Saint Barnabas of the first century, born Joseph, was an Early Christian convert, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. Like almost all Christians at the time (see also Jewish Christians), Barnabas was Jewish, specifically a Levite. Termed an apostle, he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the demands of stricter church leaders, see also Judaizers. They gained many converts i...
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Saint Barnabas of the first century, born Joseph, was an Early Christian convert, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. Like almost all Christians at the time (see also Jewish Christians), Barnabas was Jewish, specifically a Levite. Termed an apostle, he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts against the demands of stricter church leaders, see also Judaizers. They gained many converts in Antioch (c 43-44), traveled together making more converts (c 45-47), and participated in the Council of Jerusalem (c 50). Barnabas and Paul successfully evangelized among the "God-fearing" gentiles who attended synagogues in various Hellenized cities of Anatolia..
Barnabas' story appears in the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul mentions him in some of his epistles. Tertullian named him as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, but this and other attributions are conjecture. Clement of Alexandria ascribed an early Christian epistle to...
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