St. Barnabas 29. Parting of the Ways.
God the Holy Spirit, with the Apostles and Elders of the Church, had now clearly spoken that Gentile believers were full members of the Church without circumcision and without the burden of the entire Jewish Law.
We are told “Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also” (Ac 15:35). We know the Church at Antioch of Syria was rich with prophets and teachers (Ac 13:1), and in the roughly nine years since St. Barnabas was first sent to Antioch (Ac 11:22) and Euodious appointed second Bishop of Antioch (after St. Peter), no doubt the Church continued to grow with these “many others” teaching and preaching as well.
But the Letter from the Apostles and Elders was not just for the Antiochian Church. It was also for all the Gentile Churches which Barnabas and Paul had previously founded in the couple years prior. So it is no surprise that St. Luke writes, “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.’” (Ac 15:36.) No doubt to also bring them a copy of the Letter to the Gentile Christians.
So this is the great split between St. Barnabas and St. Paul. Acts continues with the narration of Paul’s journeys and ministry, but we hear no more of Barnabas in the book of Acts, nor really of any other Apostle or Elder except as incidental to Paul’s story. Some interpret the manner of the narration as St. Luke’s personal perception of Barnabas choosing family loyalties (Mark, Cyprus) over the Church’s mission. This may be seen particularly as Luke writes of Paul “being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord,” but no such commendation is made for Barnabas (Ac 15:39-41). [2] Perhaps.
St. John Chrysostom (344/354-407 AD) sees this as Divine Providence. Barnabas “was more tender and indulgent, but [Paul] more strict and austere,” and so “each should receive his proper place.” On the first missionary journey, the Cyprians had not caused trouble like those at Antioch of Psidia and other places, and so the Cyprians “needed the softer character.” The other places “needed a character such as Paul’s.” Chrysostom says, “No evil came of it .... And besides, they would not readily have chosen to leave each other” without the contention, which also was not evil because each one had his position “with just reason,” “both wishing to instruct and teach.” So he finds no fault with either, but sees the hand of God in each going his separate way. [3][4]
N. T. Wright, in his biography of St. Paul, comments that the final decision “could have been agreed on with prayer and mutual encouragement,” but instead there was “a blazing, horrible, bitter row. Nobody came out of it well. Goodness knows what the young church in Antioch made of it.... So Barnabas and Mark sail away, not only to Cyprus, but right out of the narrative of Acts. Mark reappears as one of Paul’s co-workers during his Ephesian imprisonment, and a later mention indicates that he had become a valued colleague at last. Paul knows of Barnabas’s continuing work, but they never team up again.” [5]
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
Dibby Allan Green has a BA in Religious Studies (Westmont College, 1978) and MA in Theology (Augustine Institute, 2019), is a lay Catholic hermit, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.