Humility: How it can be True and False?

Who created man out of nothing? 
Surely it was God, who also gave [man] the whole world for his benefit. But man by sinning has spent it all, for because of sin the world is turned against man, and man in his misery has nothing to give to God but works corrupted by sin. For, sinning every day, he makes his own work corrupt, as Isaiah the prophet says: Our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth.

How, then, shall man have merit, seeing he is unable to give satisfaction? Is it, perhaps, that man does not sin? It is certain that our God says by his prophet David: Seven times a day falls the righteous. How then falls the unrighteous?

And if our righteousnesses are corrupt, how abominable are our unrighteousnesses! As God lives, there is nothing that a man should shun more than this saying: 'I merit.' Brother, let a man know the works of his hands, and he will straightway see his merit. Every good thing that comes out of a man, truly, man does not do it, but God works it in him; for his being is of God who created him. That which man does is to contradict God his creator and to commit sin, [and so] he merits not reward, but torment.

'Not only has God created man, as I say, but he created him perfect. He has given him the whole world; after the departure from paradise he has given him two angels to guard him, he has sent him the prophets, he has granted him the Law, he has granted him the faith, every moment he delivers him from Satan, he is fain to give him paradise; no more, God wills to give himself to man. 

Consider, then, the debt, if it is great! [a debt] to cancel which you would need to have created man of yourselves out of nothing, to have created as many prophets as God has sent, with a world and a paradise, no, more, with a God great and good as is our God, and to give it ne all to God. 

So would the debt be cancelled and there would remain to you only the obligation to give thanks to God. But since you are not able to create a single fly, and seeing there is but one God who is lord of all things, how shall you be able to cancel your debt? Assuredly, if a man should lend you an hundred pieces of gold, you would be obliged to restore an hundred pieces of gold.

Accordingly, the sense of this, O brother, is that God, being lord of paradise and of everything, can say that which pleases him, and give whatsoever pleases him. Wherefore, when he said to Abraham: "I will be your great reward," Abraham; could not say: "God is my reward," but "God is my gift and my debt."

So when you discourse to the people, O brother, you ought thus to explain this passage: that God will give to man such and such things if man works well. When God shall speak to you, O man, and shall say: "O my servant, you have wrought well for love of me; what reward seek you from me, your God?" answer you: "Lord, seeing I am the work of your hands, it is not fitting that there should be in me sin, which Satan; loves. Therefore, Lord, for your own glory, have mercy upon' the works of your hands.

And if God say: "I have pardoned you, and now I would fain reward you"; answer you: "Lord, I merit punishment for what I have done, and for what you have done you merit to be glorified. Punish, Lord, in me what I have done, and save that which you have wrought."

And if God say: "What punishment seems to you fitting for your sin?" do you answer; "As much, O Lord, as all the reprobate shall suffer."

And if God say: "Wherefore seek you so great punish. men, O my faithful servant?" answer you: "Because every one of them, if they had received from you as much as I have received, would have served you more faithfully than I [have done]."

And if God say: "When will you receive this punishment, and for how long a time?" answer you: "Now, and without end." As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, such a man would be more pleasing to God than all his holy angels. For God loves true humility, and hates pride.'

ie what I have to told is that God loves true humility. Now you may asked, what is humility, and how it can be true and false?.' 

"Truly, he who becomes not as a little child shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. for this is true humility. For if you ask a little child: "Who has made your garments?"  

He will answer: "My father." 
If you ask him: "Whose is the house where he lives?"
He will say: "My father's." 
If you shall say: "Who gives you to eat?"  
He will reply: "My father." 
If you shall say: "Who has taught you to walk and to speak?" 
He will answer; "My father." 

But if you shall say: "Who has broken your forehead, for that you have your forehead so bound up?"  
He will answer: "I fell down, and so did I break my head."

If you shall say: "Now why did you fall down?"  
He will answer: "See you not that I am little, so that I have not the strength to walk and run like a grown man? So my father must needs take me by the hand if I would walk firmly. But in order that I might learn to walk well, my father left me for a little space, and I, wishing to run, fell down." 
If you shall say: "And what said your father?" 
He will answer: "Now why did you not walk quite slowly? See that in future you leave not my side." 

He who in truth of heart recognizes God as the author of all good, and himself as the author of sin, shall be truly humble. But whoever shall speak with the tongue as the child speaks, and shall contradict [the same] in act, assuredly he has false humility and true pride. For pride is then at its height when it makes use of humble things, that it be not reprehended and spurned of men.

True humility is a lowliness of the soul whereby man knows himself in truth; but false humility is a mist from hell which so darkens the understanding of the soul that what a man ought to ascribe to himself, he ascribes to God, and what he ought to ascribe to God, he ascribes to himself.

Thus, the man of false humility will say that he is a grievous sinner, but when one tells him that he is a sinner he will wax wroth against him, and will persecute him. The man of false humility will say that God has given him all that he has, but that he on his part has not slumbered,but done good works. And these Pharisees of this present time, brethren, tell me how they walk.'

The Pharisees of the present time have the garments and the name of Pharisees, but in their heart and their works they are Canaanites. And would to God they usurped not such a name, for then would they not deceive the simple! O ancient time, how cruelly have you dealt with us, that have taken away from us the true Pharisees and left us the false!'

The End.
Not Yet Verified.

Source: 
The Gospel of Barnabas

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Chosen People: What will God give Jews in Paradise?

"As you seed so shall you reap."
A boy who shook down apricots from a tree and ate them. The owner of the  orchard  caught  him  and  said,  “Aren’t  you afraid  of  God’s  punishment?” 
The  boy  said, “Why  should  I  be  afraid?  The  tree  belongs  to God,  and  I  am  God’s  servant.  God’s  servant  ate God’s fruit!”
The owner said, “Wait and see what answer  I  shall  give  you.  Fetch  a  rope,  tie  him  to this  tree  and  beat  him  until  the  answer  is  made clear!”
The boy said, “Aren’t you afraid of God’s punishment?”  
The   owner   answered,   “Why should  I  be  afraid?  You  are  God’s  servant,  and this  is  God’s  stick.  I  am  beating  God’s  servant with God’s stick!”

What is the moral of this story?
Whatever you do, whether good or evil, you will get accordingly. The world is for a man to perform either a Good or Evil deeds, and the resultant force of his deeds will brought him to the Heaven or Hell. This is somehow like an echo of the mountain. Thus, if  you  think,  “I will do evil and God will sanctioned a Heaven for me,” that is quite impossible. 

So the Answer of the Question in a single line shall be- "They will be rewarded according to their deeds."

And for Jews!!! do you not see how their Scribes and Pharisees, Priests and Levites corrupted the sacrifice of the Lord, God? To day those who come to sacrifice believe that God eats cooked flesh [in the manner of] a man.

They say to them: 'Bring your sheep and bulls and lambs to the Temple of your God, and do not eat it all, but give to your God a share of that which he has given you'; and they do not tell them of the origin of sacrifice, that it is for a witness of the life granted to the son of our father Abraham, so that the faith and obedience of our father Abraham, with the promises made to him by God and the blessing given to him, should never be forgotten.

But God says by Ezekiel the prophet: Remove from me these your sacrifices, your victims are abominable to me.’ For the time draws near when that shall be done of which our God spoke by Hosea the prophet, saying: I will call chosen the people not chosen.’ And as he says in Ezekiel the prophet: "God shall make a new covenant with his people, not according to the covenant which he gave to your fathers, which they did not and he shall take from them a heart of stone, and give them a new heart": and all this shall be because you do not walk now in his Law. And you have the key and do not open: rather you block the road for those who would walk in it."

Now we will answer your question. The question asked to tell what God will give Jews in paradise. Truly, those who  think of the wages, do not love the master. A shepherd who has a flock of sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, prepares to defend them; contrariwise, the hireling when he sees the wolf leaves the sheep and flees. If the God of their fathers were their God they would not have thought of saying: "What will God give them?" 

For a better understanding, we may start with a parable which is as follows-.

"There was a king who found by the wayside a man stripped by thieves;,who had wounded him to death. And he had compassion on him, and commanded his slaves to bear that man to the city and tend him, and this they did with all diligence. And the king conceived a great love for the sick man, so that he gave him his own daughter in marriage, and made him his heir. Now assuredly this king was most merciful; but the man beat the slaves, despised the medicines, abused his wife, spoke evil of the king, and caused his vassals to rebel against him. And when the king required any service, he was wont to say: "What will the king give me as reward?"

Now when the king heard this, what did he do to so impious a man?"

They replied: "Woe to him, for the king deprived him of all, and cruelly punished him."

So, I have to cite that Verse which God said to the Jews through His Prophet Isaiah: "I have nourished slaves and exalted them, but they have despised me."

"The king is our God, who found Israel in this world full of miseries, and gave him therefore to his servants Joseph, Moses and Aaron, who tended him. And our God conceived such love for him that for the sake of the people of Israel he smote Egypt, drowned Pharaoh, and discomfited an hundred and twenty kings of the Canaanites and Madianites; he gave him his laws, making him heir of all that [land] wherein our people dwells.

"But how does Israel bear himself? How many prophets has he slain; how many prophecies has he contaminated; how has he violated the Law of God: how many for that cause have departed from God and gone to serve idols, through their offence, O you Jews! And how do you dishonor God with your manner of life! And now you asked: "What will God give us in paradise?" You ought to have asked: What will be the punishment that God will give you in hell; and then what you ought to do for true penitence in order that God may have mercy on you? And Jesus came to them only to answer this, and he will answer of this to them again when he will return to this earth.

And it is not adulation from me, but truth. So, without hardening they should repent and turn to God even as their fathers did after sinning.

 "O Jews!! You desire horses like knights, but you desire not to go forth to war: you desire fair clothing like women, but you desire not to spin and nurture children; you desire the fruits of the field, and you desire not to cultivate the Earth; you desire the fishes of the sea, but you desire not to go a fishing; you desire honour as citizens, but you desire not the burden of the republic; and you desire tithes and first fruits as priests, but you desire not to serve God in truth. 

What then shall God do with you, seeing you desire here every good without any evil? 
So, it can be conclude that God will give Jews- His Chosen People a place where they will have every evil without any good."

The End.
Not Yet Verified.

Source: Gospel of Barnabas.

Haggai and Hosea: The Sincere Seekers of God.

It is written by Daniel the prophet that when Haggai was fifteen years old, having sold his patrimony and given it to the poor, he went forth from Anathoth to serve Obadiah the prophet. Now the aged Obadiah, who knew the humility of Haggai, used him as a book wherewith to teach his disciples. Wherefore he oftentimes presented him raiment and delicate food, but Haggai ever sent back the messenger, saying: "Go, return to the house, for you have made a mistake. Shall Obadiah send me such things? Surely not: for he knows that I am good for nothing, and only commit sins. And Obadiah, when he had anything bad, used to give it to the one next to Haggai, in order that he might see it.

Thereupon Haggai. when he saw it, would say to himself: "Now, behold, Obadiah has certainly forgotten you, for this thing is suited to me alone, because I am worse than all. And there is nothing so vile but that, receiving it from Obadiah, by whose hands God grants it to me, it were a treasure."

When Obadiah desired to teach any one how to pray, he would call Haggai and say: "Recite here your prayer so that every one may hear your words." Then Haggai would say-

"Lord God of Israel, with mercy look upon your servant, who calls upon you, for that you have created him. Righteous Lord God, remember your righteousness and punish the sins of your servant, in order that I may not pollute your work. 
Lord my God, I cannot ask you for the delights that you grant to your faithful servants, because I do nought but sins. Wherefore, Lord, when you would give an infirmity to one of your servants, remember me your servant, for your own glory."

And when Haggai did so, God so loved him that to every one who in his time stood by him God gave, [the gift of] prophecy. And nothing did Haggai ask in prayer that God withheld.'

On the other Hand, "Hosea, when he went to serve God, was prince over the tribe of Naphtali, and aged fourteen years. And so, having sold his patrimony and given it to the poor, he went to be disciple of Haggai.

Hosea was so inflamed with charity that concerning all that was asked of him he would say: 'This has God given me for you, O brother; accept it, therefore!' For which cause he was soon left with two garments only namely, a tunic of sackcloth and a mantle of skins. He sold, I say, his patrimony and gave it to the poor, because otherwise no one would be suffered to be called a Pharisee.

Hosea had the Book of Moses, which he read with greatest earnestness. Now one day Haggai said to him: "Hosea, who has taken away from you all that you had?"

He answered: "The Book of Moses."

It happened that a disciple of a neighbouring prophet wanted to go to Jerusalem, but did not have a mantle. Wherefore, having heard of the charity of Hosea, he went to find him, and said to him: 'Brother, I would want to go to Jerusalem to perform a sacrifice to our God, but I have not a mantle, wherefore I know not what to do.'

When he heard this, Hosea said: 'Pardon me, brother, for I have committed a great sin against you: because God has given me a mantle in order that I might give it to you, and I had forgotten. Now therefore accept it, and pray to God for me.'

The man, believing this, accepted Hosea's mantle and departed. And when Hosea went to the house of Haggai, Haggai said: 'Who has taken away your mantle?'

Hosea replied: 'The Book of Moses.'

Haggai was much pleased at hearing this, because he perceived the goodness of Hosea.

It happened that a poor man was stripped by robbers and left naked. Whereupon Hosea, seeing him, stripped off his own tunic and gave it to him that was naked; himself being left with a little piece of goat-skin over the privy parts. Wherefore, as he came not to see Haggai, the good Haggai thought that Hosea was sick. So he went with two disciples to find him: and they found him wrapped in palm-leaves. Then said Haggai: 'Tell me now, why have you not been to visit me?'

Hosea answered: "The Book of Moses has taken away my tunic, and I feared to come thither without a tunic."

Whereupon Haggai gave him another tunic.

It happened that a young man, seeing Hosea read the Book of Moses, wept, and said: 'I also would learn to read if I had a book.'

Hearing which, Hosea gave him the book, saying: 'Brother, this book is yours; for God gave it me in order that I should give it to one who, weeping, should desire a book.'

The man believed him, and accepted the book.

There was a disciple of Haggai near to Hosea; and he, wishing to see if his own book was well written, went to visit Hosea, and said to him: "Brother, take your book and let us see if it is even as mine."

Hosea answered: "It has been taken away from me."

"Who has taken it from you?" said the disciple.

Hosea answered: "The Book of Moses,"

Hearing which, the other went to Haggai ;and said to him: "Hosea has gone mad, for he says that the Book of Moses has taken away from him the Book of Moses."

Haggai answered: "Would to God, O brother, that I were mad in like manner, and that all mad folk were like to Hosea!"

Now the Syrian robbers, having raided the land of Judea, seized the son of a poor widow, who dwelt hard by Mount Carmel, where the prophets and Pharisees abode. It chanced, accordingly, that Hosea having gone to cut wood met the woman, who was weeping. Thereupon he straightway began to weep; for whenever he saw any one laugh he laughed, and whenever he saw any one weep he wept. Hosea then asked the woman touching the reason of her weeping, and she told him all.

Then said Hosea: 'Come, sister, for God wills to give you your son."

And they went both of them to Hebron;, where Hosea;sold himself, and gave the money to the widow;, who, not knowing how he had gotten that money, accepted it, and redeemed her son. He who had bought Hosea took him to Jerusalem, where he had an abode, not knowing Hosea.

Haggai;, seeing that Hosea was not to be found, remained afflicted thereat. Whereupon the angel of God told him how he had been taken as a slave to Jerusalem.

The good Haggai, when he heard this, wept for the absence of Hosea as a mother weeps for the absence of her son. And having called two disciples he went to Jerusalem. And by the will of God, in the entrance of the city he met Hosea, who was laden with bread to carry it to the labourers in his master's vineyard.

.

Having recognized him, Haggai said: "Son, how is it that you have forsaken your old father, who seeks you mourning?"

Hosea answered: "Father, I have been sold."

Then said Haggai in wrath: "Who is that bad fellow who has sold you?"

Hosea answered: "God forgive you, O my father; for he who has sold me is so good that if he were not in the world no one would become holy." '

‘Who, then, is he?" said Haggai;.

'Hosea answered: "O my father, it was the Book of Moses;."

Then the good Haggai remained as it were beside himself, and said: "Would to God, my son, that the Book of Moses; would sell me also with all my children, even as it has sold you!"

And Haggai went with Hosea to the house of his master, who when he saw Haggai said: "Blessed be our God, who has sent his prophet to my house"; and he ran to kiss his hand.

Then said Haggai: "Brother, kiss the hand of your slave whom you have bought, for he is better than I." And he narrated to him all that had passed; whereupon the master gave Hosea his freedom.’

The End.
Not Yet Verified.

Sources:
Gospel of Barnabas, CH-185-88

Pharisee: Rests at the Top of all Human Goodness.

Enoch, a friend of God, who walked with God in truth, making no account of the world, was transferred into paradise; and there he abides until the Judgment (for when the end of the world draws near he shall return to help the world with Elijah and one other). And so men, having knowledge of this, through desire of paradise, began to seek God their creator.

For 'Pharisee' strictly means 'seeks God' in the language of Canaan, for there did this name begin [as a] way of deriding good men, since the Canaanites were given up to idolatry, which is the worship of human hands.

Whereupon the Canaanites, beholding those of our people that were separated from the world to serve God, when they saw such an one, said in derision 'Pharisee!' that is, 'He seeks God'; as much as to say: 'O madman, you have no statues of idols and adore the wind; look to your fate and come and serve our gods.'

Truly, all the saints and prophets of God have been Pharisees not in name, as you are, but in very deed. For in all their acts they sought God their creator, and for love of God they forsook cities and their own goods, selling [their goods] and giving to the poor for love of God."

Pharisees.

As God lives, in the time of Elijah, friend and prophet of God, there were twelve mountains inhabited by seventeen thousand Pharisees; and so it was that [even] in so great a number there was not found a single reprobate, but all were elect of God. But now, when Israel has more than a hundred thousand Pharisees, may it please God that out of every thousand there be one elect!"

Elijah, the friend of God, at the prayer of his disciple Elisha, wrote a little book in which he included all human wisdom with the Law of God our Lord. He writes the little Book as-

"To all them that desire to walk with God, their creator,  

-Whoever desires to learn much, they (sic) fear God little, because he who fears God is content to know only that which God wills. They that seek fair words do not seek God, who does nothing but reprove our sins.

-They that desire to seek God, let them shut first the doors and windows of their house, for the master does not suffer himself to be found outside his house [in a place] where he is not loved. Therefore guard your senses and guard your heart, because God is not found outside of us, in this world in which he is hated.

-They that wish to do good works, let them attend to their own-selves, for [there is no profit] in gaining the whole world and losing one's own soul.

-They that wish to teach others, let them live better than others, because nothing can be learned from him who knows less than ourselves. How shall the sinner amend his life when he hears one worse than he teaching him?

-They that seek God, let him (sic) flee the conversation of men; because Moses being alone upon Mount Sinai found him and spoke with God, as does a friend who speaks with a friend.

-They that seek God, shall come forth [to where] there are men of the world only once in [every] thirty days for in respect of the business of him that seeks God works for two years can be done in one day.

-When he walks, let him not look save at his own feet.

-When he speaks, let him not speak save that which is necessary.

-When they eat, let them rise from the table still hungry; thinking every day not to attain to the next; spending their time as one draws his breath.

-Let one garment, of the skin of beasts, suffice.

-Let the lump of earth sleep on the naked earth [and] for every night let two hours of sleep suffice.

-Let him hate no one save himself; condemn no one save himself.

-In prayer, let them stand in such fear as if they were at the Judgment to come.

.

Now If you do this in the service of God, with the Law that God has given you through Moses, you shall find God [so] that in every time and place you shall feel that you are in God and God [is] in you."

This is the little book of Elijah.

There is nothing worse here upon earth than [when] a man covers himself with [the] profession and garb of religion [in order] to cover his wickedness. Here is one single example of the Pharisees of old time, in order that you may know the present ones.

After the departure of Elijah, because of the great persecution by idolaters, that holy congregation of Pharisees was dispersed. For in that same time of Elijah more than ten thousand prophets who were true Pharisees were slain in one year.

Two Pharisees went into the mountains to dwell there, and one [of them] abode fifteen years knowing nothing of his neighbour, although they were but one hour's journey apart. See then if they were inquisitive! It came to pass that there arose a drought on those mountains, and so both set themselves to search for water, and so they found each other.

The more aged [one] said - for it was their custom that the eldest should speak before every other, and they held it a great sin for a young man to speak before an old one - the elder, therefore, said: 'Where do you dwell, brother?'

He answered, pointing out the dwelling with his finger: 'I dwell here' (for they were near to the dwelling of the younger.)

The elder said: 'How long [have] you dwelt here, brother?'

The younger answered: 'Fifteen years.'

The elder said: 'Perhaps you came [here] when Ahab slew the servants of God?'

'Even so,' replied the younger.

The elder said: 'O brother, do you know who is now king of Israel?'

The younger answered: 'It is God that is King of Israel, for the idolaters are not kings but persecutors of Israel.' 
'It is true,' said the elder, "but I meant to say, who is it that now persecutes Israel?'

The younger answered: 'The sins of Israel persecute Israel, because, if they had not sinned, [God] would not have raised the idolatrous princes up against Israel.'

Then the elder said: 'Who is that infidel prince whom God has sent for the chastisement of Israel?'

The younger answered: 'How should I know, seeing [that for] these fifteen years I have not seen any man except you, and I do not know how to read so no letters are sent to me?'

The elder said: '[But] how new are your sheepskins! Who has given them to you, if you have not seen any man?'

The younger answered: 'He who kept the raiment of the people of Israel good for forty years in the wilderness has kept my skins even as you see [them].'

Then the elder perceived that the younger was more perfect than he, for every year he had had dealings with men. So, in order that he might have [the benefit of] his conversation, he said: 'Brother, you do not know how to read, [but] I know how to read, and I have in my house the psalms of David. Come, then, that I may give you a reading each day and make plain to you what David says.'

The younger answered: 'Let us go now.'

The elder said: 'O brother, it is now two days since I have drunk water; therefore let us seek a little water.'

The younger replied: 'O brother, it is now two months since I have drunk water. Let us go, therefore, and see what God says by his prophet David: the Lord is able to give us water.'

[And so] they returned to the dwellings of the elder, at the door of which they found a spring of fresh water. The elder said: 'O brother, you are a holy one of God; God has given this spring for your sake.'

The younger answered: 'O brother, you say this in humility; but it is certain that if God had done this for my sake he would have made a spring close to my dwelling [so] that I should not [have to] depart [in search of it]. For I confess to you that I sinned against you. When you said that for two days you did not drink [and that] you sought water, and I had been for two months without drinking, I felt an exaltation within me, as though I were better than you.'

Then the elder said: 'O brother, you said the truth, therefore you did not sin.'

The younger said: 'O brother, you have forgotten what our father Elijah said, that he who seeks God ought to condemn himself alone. Surely he did not write it that we might [only] know it, but rather that we might observe it.'

The more aged [of the two], perceiving the truth and righteousness of his companion, said: 'It is true; and our God has pardoned you.' 
And having said this he took the Psalms, and read that which our father David says: I will set a watch over my mouth that my tongue decline not to words of iniquity, excusing with excuse my sin. And here the aged man made a discourse upon the tongue, and the younger departed. 

[After this] there were fifteen more years before they found one another, because the younger changed his dwelling. Accordingly, when he had found him again, the elder [Pharisee] said: 'O brother, why have you not returned to any dwelling?'

The younger answered: 'Because I have not yet learned well what you said to me.'

Then the elder said: 'How can this be, seeing [that] fifteen years have past?'

The younger replied: 'As for the words, I learned them in a single hour and have never forgotten them; but I have not yet observed them. To what purpose is it, then, to learn too much, and not to observe it? Our God does not seek that our intellect should be good, but rather our heart. So, on the Day of Judgment, He will not ask us what we have learned, but what we have done.'

'The elder answered: "O brother, say not so, for you despise knowledge, which our God wills to be prized." 
The younger replied: "Now, how shall I speak now so as not to fall into sin: for your word is true, and mine also. I say, then, that they who know the commandments of God written in the Law ought to observe those [first] if they would afterwards learn more.And all that a man learns, let it be observe it, and not [merely] to know it."

Said the elder: "O brother, tell me, with whom have you spoken, that you know you have not learned all that I said?"

'The younger answered: "O brother, I speak with myself. Every day I place myself before the judgment of God, to give account of myself. And ever do I feel within myself one that excuses my faults."

'Said the elder: "O brother, what faults have you, who are perfect?”

The younger answered: "O brother, say not so, for that I stand between two great faults: the one is that I do not know myself to be the greatest of sinners, the other that I do not desire to do penance for it more than other men."

'The elder answered: "Now, how shouldst you know yourself to be the greatest of sinners, if you are the most perfect [of men]?"

'The younger replied: "The first word that my master said to me when I took the habit of a Pharisee was this: that I ought to consider the goodness of others and my own iniquity for if I should do so I should perceive myself to be the greatest of sinners."

'Said the elder: "O brother, whose goodness or whose faults consider you on these mountains, seeing there are no men here?"

The younger answered: "I ought to consider the obedience of the sun and the planets, for they serve their Creator better than I. But them I condemn, either because they give not light as I desire, or because their heat is too great, or there is too much or too little rain upon the ground."

'Whereupon, hearing this, the elder said: "Brother, where have you learned this doctrine, for I am now ninety years old, for seventy-five years whereof I have been a Pharisee?"

The younger answered: "O brother, you say this in humility, for you are a holy one of God. Yet I answer you that God our creator looks not on time, but looks on the heart: wherefore David, being fifteen years; old, younger than six other his brethren, was chosen king of Israel, and became a prophet of God our Lord."

'This man was a true Pharisee. The leaven of the Pharisee is want of faith in God, and thought of self, which has corrupted not only the Pharisees of this day, but has corrupted Israel. For the simple folk, not knowing how to read, do that which they see the Pharisees do, because they hold them for holy ones.

Know you what is the true Pharisee? He is the oil of human nature. For even as oil rests at the top of every liquor, so the goodness of the true Pharisee rests at the top of all human goodness. He is a living book, which God gives to the world; for everything that he says and does is according to the Law of God. Wherefore, who does as he does observes the Law of God.

The true Pharisee is salt that suffers not human flesh to be putrefied by sin; for every one who sees him is brought to repentance. He is a light that lightens the pilgrims' way, for every one that considers his poverty with his penitence perceives that in this world we ought not to shut up our heart.

But he that makes the oil rancid, corrupts the book, putrefies the salt, extinguishes the light - this man is a false Pharisee. If, therefore, you would not perish, beware that you do not as does the Pharisee today?

The End.
Not Yet Verified.

Source: Gospel of Barnabas.