The Apocryphal Jesus on Film
I have been trying to catch up on some news items I’ve been sitting on for a while. I’ll begin with some information on three apocrypha-related films.
The first is “The Messiah,” an Iranian movie that looks at the life of Jesus from an Islamic perspective. One of the sources used in the film, besides the Qur’an and other Muslim traditions, is the Gospel of Barnabas, a fourteenth-century Muslim anti-gospel hailing from Italy. Of interest in this text is the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. Like several early Gnostic Christian texts (including the Apocalypse of Peter, Second Treatise of the Great Seth, and, according to Irenaeus, Basilides), Barnabas states that someone else was crucified in Jesus’ place. The full text can be read HERE, but here is an excerpt of the relevant section (ch. 216):
1. Judas entered impetuously before all into the chamber whence Jesus had been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. Whereupon the wonderful God acted wonderfully, insomuch that Judas was so changed in speech and in face to be like Jesus that we believed him to be Jesus. And he, having awakened us, was seeking where the Master was. Whereupon we marvelled, and answered: 'You, Lord, are our master; have you now forgotten us?' And he, smiling, said: 'Now are you foolish, that know not me to be Judas Iscariot!'
2. And as he was saying this the soldiery entered, and laid their hands upon Judas, because he was in every way like to Jesus. We having heard Judas' saying, and seeing the multitude of soldiers, fled as beside ourselves. And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked. For God heard the prayer of Jesus, and saved the eleven from evil.
Read more about the film in an interview with the filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh HERE. A video clip is available from CNN HERE. Thanks to Jim Davila at Paleojudaica for the update.
The second is a documentary based on Paul Perry’s book Jesus in Egypt, released in 2003. It features Perry’s journeys through Egypt tracing the route of the Holy Family as sketched out in several apocryphal infancy texts (including the Arabic Infancy Gospel, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, and a little-known text called the Vision of Theophilus) and local traditions. The documentary was completed in 2005 and is available from the official web site (HERE).
The third is a film adaptation of The Aquarian Gospel, a modern apocryphal text which first appeared in 1908 and is now in its 53rd printing. It traces Jesus’ life from the ages of 13 to 30, a time he is said to have spent as a wandering mystic in India. For more information on this production, click HERE.
I am a film buff and surely I will want to get a chance to view these films. They all sound very interesting. The first film sounds very controversial. I wonder if this perspective of Jesus comes from a pro muslim view that the part of the messiah that will appear during the rapture is the 12th imam who went missing and many shi’i’s believe that this is the prophecy, and not christ? I think the second film “jesus in egypt” was a title of another book from anne rice, I guess paul perry’s jesus in egypt has the same title, interesting. I would want to see for sure the third film “the aqurian gospel” little is known about christ during his adolescent and early adult years. Christ wandering in India would not be surprising since all of the gospels paint a picture of christ that has similar characteristics of buddah’s teachings.
It’s very interesting and definitely worth checking out (though Jesus’ beard in “The Messiah” is a bit insane looking). It’s also promising that the Vatican awarded the film an award for promoting inter-faith dialogue.
I always thought that creating a film that focused solely on the political and social context of Jesus would be an extremely interesting venture to pursue. The closest we have is “The Last Temptation of Christ,” which does a fine job of illustrating the many Jewish sects fighting for independence. This context is often eliminated in films that focus on the spiritual questions that Jesus raises up rather than the place he occupied in history.
Cheers,
Joshua
Dear Dr. Burke
I have a few questions/comments regarding the Gospel of Barnabas specifically. Do you believe that the Gospel of Barnabas could actually be an early Christian apocryphal work that that been edited to conform to Islam? Some websites (e.g., http://www.barnabas.net) claim that the Gospel of Barnabas is an earlier work. http://www.barnabas.net claims that the Gospel of Barnabas was considered canonical by Christian churches in Alexandria until 325 C.E. when it was outlawed at the Council of Nicea. This website even claims that in 383 C.E. the “Pope secured a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas and kept it in his private library.†Is there any truth to these website claims? Do you or any other scholars argue for an earlier date for Gospel of Barnabas? I know that Gelsian Decree (6th century) lists the Gospel of Barnabas as a heretical text. As well, the following line intrigues me in the Gospel of Barnabas: “And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked.” It is quite interesting how the writer of this gospel portrays “John” as the person fleeing naked. In the Gospel of Mark it is not John but a “certain young man” who flees naked (14:51). If we accept that this work is a later text (12th century) it seems as though the writer of the Gospel of Barnabas chose to make the “young man” from the Gospel of Mark to be the Apostle John because John was depicted in Christian tradition, particularly art, as a young man. However, if we accept that this is an earlier text perhaps the Christian tradition that John was young man comes from this text. Where does the tradition of John “the young man†come from? What are your thoughts?
Matt,
Excellent questions but I must plead ignorance for this one. I have no experience with the gospel. It is widely considered a late medieval forgery; therefore, most of us in the CA field (who focus primarily on ancient literature) don’t deal with it. Most discussion of the text is by Muslim theologians or polemicists. It is possible that it may contain ancient material but I would find that unlikely. For more information on the text, you can look at the bibliography in H.-J. Klauck’s Apocryphal Gospels (London: T & T Clark, 2003), p. 210 or, more extensively, in J. H. Charlesworth’s Authentic Apocrypha: False and Genuine Christian Apocrypha (North Richland Hills, Texas: Bibal Press, 1998) p. 55-56. There are several new articles on the text which also may be helpful:
Blackhirst, R. “Barnabas and the Gospels: Was There an Early Gospel of Barnabas?”
JournHighCrit 7, no. 1 (2000): 1-22.
Blackhirst, R. “The Exile of Jesus to Damascus in the Medieval Gospel of Barnabas.”
JournHighCrit 8, no. 1 (2001): 1-17.
Blackhirst, R. “The Temptation in the Wilderness in the Medieval Gospel of Barnabas.”
JournHighCrit 6, no. 1(1999): 83-97.
Bowman, J. “The Gospel of Barnabas and the Samaritans.” Abr-Nahrain 30 (1992): 20-33.
Joosten, J. “The Gospel of Barnabas and the Diatessaron.” HarvTheolRev 95, no. 1 (2002): 73-96.
I have one question. If the Gospel of Barnabas is generally viewed as a Muslim forgery, then what do scholars think about the sections of the text that contradict the Quran? Is it believed that Muslims also created things that go against the Quran in this Gospel? for example, the gospel of barnabas says that Jesus permitted the drinking of wine and enjoined monogamy, but these notions go against Muslim belief.
As for the film itself, i find it puzzling that Muslim belief does not allow for the depiction of prophets, while in this movie they have an actor playing jesus.
Thanks for the update Tony – I’d not seen the CNN piece. It’s good to see some footage at last – though that’s one major spoiler they give away!
There’s more on two of these films at my Bible Films blog.
Messiah – http://biblefilms.blogspot.com/search/label/Mesih
Aquarian Gospel –
http://biblefilms.blogspot.com/search/label/Aquarian%20Gospel
You might also be interested in Abel Ferrara’s Mary, which is sort of about the Gospel of Mary
http://biblefilms.blogspot.com/search/label/Mary%20(Abel%20Ferrara)
Hope that helps,
Matt
“And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked.”
In the Gospel of Mark, the young man fled naked in the Garden. In the Gospel of Barnabas, the disciples were sleeping in a room and woke up. Different places. Maybe John was wrapped in a linen cloth because he was sleeping.
In fact the other name of Mark is John. But as I can recall, the only John in the Gospel of Barnabas is the apostle. This gospel even shows him by the cross.