Tag: Bible

  • ‘Jesus predicted coming of Prophet Mohammed’ in Bible found in Turkey

    ‘Jesus predicted coming of Prophet Mohammed’ in Bible found in Turkey

    The text, reportedly worth $22 million, is said to contain Jesus’ prediction of the Prophet’s coming but was suppressed by the Christian Church for years. (Al Arabiya)

    By AL ARABIYA

    A 1,500-year-old Bible in which Jesus is believed to have foretold the coming of the Prophet Mohammed to Earth has attracted attention from the Vatican this week.

    Pope Benedict XVI has reportedly requested to see the book, which has been hidden in Turkey for the last 12 years, according to the Daily Mail.

    The text, reportedly worth $22 million, is said to contain Jesus’ prediction of the Prophet’s coming but was suppressed by the Christian Church for years for its strong resemblance to the Islamic view of Jesus, Turkish culture and tourism minister Ertugrul Gunay told the newspaper.

    “In line with Islamic belief, the Gospel treats Jesus as a human being and not a God. It rejects the ideas of the Holy Trinity and the Crucifixion and reveals that Jesus predicted the coming of the Prophet Mohammed,” the newspaper reported.

    “In one version of the gospel, he is said to have told a priest: ‘How shall the Messiah be called? Mohammed is his blessed name.’

    “And in another, Jesus denied being the Messiah, claiming that he or she would be Ishmaelite, the term used for an Arab,” the newspaper added.

    According to the report, Muslims claim the text, which many say is the Gospel of Barnabas, is an addition to the original gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John.

    St. Barnabas is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Church, an early Christian later named an apostle.

    Gunay said the Vatican has officially requested to see the book, which Turkey had discovered during a police anti-smuggling operation in 2000.

    The gang was reportedly convicted of smuggling various items seized during the operation, including the Bible, and all the artifacts were kept in a safe at an Ankara courthouse.

    It remained closely guarded by authorities before being handed over to the Ankara Ethnography Museum where it will soon be put on show.

    A photocopy of a single page from the leather-bound, gold-lettered book, penned in Jesus’ native Aramaic language is reportedly worth about $2.4 million.

    But skepticism over the authenticity of the ancient handwritten manuscript has arisen.

    Protestant pastor İhsan Özbek has said this version of the book is said to come from the fifth or sixth century, while St. Barnabas had lived in the first century as one of the Apostles of Jesus.

    “The copy in Ankara might have been written by one of the followers of St. Barnabas,” he told the Today Zaman newspaper.

    “Since there is around 500 years in between St. Barnabas and the writing of the Bible copy, Muslims may be disappointed to see that this copy does not include things they would like to see … It might have no relation with the content of the Gospel of Barnabas,” Özbek added.

    But suspicions could soon be laid to rest.

    The real age of the Bible could soon be determined by a scientific scan, theology professor Ömer Faruk Harman told the Daily Mail, possibly clarifying whether it was written by St. Barnabas or a follower of his.

    (Written by Eman El-Shenawi)

    via ‘Jesus predicted coming of Prophet Mohammed’ in Bible found in Turkey.

  • Turkey’s 1500-Year-Old, $28M Bible Linked to Gospel of Barnabas?

    Turkey’s 1500-Year-Old, $28M Bible Linked to Gospel of Barnabas?

    By Clara Morris , Christian Post Contributor

    February 23, 2012|3:05 pm

    ancient bible turkey

    The Vatican has made an official request to gain access to a 1500-year-old Bible worth $28 million currently held by the Turkish government in Ankara, Turkey. There is speculation that the Bible may be a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas – a telling of Jesus’ ministry Muslims believe is part of the original Gospels.

    Photocopies of the holy book’s pages are reportedly worth about $1.7 million, but the relic isn’t so extremely valuable just because of its age, but also because of its construction and its contents. The Bible is handwritten in gold lettering on loosely strung together animal hide and written in Syriac. Syriac is a dialect of Aramic – Jesus’ native language. Aramaic itself is rarely present in today’s society, as it is now only spoken in a small village near Damascus.

    There is some speculation that this Bible is a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas – a Gospel version Muslims believe is part of the original Gospels. The Gospel of Barnabas is not included in the New Testament along side Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and in fact Barnabas opposes the New Testament and rather has clear similarities to the Muslim interpretation of Jesus. Barnabas even contains a story in which Jesus predicts the coming of Prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe this original gospel has been suppressed.

    However, theology professor Ömer Faruk Harman told Today Zaman, “Muslims may be disappointed to see that this copy does not include things they would like to see and it might have no relation with the content of the Gospel of Barnabas.”

    The Turkish government gained possession of the Bible back in 2000 when they caught a band of thieves and smugglers cutting through Turkey with the bible as well as other antiques, illegal excavations, and explosives.

    The tome has been kept at the courthouse until recently, and is set to make its way, under heavy security, to Turkey’s Ankara Ethnography Museum. But before it settles there the Vatican is hoping to get a chance to study and investigate the extremely valuable Bible.

    via Turkey’s 1500-Year-Old, $28M Bible Linked to Gospel of Barnabas?, Christian News.

  • Vatican Requests 1,500-Year-Old Bible Held In Turkey

    Vatican Requests 1,500-Year-Old Bible Held In Turkey

    The Vatican has allegedly issued an official request to examine a 1,500-year-old Bible that has been held in Turkey for the past 12 years, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

    The Bible of William Hannay of Tundergarth, Dumfriesshire. No Photos of the Turkish Bible are available at this time.
    The Bible of William Hannay of Tundergarth, Dumfriesshire. No Photos of the Turkish Bible are available at this time.

    The Bible reportedly contains early teachings of Jesus Christ and is written in gold lettering on animal hide in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, which was the native tongue of Jesus.

    According to a report by National Turk, the Bible was seized from a gang of smugglers in a Mediterranean-area operation. The report states the gang was charged with smuggling antiquities, illegal excavations, and the possession of explosives.

    Today’s Zaman reports that the Bible is under high security and that a Turkish daily newspaper, the Star, claims the book could be a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas — a controversial text which Muslims claim is an addition to the original gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — that was suppressed.

    In it, Jesus is said to have predicted the coming of the Prophet Muhammad.

    Due to its value as a cultural and religious artifact, even photocopies of the pages could be worth between 3 and 4 million Turkish Lira, or about 1,703,233 U.S. dollars.

    via Vatican Requests 1,500-Year-Old Bible Held In Turkey.

  • Noah’s Ark ‘discovered’ 4,800 years on… 4,000m up a mountain in Turkey

    Noah’s Ark ‘discovered’ 4,800 years on… 4,000m up a mountain in Turkey

    According to tradition, Noah’s Ark set sail, carrying his family and pairs of the world’s animals to save them from the great deluge.

    Now, 4,800 years on, a group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers claim to have found the vessel’s remains – 4,000 metres up a mountain in Turkey.

    The explorers said specimen samples taken from the structure on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey were proven to date from the time the boat was said to be afloat after undergoing carbon testing.

    The team made the announcement of their find yesterday (April 26) – the same day the bible says the flood waters abated and the ark came to rest.

    Yeung Wing-cheung, a Hong Kong documentary filmmaker and member of the 15-strong team from Noah’s Ark Ministries International, said: ‘It’s not 100 per cent that it is Noah’s Ark but we think it is 99.9 per cent that this is it.’

    He said the structure had several compartments, some with wooden beams, which were believed to house animals.

    The group of evangelical archaeologists ruled out an established human settlement on the grounds that one had never been found above 3500m in the vicinity.

    Local Turkish officials will ask the central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site can be protected and pave the way for a major archaeological dig.

    The biblical story says God decided to flood the earth after seeing how corrupt it had become, and told Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal species.

    After the flood waters receded, the Bible says, the ark came to rest on a mountain.

    Many believe that Mount Ararat, the highest point in the region, is where the ark and her inhabitants came aground.

    The group of evangelical archaeologists ruled out an established human settlement on the grounds that one had never been found above 3500m in the vicinity.

    Local Turkish officials will ask the central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site can be protected and pave the way for a major archaeological dig.

    The biblical story says God decided to flood the earth after seeing how corrupt it had become, and told Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal species.

    After the flood waters receded, the Bible says, the ark came to rest on a mountain.

    Many believe that Mount Ararat, the highest point in the region, is where the ark and her inhabitants came aground.

    Noah's Ark

    This shows racks found on a wall inside a compartment of a structure found on Mount Ararat, where the Bible says the Ark came to rest

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1269165/Noahs-Ark-discovered-4-800-years–4-000m-mountain-Turkey.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0mKPk6va9