Conversations with a local Pastor: Barnabas was not an Apostle.

At a recent meeting with a local Pastor, we discussed his criticism of my LDS beliefs. During a previous conversation, I showed him from the scriptures that God meant for the twelve apostles to function as a quorum after the original members had died. The pastor took all of the names of additional apostles that I had mentioned and said he would look into my claim. One of the additional Apostles I mentioned was the Apostle Barnabas. During our most recent meeting, the Pastor informed me that he had done a study on the life of Barnabas, and assured me that according to the Scriptures Barnabas was definitely not an Apostle! 

The pastor claimed that Paul was called to be "an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.)"(Gal 1:1). The pastor insisted that this meant that Paul did not have the apostleship conferred on him by man. He believes that Paul's vision (Acts 9:1-8) and acceptance of Jesus Christ made him an apostle independent of any ordination by man, and that this qualification allowed him to write canonical scripture! The Pastor also believes that since the scriptures record no such event in the life of Barnabas, that he wasn't one of the original twelve, and that he has no recorded canonical books in the scriptures: he therefore is not an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ!

How were Apostles called?

This of course would be entirely out of the norm from the scriptural account of those who received the apostleship. The scriptures do acknowledge that Christ made a call for his disciples to fellow him without any conferral of apostolic rights (Matt 4:17-22 Peter,Andrew, James and John called to follow Christ). But the scriptures are clear that out of his disciples he choose twelve as apostles! "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles"(Luke 6:12-13). But Christ did not just choose twelve he also ordained them and gave them power! "And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils"(Mark 3:13-15).

When Judas died the twelve could have become the eleven, but it was prophesied that one would take Judas’ place. So who was it that took Judas' place and was numbered among the twelve? You guessed it....Matthias! That is correct, it wasn't Paul or Barnabas! "For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas (not to be confused with Barnabas),…and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles"(Acts 1:20,23-26). This story assures us that new apostles would be called by the former apostles under the inspiration of heaven, and other apostles were meant to be called (or else the apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament would be a fraud).

With the addition of the apostle Matthias, the apostles again numbered twelve. Some may ask what evidence there was that any other apostles would need to be called. The Bible only records two apostles who died, one was Judas (who was replaced by Matthias) and the other is James the brother of John (Acts 12:1-2). We know only by tradition that most of the other apostles were also martyred. The time frame for the deaths of the apostles are unknown, so new apostles could have been called to fulfill the vacancies caused by martyrdom, or the Lord could have called more apostles to help with the churches scattered aboard. The fact is that the scriptures do record the call of additional apostles! (see my post on apostles and prophets)

Who was Barnabas?

The life of Barnabas is not covered as much as some of the other apostles! The first mention of him that I know of occurs in Acts 4:36-37. The scriptures tells us that during this time the church had all things in common and that "Barnabas...a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet"(Acts 4:36-37). From this account it would appear that he was a very devoted follower of Christ and that he was known to the Apostles.

Barnabas appears to have been a very important member of the early church, after Christ’s death and resurrection. One indication of this is when Saul (who becomes Paul the Apostle) believes in Christ and seeks to join the Church; it is Barnabas that embraces Saul and introduces him to the Apostles. "And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way"(Acts 9:26-27). We can see that Barnabas was with Saul from the beginning of his conversion.

Barnabas was even chosen by the Apostles as a missionary, and who did Barnabas select as his missionary companion? "Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people"(Acts 11:22, 24-26). Barnabas and Saul served together as missionaries among the Gentiles in many places. "But the word of God grew and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry"(Acts 12:24-25).

Was Barnabas called to be an Apostle?

The Scriptures affirm that Barnabas and Paul were both apostles of the Lord! When Barnabas and Paul where teaching in Iconium, the Greeks believed them to be the gods Jupiter and Mercury and tried to worship them, "the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes"(Acts 14:13-14). This is the first time that either of these two men are referred to as apostles. What changed, what happened that allowed these disciples to now be called apostles? The answer is found in the previous chapter, where Barnabas and Paul are selected and ordained as apostles.

"Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen,…and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away"(Acts 13:1-3). Of the five prophets in Antioch, Barnabas and Saul received a special calling by the Holy Ghost and by the laying on of hands. As I have stated in chapter 14 while they were serving on this new assignment they were identified correctly as apostles.

Paul acknowledges that he was ordained as an apostle of Jesus Christ. "Jesus Christ; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith"(1 Tim 2:5-7). So we see that Paul was ordained to be an apostle of the Lord, and Barnabas was ordained an apostle at this same time. None of the major Christian religions deny that Paul was called to be an Apostle of the Lord, but few will acknowledge that Barnabas was also called to be an Apostle.

The pastor believed that Paul was given a special call as an apostle among the Gentiles and that Barnabas never received such a call. But this isn’t what the scriptures teach.  In Gal 2:9, Paul recounts "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision." It seems clear in this verse that Barnabas as well as Paul was to be an Apostle to the Gentiles! But if that wasn't clear enough Acts 13:46 says, "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

Paul even wrote a defense to the Corinthians to show them that he was just as much an apostles as the other apostles were!  In his defense he not only refers to himself but also includes Barnabas as having power as well as the other apostles. "Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas have not we power to forbear working?"(1 Cor 9:1-2,5-6).

Conclusion

Some may ask, why we don't have more written about Barnabas if he spent so much of his time as an apostle with Paul.  Acts 15:36-40 sheds some light on this question, "And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them,...And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, ...and Paul chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God." Because Barnabas and Paul did not remain together, the story of Barnabas would cease to be recorded in the writings of Paul.

For critics of the Church to deny that Barnabas is an Apostle is akin to claiming that Paul was not an Apostle. As it has been stated above, Barnabas helped Paul to enter the church, took Paul as his missionary companion, was selected by the Holy Ghost at the same time as Paul to be ordained an apostle, served with Paul in the apostleship to the Gentiles, and is acknowledged by Paul as being an apostle with him as well as the other apostles.

It is true that of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament that over half (an estimated 16 books) where written by the apostle Paul, while the Apostle Barnabas had no canonical books written by himself. But if writing a canonical book of scripture is what qualifies someone to be an apostle, then I would ask the critic to show me the book of Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite, or even the book of Judas Iscariot etc.....(Matt 10:2-4).