The Vatican is trying to get its hands on a 1500 year old Bible that is currently being held in Turkey according to media reports today. The Vatican has issued an official request to examine the 1500 year old Bible that Turkey has had in its custody for the past 12 years. This ancient Bible contains, reportedly, the early teachings of Jesus Christ written on animal hide in gold lettering. It is written in a language called “Syriac” which is a dialect of Aramaic. Aramaic was the native tongue spoke by Christ. The Bible was seized by Turkish officials from a gang of smugglers in an operation in the Mediterranean Sea 12 years ago. Turkish authorities charged the gang with smuggling antiquities, illegal excavations, and possession of explosives then.
Reports out of Turkey say that the 1500 year old Bible is under tight security and it is being claimed that the Bible could be a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas. This Gospel is a controversial gospel. Muslims claim that it is an additional original gospel along with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It has sometimes be called the “fourth gospel” and has been suppressed by the Church. Muslims claim that this gospel foretold of the coming of their Prophet, Mohammad. The 1500 year old Bible being held in Turkey is estimated to be worth $1.7 dollars.
The Gospel of Barnabas asserts that a man named Barnabas was a disciple of Christ and, in fact, that he was one of the 12 Apostles. Within it in some key respects it conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins and sometimes contradicts New Testament teachings. Some critics have claimed that it is a gospel that was edited to fit Islamic interpretation and to conform to Islamic teachings. Several Muslim scholars believe it to support the Islamic view of Jesus, in which, Jesus is not the son of God but is a prophet. There are also two other books using the same name. They are the Epistle of Barnabas and the Acts of Barnabas.