Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
What was the Diatesseron used for?
#1
Good evening Darrell.

I'd like to continue commenting on the quote you supplied from the "Dictionary of the New Testament Background." I've already demonstrated two errors within it:

  1. That the comment about Rabbula "finally suppressing" the Diatesseron is inaccurate
  2. That the comment about Tatian using "West Aramaic" vocabulary is unknowable, because the original Aramaic Diatesseron no longer exists

I've highlighted the next error in red:

Dictionary of the New Testament Background Wrote:"Diatessaron of Tatian. This harmony of the Gospels produced by Tatian about A.D. 170 became the Gospels of the Syriac-speaking church from the late second century until the mid-fifth century, when it was finally suppressed through the efforts of Rabbula, the bishop of Edessa . . . Besides the four Greek Gospels, Tatian apparently used a West Aramaic Gospel, as evidenced by the use of West Aramaic vocabulary . . . "

The highlighted phrase gives the reader the impression that the only Gospels that the Aramaic-speaking church had for its first few hundred years of existence was the harmony which Tatian made.

But this goes against all logic and evidence we have from historical sources like Theodoret of Cyrrhus (early 5th century):

Theodoret of Cyrrhus Wrote:...Even those that follow the apostolic doctrines, not perceiving the mischief of the composition, used the book too simply as an abridgment. (c.f., Ante-Nicene Fathers, "Introduction to the Diatessaron of Tatian", Oxford, 1895)

Using something as an abridgment is something totally different than what the author of the quote you provided was implying. Having, and using, an abridgment logically means that you already have access to the full work - but prefer to use the shortened form for its simplicity.

Not only is this claim an error, it is absurd to imagine that the Aramaic-speaking church did not have an Aramaic copy of the four distinct Gospels for the first 4 centuries of its existence.

It becomes more absurd when you consider that the Gospel was first preached in Aramaic, that it was the language of Jesus and his Apostles and of the 1st-century Judaism from which Christianity emerged.

Thank you for your time.

Regards,
Paul
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
[Image: sig.jpg]
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)