The suppressed Gospels and Epistles of the original New Testament of Jesus the Christ, Volume 7, Barnabas

[The end of the Epistle of Barnabas the Apostle, and fellow-traveller of St. Paul the Apostle.]

REFERENCES TO THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF BARNABAS

[Barnabas was a companion and fellow-preacher with Paul. This Epistle lays a greater claim to canonical authority than most others. It has been cited by Clemens, Alexandrinus, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, and many ancient Fathers. Cotelerius affirms that Origen and Jerome esteemed it genuine and canonical; but Cotelerius himself did not believe it to be either one or the other; on the contrary, he supposes it was written for the benefit of the Ebionites, (the christianized Jews,) who were tenacious of rites and ceremonies. Bishop Fell feared to own expressly what he seemed to be persuaded of, that it ought to be treated with the same respect as several of the books of the present canon. Dr. Bernard, Savilian professor at Oxford, not only believed it to be genuine, but that it was read throughout in the churches of Alexandria, as the canonical Scriptures were. Dodwell supposed it to have been published before the Epistle of Jude, and the writings of both the Johns. Vossius, Dupuis, Dr. Cane, Dr. Mill, Dr, S. Clark, Whitson, and Archbishop Wake also esteemed it genuine: Menardus, Archbishop Land, Spanheim, and others deemed it apocryphal.]