer Declares that He Would Communicate to His Brethren
Something of that Which He Had Himself Received.
All hail, ye sons and daughters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us in peace.
Seeing that the divine fruits of righteousness abound among you, I rejoice exceedingly and above measure in
your happy and honoured spirits, because ye have with such effect received the engrafted spiritual gift.
Wherefore also I inwardly rejoice the more, hoping to be saved, because I truly perceive in you the Spirit
poured forth from the rich Lord of love. Your greatly desired appearance has thus filled me with astonishment
over you. I am therefore pursuaded of this, and fully convinced in my own mind, that since I began to speak
among you I understand many things, because the Lord hath accompanied me in the way of righteousness. I
am also on this account bound by the strictest obligation to love you above my own soul, because great are
the faith and love dwelling in you, while you hope for the life which He has promised. Considering this,
therefore, that if I should take the trouble to communicate to you some portion of what I have myself
received, it will prove to me a sufficient reward that I minister to such spirits, I have hastened briefly to write
unto you, in order that, along with your faith, ye might have perfect knowledge. The doctrines of the Lord,
then, are three: the hope of life, the beginning and the completion of it. For the Lord hath made known to us
by the prophets both the things which are past and present, giving us also the first-fruits of the knowledge of
things to come, which things as we see accomplished, one by one, we ought with the greater richness of faith
and elevation of spirit to draw near to Him with reverence. I then, not as your teacher, but as one of
yourselves, will set forth a few things by which in present circumstances ye may be rendered the more joyful.
Chapter II.-The Jewish Sacrifices are Now Abolished.
Since, therefore, the days are evil, and Satan possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to
ourselves, and diligently inquire into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then, are helpers of our
faith; and long-suffering and continence are things which fight on our side. While these remain pure in what
respects the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding, Science, and Knowledge rejoice along with them. For He hath
revealed to us by all the prophets that He needs neither sacrifices, nor burnt-offerings, nor oblations, saying
thus, "What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me, saith the Lord? I am full of burnt-offerings, and desire
not the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats, not when ye come to appear before Me: for who hath
required these things at your hands? Tread no more My courts, not though ye bring with you fine flour.
Incense is a vain abomination unto Me, and your new moons and sabbaths I cannot endure." He has
therefore abolished these things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of
necessity, might have a human oblation. And again He says to them, "Did I command your fathers, when they
went out from the land of Egypt, to offer unto Me burnt-offerings and sacrifices? But this rather I commanded
them, Let no one of you cherish any evil in his heart against his neighbour, and love not an oath of falsehood."
We ought therefore, being possessed of understanding, to perceive the gracious intention of our Father; for
He speaks to us, desirous that we, not going astray like them, should ask how we may approach Him. To us,
then, He declares, "A sacrifice [pleasing] to God is a broken spirit; a smell of sweet savour to the Lord is a
heart that glorifieth Him that made it." We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our
salvation, lest the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, should hurl us forth from our [true] life.
Chapter III.-The Fasts of the Jews are Not True Fasts, Nor Acceptable to God.
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The Epistle of Barnabas
http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/LostBooks/barnabas.htm
He says then to them again concerning these things, "Why do ye fast to Me as on this day, saith the Lord, that
your voice should be heard with a cry? I have not chosen this fast, saith the Lord, that a man should humble
his soul. Nor, though ye bend your neck like a ring, and put upon you sackcloth and ashes, will ye call it an
acceptable fast." To us He saith, "Behold, this is the fast that I have chosen, saith the Lord, not that a man
should humble his soul, but that he should loose every band of iniquity, untie the fastenings of harsh
agreements, restore to liberty them that are bruised, tear in pieces every unjust engagement, feed the hungry
with thy bread, clothe the naked when thou seest him, bring the homeless into thy house, not despise the
humble if thou behold him, and not [turn away] from the members of thine own family. Then shall thy dawn
break forth, and thy healing shall quickly spring up, and righteousness shall go forth before thee, and the glory
of God shall encompass thee; and then thou shalt call, and God shall hear thee; whilst thou art yet speaking,
He shall say, Behold, I am with thee; if thou take away from thee the chain [binding others], and the stretching
forth of the hands [to sweat falsely], and words of murmuring, and give cheerfully thy bread to the hungry,
and show compassion to the soul that has been humbled." To this end, therefore, brethren, He is
long-suffering, foreseeing how the people whom He has prepared shall with guilelessness believe in His
Beloved. For He revealed all these things to us beforehand, that we should not rush forward as rash
acceptors of their laws.
Chapter IV.-Antichrist is at Hand: Let Us Therefore Avoid Jewish Errors.
It therefore behoves us, who inquire much concerning events at hand, to search diligently into those things
which are able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of
us; and let us hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love on the world to come: let us not give
loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like
them. The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch
says, "For for this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He
will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth,
and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings. In like manner Daniel
says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the
beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it
subdued under one three of the great horns." Ye ought therefore to understand. And this also I further beg of
you, as being one of you, and loving you both individually and collectively more than my own soul, to take
heed now to yourselves, and not to be like some, adding largely to your sins, and saying, "The covenant is
both theirs and ours." But they thus finally lost it, after Moses had already received it. For the Scripture saith,
"And Moses was fasting in the mount forty days and forty nights, and received the covenant from the Lord,
tables of stone written with the finger of the hand of the Lord; " but turning away to idols, they lost it. For the
Lord speaks thus to Moses: "Moses go down quickly; for the people whom thou hast brought out of the land
of Egypt have transgressed." And Moses understood [the meaning of God], and cast the two tables out of his
hands; and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed upon
our heart, in the hope which flows from believing in Him. Now, being desirous to write many things to you,
not as your teacher, but as becometh one who loves you, I have taken care not to fail to write to you from
what I myself possess, with a view to your purification. We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole
[past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming
sources of danger, as becometh the sons of God. That the Black One may find no means of entrance, let us
flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. Do not, by retiring apart, live a
solitary life, as if you were already [fully] justified; but coming together in one place, make common inquiry
concerning what tends to your general welfare. For the Scripture saith, "Woe to them who are wise to
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themselves, and prudent in their own sight!" Let us be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God.
As much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God, and let us keep His commandments, that we may
rejoice in His ordinances. The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he
has done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is
before him. Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in
our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the
Lord. And all the more attend to this, my brethren, when ye reflect and behold, that after so great signs and
wonders were wrought in Israel, they were thus [at length] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found
[fulfilling that saying], as it is written, "Many are called, but few are chosen."
Chapter V.-The New Covenant, Founded on the Sufferings of Christ, Tends to Our Salvation, But to
the Jews' Destruction.
For to this end the Lord endured to deliver up His flesh to corruption, that we might be sanctified through the
remission of sins, which is effected by His blood of sprinkling. For it is written concerning Him, partly with
reference to Israel, and partly to us; and [the Scripture] saith thus: "He was wounded for our transgressions,
and braised for our iniquities: with His stripes we are healed. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and
as a lamb which is dumb before its shearer." Therefore we ought to be deeply grateful to the Lord, because
He has both made known to us things that are past, and hath given us wisdom concerning things present, and
hath not left us without understanding in regard to things which are to come. Now, the Scripture saith, "Not
unjustly are nets spread out for birds." This means that the man perishes justly, who, having a knowledge of
the way of righteousness, rushes off into the way of darkness. And further, my brethren: if the Lord endured
to suffer for our soul, He being Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, "Let
us make man after our image, and after our likeness," understand how it was that He endured to suffer at the
hand of men. The prophets, having obtained grace from Him, prophesied concerning Him. And He (since it
behoved Him to appear in flesh), that He might abolish death, and reveal the resurrection from the dead,
endured [what and as He did], in order that He might fulfill the promise made unto the fathers, and by
preparing a new people for Himself, might show, while He dwelt on earth, that He, when He has raised
mankind, will also judge them. Moreover, teaching Israel, and doing so great miracles and signs, He
preached [the truth] to him, and greatly loved him. But when He chose His own apostles who where to
preach His Gospel, [He did so from among those] who were sinners above all sin, that He might show He
came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Then He manifested Himself to be the Son of God.
For if He had not come in the flesh, how could men have been saved by beholding Him? Since looking upon
the sun which is to cease to exist, and is the work of His hands, their eyes are not able to bear his rays. The
Son of God therefore came in the flesh with this view, that He might bring to a head the sum of their sins who
had persecuted His prophets to the death. For this purpose, then, He endured. For God saith, "The stroke of
his flesh is from them; " and "when I shall smite the Shepherd, then the sheep of the flock shall be scattered."
He himself willed thus to suffer, for it was necessary that He should suffer on the tree. For says he who
prophesies regarding Him, "Spare my soul from the sword, fasten my flesh with nails; for the assemblies of
the wicked have risen up against me." And again he says, "Behold, I have given my back to scourges, and my
cheeks to strokes, and I have set my countenance as a firm rock."
Chapter VI.-The Sufferings of Christ, and the New Covenant, Were Announced by the Prophets.
When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what saith He? "Who is he that will contend with Me? let
him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to the servant of the
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Lord." "Woe unto you, for ye shall all wax old, like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up." And again the
prophet says, "Since as a mighty stone He is laid for crushing, behold I cast down for the foundations of Zion
a stone, precious, elect, a corner-stone, honourable." Next, what says He? "And he who shall trust in it shall
live for ever." Is our hope, then, upon a stone? Far from it. But [the language is used] inasmuch as He laid his
flesh [as a foundation] with power; for He says, "And He placed me as a firm rock." And the prophet says
again, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner." And again he
says, "This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord hath made. I write the more simply unto you, that
ye may understand. I am the off-scouring of your love. What, then, again says the prophet? "The assembly of
the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb," and "upon my garment they
cast lots." Since, therefore, He was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His suffering was
foreshown. For the prophet speaks against Israel, "Woe to their soul, because they have counselled an evil
counsel against themselves, saying, Let us bind the just one, because he is displeasing to us." And Moses also
says to them, "Behold these things, saith the Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord swore [to
give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit ye it, a land flowing with milk and honey." What, then,
says Knowledge? Learn: "Trust," she says, "in Him who is to be manifested to you in the flesh-that is, Jesus."
For man is earth in a suffering state, for the formation of Adam was from the face of the earth. What, then,
meaneth this: "into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey? "Blessed be our Lord, who has placed
in us wisdom and understanding of secret things. For the prophet says, "Who shall understand the parable of
the Lord, except him who is wise and prudent, and who loves his Lord? " Since, therefore, having renewed
us by the remission of our sins, He hath made us after another pattern, [it is His purpose] that we should
possess the soul of children, inasmuch as He has created us anew by His Spirit. For the Scripture says
concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, "Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness; and
let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea." And
the Lord said, on beholding the fair creature man, "Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth." These
things [were spoken] to the Son. Again, I will show thee how, in respect to us, He has accomplished a
second fashioning in these last days. The Lord says, "Behold, I will make the last like the first." In reference to
this, then, the prophet proclaimed, "Enter ye into the land flowing with milk and honey, and have dominion
over it." Behold, therefore, we have been refashioned, as again He says in another prophet, "Behold, saith the
Lord, I will take away from these, that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their stony hearts,
and I will put hearts of flesh within them," because He was to be manifested in flesh, and to sojourn among
us. For, my brethren, the habitation of our heart is a holy temple to the Lord. For again saith the Lord, "And
wherewith shall I appear before the Lord my God, and be glorified? " He says, "I will confess to thee in the
Church in the midst of my brethren; and I will praise thee in the midst of the assembly of the saints." We, then,
are they whom He has led into the good land. What, then, mean milk and honey? This, that as the infant is
kept alive first by honey, and then by milk, so also we, being quickened and kept alive by the faith of the
promise and by the word, shall live ruling over the earth. But He said above, "Let them increase, and rule
over the fishes." Who then is able to govern the beasts, or the fishes, or the fowls of heaven? For we ought to
perceive that to govern implies authority, so that one should command and rule. If, therefore, this does not
exist at present, yet still He has promised it to us. When? When we ourselves also have been made perfect
[so as] to become heirs of the covenant of the Lord.
Chapter VII.-Fasting, and the Goat Sent Away, Were Types of Christ.
Understand, then, ye children of gladness, that the good Lord has foreshown all things to us, that we might
know to whom we ought for everything to render thanksgiving and praise. If therefore the Son of God, who
is Lord [of all things], and who will judge the living and the dead, suffered, that His stroke might give us life,
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