Friday, September 21, 2018

Scientists found a new way to slow Alzheimer’s progress


One of the biggest tragedies of Alzheimer’s is by the time patients suspect something is wrong, there’s usually not a whole lot that medicine can do to help.

The disease causes buildups of amyloid plaques and tau protein tangles that irreversibly degrade the brain, which leads to symptoms like confusion and forgetfulness. At the moment, there are only handful of medications available to treat the disease. Most are targeted at maintaining memory, and there’s nothing to stop symptoms from getting progressively worse to the point where they become fatal. There also isn’t a lot of new development in the field. Pharma giants like Pfizer, for example, have discontinued their research in further treatments in part because so many clinical trials fail.


However, in a recent pilot study, researchers at Ohio State University found a potential alternative: deep brain stimulation.

Deep brain stimulation works by continuously tickling neurons in the frontal lobe of the brain with electrodes. Over the course of two years, three patients who had these electrodes implanted maintained more of their mental faculties than a group of control patients, who started out at similar stages of the disease. One woman in the test group even started making meals for herself—an ability she had lost in 2013.

Deep brain stimulation has been used to treat hundreds of thousands of patients with Parkinson’s, another kind of neurodegenerative disease. Researchers have also tried using it to treat Alzheimer’s, but only to mixed success. Most of these studies have targeted brain regions associated with memory and spatial awareness—usually some of the first to be destroyed by amyloid and tau.

In the Ohio State study, the researchers chose a different target: the frontal lobe, which is an outer region of the brain, and tends to suffer the effects of Alzheimer’s much later in the disease’s progression. This is the region that we use to make plans, cook, run errands—essentially, the skills needed to live alone.


“We chose this target that focuses on these cells that are still functioning pretty well, not actively degenerating like the memory circuits,” says Douglas Scharre, a neurologist and lead author of the paper. For reasons scientists don’t totally understand, “use it or lose it” is true when it comes to cognitive function. Stimulating these neurons with electrodes apparently keeps them active enough to slow down destructive chemical buildup around them.

The work, which was published (paywall) Jan. 30 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, isn’t promising to reverse Alzheimer’s-related brain damage, or stop it’s progression entirely. All three patients still worsened over the course of the study. But the level of independence they maintained—assessed through a Clinical Dementia Rating scale—was higher than those who did not receive this kind of stimulation. Notably, all of them chose to keep the stimulation going after the trial period ended because they liked its effects.

America is becoming the land of bitches

  Many American citizens will cry, piss and moan about anything > Things cost too much, he made a fat joke, she used the word "faggot", he said fuck the states, the police were profiling, he eats meat, she smokes, he voted for the war and it goes on and on and on.



 And at the end of the day, all that whining and bitching hasn't produced one grain of rice for your family.

8 Success Quotes That Will Upgrade Your Thinking


Do you have big goals you long to achieve?

Do you feel like you’re behind schedule? Fear you might not have what it takes?

You’ve been tricked by a bogus lie. That success is reserved for a chosen few.

The truth is…normal people who consistently make winning choices can enjoy massive success.

How do you make winning choices?

They come from winning thoughts. Here are 8 paradigm-shifting quotes to power up your thinking.

1. Don’t give up.
“…if you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” — Steve Jobs
In her research study, Dr. Angela Duckworth found that Grit, “perseverance and passion for long-term goals,” predicted success “better than any other predictor.”

It makes sense. No one who quits a goal achieves it.

Plus, we’re way more likely to give up than to encounter a truly unbeatable obstacle.

What could we accomplish if we simply didn’t quit?

2. Be consistent.
“Successful people are just those with successful habits.” — Bryan Tracy
When you’re chasing a big goal, the kind that takes months or years to accomplish, your biggest enemy will be complacency — letting days go by without any forward motion.

Set yourself up for daily progress with productive habits. Instead of cramming when you feel like it, do a little every day.

In one year, a person working only 15 minutes every day will invest almost twice as much time as someone cramming in a two hour session every other week.

Small wins lead to big results.

3. Failure is normal.
“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
We’re raised to believe that some people are born for success while others are born for failure. But the truth is, everyone is born for failure. And the people who learn how to win with failure, get to enjoy success.

Today, Sir James Dyson has an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion, but when he was trying to invent the bagless vacuum, his first 5,126 prototypes failed to produce the results he wanted.

Dyson learned from each experiment, and on his 5,127 attempt, he found the design he was looking for.

Successful people fail more because they try as long as it takes. Are you willing to do the same?

4. Ego stunts growth.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.” — Mark Cuban
The world’s greatest inventors, innovators, storytellers, and entrepreneurs have all walked a similar path.

They looked incredibly stupid until they looked incredibly smart.

If you want to succeed faster, start looking stupid.

Try things. Learn things. Failure is the tuition you pay to become a master.

As Sanctus Real sings, “Cool is just how far we have to fall.”

5. Reject imaginary limits.
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” — Mark Twain
According to the science of self-efficacy, believing you can accomplish a goal is a crucial first step to achieving it.

Everyone has areas of strength and areas of weakness.

Your weaknesses won’t disappear overnight, or maybe ever.

But normal people accomplish amazing things every single day, in spite of their weaknesses.

You start by believing you can.

6. Own your results.
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” — Albert Ellis
If you feel trapped by the burden of unmet potential, stop waiting to be rescued and start planning your escape.

Don’t wait for support. Seek it. Don’t wish for more talent. Cultivate it. Don’t hope for a lucky break. Prepare to capitalize on the breaks each of us receive.

Do we control everything? Absolutely not.

But how much do we control?

By my math…less than we’d like and more than we think.

7. Do what you love.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — Herman Cain
Although Cain is a controversial figure, I wholeheartedly agree with this quote.

Ted Dekker is a New York Times bestselling novelist who has sold over 10 million copies. But his first five books went unpublished.

Writing a novel is tough. Ted did it five times with nothing to show. No one would have blamed him if he’d just given up. Why didn’t he?

Ted explains, “Writing gives me clarity.”

While no job is 100% fun, to persevere through setbacks and failures, you need to find meaning in the work, not just the outcome.

8. Live boldly.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Hellen Keller
Why do we play everything safe?

What are we protecting?

Life is short. Pride is stupid.

Will you work for what you want this week, especially when it scares you?

Tell me in the comments.

And if this post encouraged you, please help more people see it by clicking the green heart.

Want to go deeper?
Do you have big goals you long to achieve? The biggest threat to your success is simply giving up.

Why Teen Employment Numbers Are Down

We look at the reasons why the number of teenagers looking for summer jobs has dropped over the past few decades.


NOEL KING, HOST:
It is summertime. And that means teenagers are working summer jobs - or at least looking for them. But this year, not so much. Teen employment numbers are down from previous decades. Stacey Vanek Smith and Danielle Kurtzleben with our daily business podcast The Indicator looked into what's going on.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Since I was doing a story on teen summer jobs, of course I had to call up the place where I had my first real summer job. It's called The Barn, a restaurant and golf course in an actual refurbished barn in rural Iowa. Mark Krull, the current owner, said he doesn't see a lot of teenagers applying to work there anymore, which makes sense, given what's happening in the labor market.
MARK KRULL: We get some. But it seems like they're all so busy, they can never work when we want them to work.
STACEY VANEK SMITH, BYLINE: The number of teens who go out and get summer jobs has plummeted in the last few decades. On top of all that, though, it hasn't really picked up all that much since the Great Recession, even though unemployment on the whole is as low as it's been since 2000.
KURTZLEBEN: Last July, nearly 37 percent of teenagers were working. But back in the 1980s and 1970s, there were a few summers where that teen employment rate was at or near 60 percent.
VANEK SMITH: That is a big change since Paul Harrington had his first job.
PAUL HARRINGTON: I was a gas station attendant. I think I was about 14 then.
VANEK SMITH: Today, Paul is a labor economist at Drexel University, and he has done a lot of research into youth unemployment.
HARRINGTON: The labor market is really quite good for pretty much everyone. I mean, these are really good times. You know, the big exception to that is teenagers.
KURTZLEBEN: The first big reason young Americans aren't working is older Americans.
HARRINGTON: Lots and lots of older workers now are working in teen labor markets.
VANEK SMITH: Americans are staying in the labor force longer and longer these days for a bunch of reasons. They're living longer. Some people need more money to retire. Others just want to work longer.
KURTZLEBEN: And given the choice between a 16-year-old and a 66-year-old, Harrington says most employers will just pick the latter because they see those older workers as more dependable. But it's not all about employers not wanting to employ teens. It's also about teens not wanting to be employed.
HARRINGTON: The higher education system now, I would argue, punishes high school kids for working because the rewards in high school for college admission are not work-related. They're, you know, community service, that sort of thing and, you know, with respect to extracurricular activities.
VANEK SMITH: And, Harrington says, if people don't pick up foundational work skills as teens, it's going to create workforce-wide productivity problems.
KURTZLEBEN: But all is not lost. I found a teen summer worker. I got to talk to Krista Schutter. She's 18 years old. She just graduated from North Iowa High School - go Bison - and this is her second summer lifeguarding at the swimming pool in Buffalo Center, Iowa.
KRISTA SCHUTTER: It's much more fun than I originally anticipated.
KURTZLEBEN: Is that what you like most about it, is working with the kids?
SCHUTTER: Yeah. Truth be told, I did not like kids growing up. Like, they just kind of scared me (laughter).
KURTZLEBEN: She doesn't plan on making a career of lifeguarding, of course. She is headed to college this fall.
SCHUTTER: Yeah. I am going to go to Iowa State and major in animal science.
KURTZLEBEN: Cool. Are you going to be a veterinarian?
SCHUTTER: That's the goal (laughter).
KURTZLEBEN: So this lifeguard job isn't exactly setting her up for that. But Harrington says that actually doesn't matter.
HARRINGTON: Well, the first thing you see is that kids who work when they're in high school, they just are more likely to work as an adult. They have higher employment rates as adults than kids who don't work while they're in high school.
KURTZLEBEN: And even at age 18, Krista says she can see this happening herself.
SCHUTTER: I'm constantly interacting with parents and kids, and I think it's really helped my people skills.
KURTZLEBEN: So all of those people skills Krista picks up as a lifeguard may help her be an even better veterinarian years from now. Danielle Kurtzleben.
VANEK SMITH: Stacey Vanek Smith, NPR News.
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Shelter warns of leap in working homeless as families struggle

Charity blames high rents, freeze in housing benefit and shortage of social housing.


More than half of families housed in temporary accommodation after being accepted as homeless by their local council are in work, according to the housing charity Shelter.

The number of working homeless has nearly doubled since Shelter last looked at the figures in 2013. There are now about 33,000 “working homeless” – or 55% of all households in temporary accommodation – compared with 19,000 in 2013, it estimates.

The charity blamed the 73% increase on high private-sector rents, the ongoing freeze in housing benefit, unstable tenancies and the shortage of social housing.


Child homelessness in England at highest level since 2007
 Read more
Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, said: “It’s disgraceful that even when families are working every hour they can, they’re still forced to live through the grim reality of homelessness.”

Working households were typically turning to their council for help after losing a tenancy and finding themselves priced out of their local area by soaring rents.

The loss of a private-sector tenancy is the biggest single cause of homelessness in England, according to Shelter, accounting for more than a quarter of all homelessness acceptances.

The shortage of suitable affordable homes meant homeless households were often placed in cheap hotels, hostels, or large houses with a family in each bedroom, Shelter said.

It cited the case of Mary Smith, 47, who lives in temporary accommodation in Watford with her three sons, but works full-time in a shoe shop.

 Mary Smith, who works full time in a shoe shop, said she and her sons became homeless after being evicted by their landlord
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 Mary Smith, who works full-time in a shoe shop, said she and her sons became homeless after being evicted by their landlord. Photograph: Benjamin Youd/Shelter/PA
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She said they became homeless after being evicted by their landlord and could not afford to rent privately. “I nearly lost my job when I first became homeless because the transport links from my hostel were so bad.

“We’ve lived in three different temporary places in two years, and it’s been really tough on the children. We don’t want a palace, we just want a place that we can call home.”

The phenomenon of working families – including nurses, taxi drivers, council workers and hospitality staff – finding themselves homeless was highlighted by the local government ombudsman last year.


Councils seem to house homeless families then forget them. Shouldn't they be doing more?
 Read more
Michael King said the common perception that homelessness was about people with chaotic lives who slept rough no longer held true: “Increasingly, [homeless people] are normal families who would not have expected to be in this situation.”

The highest proportion of homeless working households in temporary housing was in London (60%); followed by the east of England (44%); and the south-east (44%). The lowest was Yorkshire and the Humber (9%). The north-east is the only region where the proportion of working homeless has decreased since 2013.


More than 1m families waiting for social housing in England
 Read more
The biggest increases in homeless working families between 2013 and 2017 were seen in the east Midlands (167%); the north-west (89%); and the West Midlands (46%), reflecting the growth of the housing crisis beyond traditional high-rent areas such as London.

Since 2010, the overall number of homeless people in temporary accommodation in England has grown by 61%. Council spending on this form of housing reached £845m in 2016. Last year a cross-party group of MPs said homelessness in England was a “national crisis”.

Shelter used freedom of information requests to analyse official government data on temporary housing, benefits and employment as well as conducting a tenant survey.


England: escalation in placement of homeless families in temporary housing
 Read more
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Everyone deserves a safe and decent place to live and we are providing more than £1.2bn so all those left homeless get the support they need.


“Councils have a duty to provide suitable temporary accommodation to those who need it, and families with children get priority. So families can get a permanent home, we are investing £9bn in affordable properties, including £2bn for social rent housing.”

Prepare Now for a 2019 Recession

The U.S. economy is in a very good position right now, and should continue to see solid growth through mid-2018. But get ready to take advantage of a consumer-led recession in 2019, advises economist Alan Beaulieu at the recent CSIA Executive Conference.
By Aaron Hand , Executive Editor, on June 3, 2016


If you’re worried about the U.S. economy, take a deep breath, and stop. What you need to be worried about is how to best take advantage of the good times we’re in and the growth ahead so that you can be in the best possible position to weather the coming depression—which, when all is said and done, won’t be so bad.
Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics and one of our industry’s most respected economists, pointed to several reasons why we should expect good days ahead: consumers are in good shape, the world is relatively calm, employment is rising, banks are lending, retail sales are rising, non-residential construction is improving, and deficit spending continues (no fear of austerity).

And GDP is growing, Beaulieu said, speaking at the CSIA Executive Conference this year in Puerto Rico (yes, there’s a place that needs to worry about its economy). “This is not a recovery, friends. This is growth. Wages are going up. There are more job openings than we’ve ever seen before. This is a good time,” he emphasized. Don’t be discouraged by higher rates of GDP growth in China, where the economy just isn’t as big, he added. “If you can get a growth rate of 3-3.5 percent, that’s good. We’re just too big [to grow faster than that].”
More than half of Americans have been misled into thinking that China outranks the U.S. economically, but in fact the U.S. is the largest economy in the world—seven times larger than China. “People just don’t get it,” Beaulieu said.

Our individual state economies outrank most countries in the world. To drive that point home, Beaulieu showed a map of the U.S. with all 50 state names replaced by countries whose GDPs match the state. New York State’s GDP is the size of Spain’s. Illinois has a GDP matching Saudi Arabia. California and Texas GDPs match the size of two of the largest countries (by land mass) in the world—Brazil and Canada.
Overall, our economy is looking good. “We’re about ready to head into the second half of 2016, and we’re picking up speed in all sectors,” Beaulieu said.
ITR expects the good times to continue through 2017, with a 2.7 percent growth rate, and on into 2018. “There are better times ahead, lasting until about halfway through 2018, and then we should see a full-blown recession in 2019,” Beaulieu said.
Government spending is one of the factors that will lead us into a recession, according to Beaulieu, who notes that it really doesn’t matter who gets elected to the presidency come November—the recession will come either way. Even if the new president is fiscally conservative, he said, it takes 18 months for any major piece of legislation to impact the economy. “Even if Washington tightens up on the purse strings, which wouldn’t be a bad thing, we will still have a recession in 2019.”
For industry, that 2019 recession will look nothing like 2008-2009. “It will be painful, but not traumatic,” Beaulieu said, referring to it as more of a cash event than anything else, and more directed at consumers. “So the more your industry is attached to consumers, the more you’ll feel it.”
As a whole, manufacturing in this country continues to move up, the pace of growth actually accelerating the past few months, Beaulieu said. We had record high manufacturing in the U.S. a few years ago, he said, and we’re reaching that point again. “If anybody tells you we don’t make anything here anymore, it’s just not true.”
Several industries are doing well in the U.S. right now. Automobile production is not declining anymore, and the ripple effect is going to create business throughout the economy, Beaulieu said. Chemical production has also stopped declining, and is outperforming the economy right now. “It will be a good space to be in for a long time to come,” Beaulieu said.
Beaulieu also made note of the idea that Dubai was set to supplant the U.S. in chemical production. “Obviously, they’ve failed, as the amount of money pouring into this country for chemical production has soared. We have a very dependable political system, and a very good workforce, and energy costs are low,” he said. Talking specifically to the integrators, he added, “You should be busy pushing for moving into this industry going forward. It is going to see increased demand and increased needs.”
Electronic component production is at a record high, and there is more upside potential in the second half of this year, Beaulieu said. Medical equipment and supplies will need to see increased efficiency to protect their margins as they go forward, he added.
A big question on many people’s minds these days is the effect of low oil prices on industry. Although consumption is increasing in the U.S. and China, Beaulieu noted, “what we desperately need is a cap on production.”
There are several reasons why oil prices should be going back up, Beaulieu said, pointing to forces both political and economic. “It would be really good for the world, not just the U.S., if oil prices go up,” Beaulieu said. He projects prices at $41 to $45 a barrel by the end of the year, and a mid-$50 range by next year.
Meanwhile, those low gas prices are helping consumers, who are doing well in the U.S. “More of us are working, wages are going up, we’re saving at a nice clip, and we’re driving the economy forward,” Beaulieu said. “For the next year or two, this is great news. Wages are just going to keep going up.”
But it will be a consumer-led recession come 2019. “We’re adding a lot of debt. We have really low interest rates, so we’re managing our debt well. But when interest rates go up, that will drive up consumer delinquencies,” Beaulieu said. “We’re adding the debt now because it’s so doggone affordable.”
Get ready now for the slump to come, and remember that cash is king in any downturn. “In 2019, that’s when you go on a poaching trip,” Beaulieu advised. “You start looking for acquisitions, and start getting aggressive with marketing, so you’re ready for the Roaring Twenties.”
Here are the actions that Beaulieu advises you take this year to prepare your business for the coming years:
  1. Budget for continued economic growth driven by consumers.
  2. Invest in customer market research to reduce price sensitivity.
  3. Make sure your training and retention programs are topnotch.
  4. Make your marketing and advertising spending increasingly effective.
  5. Drive efficiencies with technology.
  6. Hire salespeople and leaders.
  7. Lock in costs in early 2016. Renegotiate your lease now; renegotiate your janitorial services. “Lock in everybody except your economist, as far as I’m concerned,” Beaulieu said.
  8. Expand credit offerings to garner market share.
  9. Plan for higher wages and higher energy costs.
Beaulieu told system integrators attending the conference that their goal upon returning home should be to make sure they have enough—enough people, enough systems in place, enough training, enough research, enough everything to be ready not only for the next couple years of growth, but for the coming recession as well.

6 trends in international public opinion from our Global Indicators Database


Since 2002, Pew Research Center has conducted more than 500,000 interviews with people in 64 countries to learn their views about international and domestic politics, economics and other front-burner topics. Our newly updated Global Indicators Databaseserves as an interactive repository of these findings. You can use the database to explore public opinion around the world on issues that interest you by country, region and subject area.

Here are six noteworthy trends in global public opinion, drawn from the database:

1Views of the economy have rebounded in several large and economically powerful countries. In 2009, during the Great Recession, just 10% of Japanese, 17% of Americans and 28% of Germans rated their country’s current economic situation as good. By 2017, these shares had increased by at least 30 percentage points in each country, including a 58-point jump in Germany, where 86% of the public now describes the nation’s economy as good.

Favorable perceptions of the economy have also risen sharply in India, from 57% in 2013 (the earliest year for which data are available) to 83% today. In some other large countries, opinions have moved in the opposite direction. In Brazil, which has struggled with political and economic crises, just 15% of the public now rates the economy as good, down from 62% in 2010.


2Even in some places where views of economic conditions have improved, there is pessimism when it comes to the financial future of the next generation. About half of people (52%) in Germany, 58% of Americans and 72% of Japanese say that children today will grow up to be worse off financially than their parents were. Other countries where majorities hold this view include South Korea (55%), the United Kingdom (68%) and Australia, Canada and Spain (69% each).

While views in countries with advanced economies tend to be pessimistic, opinions are more mixed in developing and emerging economies. Roughly three-quarters of people in India (76%) and Nigeria (72%) expect children today to be better off than their parents, as do 95% of people in Vietnam. On the other hand, after years of economic struggles, 51% of Venezuelans say children today will grow up to be worse off than their parents, up from just 21% in 2013.

3Views of NATO have ticked upward in many member countries. Opinions about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have improved on both sides of the Atlantic over the past year. The share of the public with a favorable view of the alliance increased by 9 percentage points in the U.S. and 10 points in Canada, along with a rise of 7 points in the Netherlands, 8 points in Germany, 9 points in Poland and 11 points in France, where it had fallen 15 points between 2015 and 2016. At least six-in-ten people in each of these countries now have a favorable view of NATO. In the U.S., the recent uptick in approval has mainly been driven by Democrats, while Republican views have remained largely unchanged.


4Russia’s standing among Europeans has slipped. Views of Russia were at their most positive in several European countries in 2011, but they have fallen since then and have remained consistently low over the past few years. Between 2011 and this year, the share of people with a favorable opinion of Russia has declined by double digits in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK. The biggest drop occurred in the UK, where just 26% of the public now sees Russia favorably, down from 50% in 2011. Today, no more than 36% of the public in any of these five countries holds a favorable view of Russia.

5Globally, more people have confidence in Angela Merkel than in Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump. A global median of 42% across 37 countries has confidence in the German chancellor when it comes to world affairs, compared with 28% for China’s leader, 27% for Russia’s leader and 22% for the American president. Confidence in Merkel is especially high in Europe, where about nine-in-ten Dutch and Swedish people (89% each) and about eight-in-ten Germans (81%) and French (79%) trust the chancellor on the world stage. But Merkel also draws considerable confidence in South Korea (74%), Vietnam (72%), Australia (70%) and Japan (67%).

6International views of the U.S. have fluctuated over time, often accompanying changes in political leadership in Washington. In Western Europe, opinions about the U.S. grew much more positive after Barack Obama became president in 2009 but fell sharply following Trump’s inauguration in January.

France is a prime example of Europe’s ups and downs. The share of the French public with a positive view of the U.S. rose from 42% to 75% after Obama replaced President George W. Bush in 2009, then fell from 63% to 46% after Trump succeeded Obama. Similar shifts occurred in Germany, Spain and the UK.

That’s not to say that views in all countries have moved in the same direction. In Russia, the U.S. is seen considerably more favorably today than in the final years of Obama’s presidency (41% of Russians now have a favorable view of America, compared with 15% in 2015). And other nations have remained largely positive (Israel) or negative (Jordan) in their views of the U.S, regardless of which administration is in power.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Why Don’t Christians Include the Gospel of Barnabas?


We need to first understand how the Bible came to be, what the Gospel of Barnabas is, and how it relates to both the Bible and the Qur’an.
First off, the Bible was codified in stages. The Hebrew scriptures were differentiated by Jewish leaders around the 2nd AD century. There was a lot of Christian writings and people were getting confused as to what was Christian and what was Jewish. So Jewish leaders got together and agreed what books would be included in the Cannon.
Not long after, Christians accepted those books as the Old Testament – as apposed to the new testament Christ started at the Last Supper.
Now there was still a lot of popular writing going around and Christian leaders (called Bishops) started to make lists as to the books and letters they thought should be in the cannon. Basically the criteria was it should be written by an apostle or have a long history of being held in esteem by the church, and agreed with an orthodox understanding of theology. It took a little while, but eventually Bishops agreed on the books we have in the New Testament. It was formalized in the Second Council of Trullan of 692 but was generally accepted by the mid-300’s.
Why is this important?
Well, it’s important because we don’t add books to the Bible.

The Gospel of Barnabas

Now let’s understand what the Gospel of Barnabasis. It’s not the Epistle of Barnabas. The Epistle of Barnabasis an ancient Christian book that teaches about the lordship, death and resurrection of Jesus. It was very popular in the early church but didn’t make it into the Bible because it was written later than the first century – when the apostles were still alive.
There is some interesting passages in the Gospel of Barnabas that suggests an even later date of it’s writing. I got a lot this information from here.
The author seems to be missing information about first century Palestine:
  • At the very start of the Gospel of Barnabas Jesus is called the Christ: [God has during these past days visited us by his prophet Jesus Christ (p.2).] However, throughout the book Jesus denies being the Messiah: [Jesus confessed and said the truth, “I am not the Messiah” (chap. 42).] How can Jesus be the Christ and deny being the Messiah when both words mean exactly the same thing? Whoever wrote this book did not know the Greek meaning of the word Christ is Messiah.
  • In chapter 3 we are told that Herod and Pilate both ruled in Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth: [There reigned at that time in Judaea Herod, by decree of Caesar Augustus, and Pilate was governor.] This is historically wrong for Herod and Pilate never ruled Judea at the same time.
  • In chapters 20-21 of this book we are told about Jesus sailing to Nazareth and being welcomed by the seamen of that town. He then leaves Nazareth and goes up to Capernaum: [Jesus went to the sea of Galilee, and having embarked in a ship sailed to his city of Nazareth. … Having arrived at the city of Nazareth the seamen spread through the city all that Jesus wrought (done) … (then) Jesus went up to Capernaum (chaps. 20-21).] There is a major error in this account. Nazareth was not a fishing village, in fact it was about 14 km from the sea of Galilee and situated in the hills of a mountain range
So it doesn’t seem the writer had the access to the knowledge we have of first century palestine.
So when could it have been written?
The author of the Gospel of Barnabas describes nine heavensbefore paradise:
[Paradise is so great that no man can measure it. Verily I say unto thee that the heavens are nine, among which are set the planets, that are distant one from another five hundred years journey for a man … and Verily I say unto thee that paradise is greater than all the earth and heavens together (chap. 178).]
This is the same way Dante describes it in his Divine Comedy. Dante wrote in the 14th century. We don’t have any other description of nine heavens before Dante. That’s really not proof maybe Dante got his description from the Gospel of Barnabas.
There’s more…
The Gospel of Barnabas has Jesus saying “(I)nsomuch that the year of Jubilee, which now comes every 100 years, shall by the Messiah be reduced to every year in every place (chap. 82).”
There is only one time in history that the jubilee was 100 years, not 50 years. In the year 1300 A.D. Pope Boniface VIII falsely proclaimed that the Jubilee should be celebrated by Christians every 100 years instead of 50 years. However the next Pope, Clement VI, changed it back to every 50 years, and so it was celebrated in 1350 A.D.
This suggests a reasonable time for it to be written. If it was was written when other people say think, it should be included with the Dead Sea Scrolls. There was no Gospel of Barnabas in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Rahim’s Dating

I know there are claims that the Gospel of Barnabas was considered Canonical in the Churches of Alexandria up until till 325 A.D…but there is no proof for it. Also (Rahim, p. 41) says Iranaeus quoted extensively from Gospel of Barnabas to refute the Apostle Paul…but he’s wrong on two accounts. First, I’ve read all the writings of Iranaeus and he never quotes the Gospel of Barnabas. Second, Iranaeus endorses Paul and uses Paul’s writings as scriptural. Muhammad `Ata ur-Rahim throws baseless argument after unsubstantiated fact after un-evidenced claims all in an attempt to prove the antiquity of the Gospel of Barnabas. At best it’s unscholarly.

Tension with the Qur’an

But really, that’s not the important part of the discussion. It’s more important to know how the Gospel of Barnabas relate to the Qur’an.
I know as Christians we wrestle with the tension of apparent contradictions in Scripture. Things like the trinity and if God is always good means that at times we need to hold to conflicting ideas.
There is tension in Islam as well.
  • Marriage in the Qur’an binds a woman to one man but it does not bind a man to one woman. Muslim men are free to have several wives (Qur’an 4:3) and an unlimited number of female servants (Qur’an 70:30). However, the Gospel of Barnabas teaches the Biblical idea of marriage, that marriage binds a man and a woman equally together: [Let a man content himself therefore with the wife whom his creator has given him, and let him forget every other woman (chap. 115).]
  • The Qur’an clearly teaches that Mary had pain when she gave birth to Jesus:[(A)nd she withdrew with him to a far place. And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree. (Qur’an 19:22-23, Pickthall)] However, the Gospel of Barnabas teaches the opposite: The virgin was surrounded by a light exceeding bright, and brought forth her son without pain (chap. 3).
  • The Qur’an teaches that there are seven heavens: [The seven heavens and the earth praise Him (Qur’an 17:44, Pickthall).] However the Gospel of Barnabas teaches that there are nine heavens: [Verily I say unto thee that the heavens are nine, among which are set the planets, that are distant one from another five hundred years journey for a man (chap. 178).]
  • TheQur’an teaches that Jesus is the Messiah, and it never teaches that Muhammad is the Messiah: [Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary (Qur’an 3:45, Pickthall).] However, the Gospel of Barnabas denies that Jesus is the Messiah, and instead says Muhammad is the Messiah: [Jesus confessed and said the truth, “I am not the Messiah”. (chap. 42). Then said the priest: “How shall the Messiah be called?” … (Jesus answered) “Muhammed is his blessed name” (chap. 97).] Both these ideas apparently contradict the Qur’an.

Why Isn’t the Gospel of Barnabas Part of the Christian Cannon?

So to me it’s clear why the Gospel of Barnabas isn’t accepted by Christians as part of our Cannon – It’s not written by an apostle. It’s contrary to orthodox thought. It’s likely written over 1400 years after the fact.
The question for me is “How do Muslims handle the tension between the Qur’an and the Gospel of Barnabas?”
Thanks for your question. I learned a lot. I hope I haven’t offended you with my response. I would very much like to hear your response to this article.


Read more at >>> http://revtrev.com/live-light/why-dont-christians-include-the-gospel-of-barnabas/


**One thing's for certain, people certainly do fight about these things. I'll quickly say, "Whatever you believe, that's what's best for you".

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