St. Barnabas

St. Barnabas

St. Barnabas

Today is a slow day. It’s the Feast of St. Barnabas, with whom Protestants ought to be familiar as an important figure of the New Testament Church and faithful companion of the Apostle Paul. There is a much more vivid tradition about Barnabas in the Eastern Orthodox Church than here in the West, of which I was fascinated to read. Barnabas is celebrated as the founder of the Church of Cyprus, an apostle*, and a martyr.

* We in the West tend to associate the term “Apostle” with the Twelve — those disciples who were specially chosen by Christ as His closest companions and ministers, who were with Christ and witnessed his life, miracles, and Resurrection — and to Paul, to whom Christ appeared “as to one untimely born” (1 Cor 15:8). In the East they seem to use it more loosely and literally: Greek ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) is someone who was sent.

Some further links:

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