Tatian combines Gospel narratives in the Diatessaron
About this date: The early 170s are a conventional approximate placement for the harmony. Eusebius's surviving notice does not date its composition to a particular year.
Tatian arranges Gospel material into a combined narrative known as the Diatessaron. Eusebius later reports that copies of this compilation were still circulating in his own time.
Historical context
A Gospel harmony provides a different reading arrangement from four separate books. Its existence raises questions about selection, sequence, language, and the transmission of scriptural texts.
Key points
- Eusebius identifies the compilation by name and attributes it to Tatian.
- The notice places a reading practice beside a discussion of the author's contested teaching.
- The survival of later witnesses does not give direct access to an unchanged second-century autograph.
People
- Tatian
Sources and further reading
- Church History: Tatian and the Diatessaron
Names the Gospel compilation and describes its continued circulation within a critical account of Tatian.