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Palestine preaching the good news, wrote an apocryphal book, known as the Gospel of
Barnabas. It was accepted as a canonical gospel in the Alexandrian churches until 325 AD, when
the Nicene Council ordered all copies of it to be destroyed, and anyone who had it in there
possession was to be put to death.
In the 5th century, a copy, written in his own hand, was found lying on his chest, in his tomb
in Cyprus, which made its way into the library of Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590) and was made
available by a monk named Frater Marino.
Though there is no major deviation from the authorized gospels, one subtle difference
appeared in the Sermon on the Mount, which seems to indicate that the account which in written
in Matthew may have been embellished, to make it sound better. Barnabas writes: ““Blessed are
they that mourn this earthly life, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the poor who truly hate
the delights of the world, for they shall abound in the delights of the Kingdom of God. Blessed
are they that eat at the table of God, for the angels shall minister unto them.”
Polycarp, author of a letter to the Philippians, wrote about the first three Gospels, but not the
fourth, because it didn’t exist, and it wasn’t mentioned until 180 by Theophilus of Antioch. John
has come to be regarded as the most accurate of the Gospels, even though it is believed to have
been written over a period of years by theologians, at the Greek city of Ephesus, who in 100 AD,
sought to fill the void in the contents of the other three. John has the risen Jesus being seen by
only Mary Magdalene, where in other books, other women accompanied her; and also singles her
out as being a primary mourner. This hint at a more intimate relationship has given rise to a
theory as to the actual role that Mary had in the life of Jesus. In the other three gospels, the Last
Supper is portrayed as a Passover meal, after which Jesus was crucified; however in John, the
crucifixion occurred before the Passover, whereby John puts more emphasis on the foot washing
that occurred. This discrepancy had been explained by saying that John was using the lunar
calendar, while the others were using the solar calendar, however, it is now believed that John’s
purpose was to present Jesus as the Passover Lamb of the Jews, who is killed as their sacrifice.
Where in Luke, only Peter goes to inspect the tomb; in John, it was Peter and John. Critics claim
that the story of Doubting Thomas (John 20:19-31) wasn’t true, based on the premise that Jesus
was tied to the cross, rather than nailed. Some have even claimed that there was “no historical
proof that he (John) ever existed.”
Simon Peter, the “Rock” upon whom Jesus said He would build His church, was believed to
be the first to ‘see’ Jesus after the resurrection, and it was through his efforts that the philosophy
of Christianity was perpetuated. The primary contention is that the New Testament was doctored
to present Jesus as being divine. Because Jesus was not of the priestly tribe of the Levites, it was
necessary to validate His claims so that He would be accepted by the early Christians. In the
Book of Hebrews, completed before the fall of Rome around 68, Jesus was described as being a
perfect priest after the order of Melchizedek, who in Genesis was referred to as a priest of the
most high God, yet neither was he a Levite. The Book of Hebrews, said to be written by Paul,
also refers to the presence of Jesus in Heaven, but never refers to a physical resurrection.
Books such as Forgotten Worlds by Robert Charroux (1971), and Resurrection: Myth or
Reality? by John Shelby Spong (1994), have questioned the authenticity of the Bible. In a 1977
book, called The Myth of God Incarnate, 7 scholars and professors from prominent American
seminaries seriously questioned whether Jesus was Lord, and said that the Bible should be
updated by having all traces of the deity of Jesus removed. They said that Jesus didn’t claim to
be divine, but was promoted to that status by early Christians who were under pagan influences.
Another book, The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, a report by 77 Biblical scholars,