The Legacy of Joseph Barnabas in Cyprus

Although Joseph Barnabas of Cyprus was arguably one of the five most influential leaders of the early Christian movement, his legacy is largely lost. Among biblical scholars, the contrast between minimal interest in Barnabas and fascination with his volatile former student, the Apostle Paul, is striking. An immense number of detailed books explore Paul’s life and teaching. Tragically, only one exists for Barnabas.

A Fulbright research grant will allow me to spend four months in Cyprus, homeland of Barnabas. From September through December 2011, I will locate and photograph texts, artifacts, inscriptions and artwork pertaining to Barnabas. I will also interview religious leaders (through interpreters when necessary), including members of monasteries, assembling an oral history of Barnabas and learning how modern Cypriots perceive his legacy.

Today considerable tension simmers over the division of the island following the turmoil that climaxed in the Turkish invasion in 1974. How might Barnabas’s legacy affect Orthodox thinking about how to deal with the tensions between Greeks and Turks on the island? Do they primarily remember him for his benevolence and compassion, as revealed in the New Testament? Or do Orthodox Cypriots remember him more for the stories about him in the fifth-century “Acts of Barnabas,” a document that helped them maintain their independence as a church? Is his legacy that of a peace-maker, or is he more a symbol of nationalism? And what are the practical implications? I will seek to find out.