Tatian the Syrian

• Only two of his works are extant: The Address to the Greeks and the Diatessaron. Address of Tatian to the Greeks: 1. Christian cosmology(chapters 4,3-7,6):
• Christian concept of God (4, 3-5).
• The relation of the Logos to the Father and the creation of the world (5).
• Of the creation of man, of the resurrection, and of the last judgment (6-7, 1).
• The creation of the angels, the freedom of the will, the fall of the angels, the sin of Adam and Eve, bad angels and demons (7, 2-8). 2. Christian demonology(8-20).
• Astrology is an invention of the demons (8-10).
• To overcome the power of the demons, we must endeavor to reunite our soul with the Pneuma, the Heavenly Spirit (12-15, 1).
• The demons are not able to do penance, but men are images of God and are thus able to attain immortality by self-mortification (15, 2-16, 6).
• Man must not fear (16, 7-20). 3. Greek civilization(21-30).
• The foolishness of all Greek theology forms a sharp contrast to the sublimity of the mystery of the incarnation (2l).
• The Greek theaters are schools of vice (22-24).
• Greek philosophy and law are contradictory and deceitful (25-28).
• The Christian religion shines forth brightly (29-30). 4.The age and moral value of Christianity(31-41).
• The Christian religion is older than all others because Moses lived before Homer, long before all the lawgivers of Greece (31, 1-6, 36-41).
• Christian philosophy and Christian conduct of life differ from the wisdom of the Greek writers(31,7-35).

• The Diatessaron (Harmony of the Four Gospels) is his chief claim to fame; it interweaves the four Gospels into one continuous narrative. It is a history of the life of Christ compiled from the four Gospels which was used in the Syrian Church until the 5th century.

• He was born in East Syria, and was of pagan parents.
• He was educated in Greek rhetoric and philosophy.
• He journeyed to Athens and Rome between 150 and 165 in the pursuit of his studies.
• In Rome he met St. Justin the Martyr and became a Christian.
• Later he returned to Syria, and it was probably there, about 172, that he became the leader, if not the founder, of the Encratites(i.e., the Abstinent) sect.
• This sect, which belongs to Christian Gnostics, discouraged marriage as adultery, condemned the drinking of wine, and went so far as to substitute water for wine in the Eucharistic service.
• There are many theological errors found in the works of Tatian. But the following excerpt from chapter 4 of his Address to the Greeks is one of the few pieces that is free from error.
• It demonstrates how Christians worship God alone: Man is to be honored as a fellow-man. God alone is to be feared, - He who is not visible to human eyes, nor comes within the compass of human art. Only when I am commanded to deny Him, will not obey, but will rather die than show myself false and ungrateful. Our God did not begin to be in time: He alone is without beginning, and He Himself is the beginning of all things. God is a Spirit, not pervading matter, but the Maker of material spirits, and of the forms that are in matter; He is invisible, impalpable, being Himself the Father of both sensible and invisible things. Him we know from His creation, and apprehend His invisible power by His works. I refuse to adore that workmanship which He has made for our sakes. The sun and moon were made for us: how, then, can I adore my own servants? How can I speak of stocks and

stones as gods?…Nor even ought the ineffable God to be presented with gifts; for He who is in want of nothing is not to be misrepresented by us as though He were indigent.