5. The Letter of Barnabas Late and Spurious. Part 1.

The wave of mutilation that is BORN IN THE SECOND CENTURY now looms over this forgotten book from the infancy of Christianity: the Letter of Barnabas. By "infancy of Christianity" we mean 130 AD.

It reveals that a rabbit grows a new anus each year, that a weasel conceives via its mouth, and by the way, Jesus Christ was never a mortal man. But he did “manifest in flesh,” whatever that means, and the author of this letter knows this and everything else about him not through eyewitness accounts or oral tradition, but only through spurious proofs from the Old Testament.

Anyone who listens to this episode can learn about the Letter of Barnabas. Host Chris Palmero will discuss the background and authorship of the letter, and explain why it was removed from the Christian canon. Its contents will be summarized. We will explore how this document was written so late, when its author's view of Christianity and of Jesus appear so primitive.

Opening reading: Origen's Commentary on John reveals a secret about early Christianity - nearly all of its prominent figures of the second century were pagan or Jewish converts. Were there no born Christians to write these books, to head these schools, to lead these churches, so much as 100 years after the supposed death of Jesus?