Topic summary

Tatian

Tatian

Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; Latin: Tatianus; Ancient Greek: Τατιανός; Classical Syriac: ܛܛܝܢܘܣ; c. 112 – c. 180 AD) was an AssyrianChristian writer and theologian of the 2nd century.

Tatian's most influential work is the Diatessaron, a Biblical paraphrase, or "harmony", of the four gospels that became the standard text of the four gospels in the Syriac-speaking churches until the 5th-century, after which it gave way to the four separate gospels in the Peshitta version. He was controversial in his own age due to his Gnostic influences, leading Russell to state Tatian "lived in the border between orthodox and Gnostic theology".