Diatessoron

[berekaloho]

Dear brothers and sisters in Yashua,Berek Alaha! I am curious if there are any other members who have a love for the beautiful Diatessoron of Tatian as I do. I find it to be a work of great genius and piety shown by Tatian's great respect and fidelity of the 4 canonical gospels and his remarkable achievment of compiling them into one narrative without sacrificing any of the contents of any of the gospels except not repeating the same thing twice and the geneologies. His work was actually used not only liturgically up untill Theodore replaced it in the churches of Syria in the 5th century but also by the laity. It is known to date to at least 150 ad and is a remarkable testament to the existance of the Peshitta prior as he obviously used the Peshitta for his work and compiling the Diatessoron. I think J. Hamilyn Hill's translation from the Arabic copy found is the best. It is very interesting how the Diatessoron ended up supersceding the 4 distinct Peshitta Gospels until Theodoret officially replaced it with the separate Peshitta Gospels and New Testament in the 5th century. The subtle influence it came to have in the west is very intriguing as it influenced other Gospel compilations which in turn made there way into common folk songs and such which helped spread the Holy Gospel of our Lord more and more in western Europe. I myself find it quite suitable for private devotional study and prayer and try to make a point to read it at least once a year. I read and study through all 4 gospels every week from the various published good Peshitta translations as well as my daily reading and study of the rest of the New Testament and Old Testament from the Peshitta. This may seem a bit much but I also pray the offices of the hours according to the ancient Syrian Orthodox church and other prayer as I am trying to prepare myself for the monastic life. I humbly ask for everyones prayer for this. In Yashua, D.Michael.