St. Barnabas 30. Back to Cyprus.
It is now 50 AD. Imperial Rome is at the
height of its political, economic, and military power. [1] According to a tradition
of the Eastern Church, St. Matthew finished writing his Gospel in Aramaic this
year, having begun six years earlier. [2]
St. Barnabas and St. Mark have left
Antioch of Syria for the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus. St. Luke does not
mention Barnabas further in the book of Acts, so we look elsewhere.
There exists a work called the Acts of
Barnabas or, more fully, The Travels and the Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle
Barnabas, which scholars date no earlier than the 5th Century. It purports to
be written by St. Mark, who writes in the first person. Some aspects (such as
Mark’s own conversion, and the cause of the split between Barnabas and Paul) tend
to be inconsistent with Scripture, other aspects (such the timing and manner of
Barnabas’ death) is inconsistent with other traditions. However, scholars do
say that the writer was well familiar with Cyprus and the locations mentioned
are accurate. [3]
The Acts of Barnabas says that
unfavorable winds forced their ship to land at today’s southern Turkey and they
first visited localities in Cilicia and Isauria, but eventually were able to
cross over to Cyprus. It then speaks of multiple places they visited (all
actual episcopal seats of Cyprus), persons they meet, converts made, and
persons healed. The story relates that Barnabas ordained a prior convert of
his, Heraclides, as Bishop, and also relates that Aristoclianus a former leper
healed in Antioch, was previously ordained a Bishop by Barnabas and Paul. The
local traditions for both Bishops holds these two as among the first Bishops on
Cyprus. Barnabas and Mark also run into Bar-Jesus (Elymas), the Jewish sorcerer
who had been with the proconsul on their first visit to Cyprus with Saul/St.
Paul (Ac 13:6-11). True to character, Bar-Jesus creates much trouble for
Barnabas and Mark wherever they went. So the recitation of these missionary
endeavors may be substantially accurate.
We do know from Scripture that Barnabas
continued his apostolic and missionary work because St. Paul refers to him.
Also Barnabas may well have been in Corinth with St. Paul around 52 AD when
Paul was in Corinth for 18 months (Ac 18:11) on his second missionary journey.
Lastly, Barnabas was obviously known himself to the Church in Corinth. How do
we know these things? From Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
So clearly Barnabas was known to the
Corinthians otherwise Paul would not have mentioned him. And Paul speaks of
himself and Barnabas as distinguished from other Apostles because of their
working for their living and being both unmarried – something else Paul’s words
indicate Corinthians would have known. It seems clear, then, that Paul
maintained contact with Barnabas, and perhaps likely even evangelizing
together, in the years following Barnabas’ and Mark’s missionary work on
Cyprus. 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.
Paul’s letter was written during his third
missionary journey (from about 53 to 58 AD), written about 54 AD while Paul was
in Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). Paul addresses the role and ministry of the Apostles.
He, Apollos, and Peter (Cephas) (1 Cor 1:12) had all previously preached in
Corinth, and later Paul also mentions Barnabas. Paul speaks generally of all
the Apostles when he says that the Apostles are “stewards of the mysteries of
God” (1 Cor 4:1). And, “I think that God has exhibited us Apostles as last of
all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the
world, to angels and to men” (1 Cor 4:9). Then later in the letter he writes,
“Do we [Apostles] not have the right to our food and drink? Do we not have the
right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other Apostles and brethren of the
Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from
working for a living? ... Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but
we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel of
Christ.” (1 Cor 9:4-6, 12.)Ancient Corinth
