The Ancient Witnesses

174 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

Four Gospels Versus One Augustine came up to claim his Agreement among the Evangelists. “So many interesting books,” I said, hoping he would tell me about his. “The Gospel outshines them all, even the other sacred authorities,” he said, “for what the law and the prophets foretold comes to light in the Gospel.” Sacred authorities was how Augustine described the books of the Bible. To him, all books were authorities which he ranked according to value. “What about this book?” I asked, handing him the volume entitled Diatessaron . “That’s the four-in-one,” he said, “which, in the Syrian churches, has replaced the four gospels.” “How could any book replace the Gospels?” I asked. “It is a harmony of the gospels ,” he explained. “How do you harmonize gospels?” asked Cesar. “You combine them,” explained Augustine. “Father Tatian took the overlapping passages found in all four gospels—including the ministry of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection—and then added other passages unique to each Gospel, in their order. “What was the point of that?” asked Cesar. “To remove the differences between the four,” explained Augustine, “because some believe the four gospels cannot all be accurate if they differ from one another.” “I know people who say that,” said Cesar.