"An examination of the relationship of the Diatessaron to Justin's ἀπομνημονεύματα τῶν ἀποστόλων is the present writer's most recent study of the harmonized tradition. Since Tatian was Justin's student, and since the best evidence suggests that Justin's "memoirs of the apostles" were a gospel harmony, the possibility of textual dependence existed, at least in theory. Agreement was already a well-known fact in one passage: the "light" at Jesus' baptism. Using criteria developed in researching Romanes' gospel text, Justin's text was filtered for agreements with Diatessaronic witnesses. Eleven instances of clear agreement were found. Six of these were presented as "Primary Evidence," for the evidence was clear-cut. The other five cases were adduced as "Secondary Evidence"; here there was agreement, but dependence could not be proven because of the type of the reading (an omission etc.). The parallels (one of which is presented in the next chapter as Exhibit 9) offer textual support for the long-theorized2 dependence of Tatian's Diatessaron (almost certainly composed in Syriac) upon Justin's Greek "memoirs of the apostles" - whatever the form, and whatever their name.238 The parallels also refuted the unsubstantiated assertion of Georg Strecker that "Nennenswerte Verbindungs- linien [from Justin's hypothesized harmony] zum Diatessaron Tatians bestehen nicht.
Two unexpected findings emerged from this study. First, fully half of the six readings common to Justin and the Diatessaronic witnesses adduced as "Primary Evidence" were, according to the reports of later Fathers, said to be variants found in heretical gospels.240 In the most technical sense of the term, then, these readings were "extra-canonical." Previously, two possibilities had been entertained: either Tatian had used a "fifth source," a Judaic-Christian gospel, now lost, or Tatian had used an early redaction of the incipient canonical gospels, which contained these "deviating" readings. Now a third possibility must be added to this list: Tatian may have used Justin's harmony (whose title JC Zahn, Lippelt, and many others suspected was the Gospel according to the Hebrews), which already contained these "deviating," "Judaic-Christian" readings.
[For example] at Matt 3.15/16, the "fire" in the Jordan at Jesus' baptism (Epiphanius says this is the reading of "the Hebrew gospel"); at Matt 3.16, the interpolation of "in the form/likeness of" (Epiphanius also quotes this reading from "the Hebrew gospel"); at Matt 19.17, the interpolation of "the Father, who is in heaven" (Irenaeus says this is the reading of the gospel used by the Marcosians; Hippolytus says it is the reading of the gospel of the Naassenes)."[Petersen Diatessaron p. 346 - 347]
Most scholars assume that Tatian incorporated the ἀπομνημονεύματα that were in the possession of his master to make the 'Diatessaron.' Why is it such a leap of logic to accept what is written in the Letter to Theodore, namely that:
when Peter died a martyr, Mark came over to Alexandria, bringing both his own and Peter's υπομνήματα, from which he transferred to his former book the things suitable to whatever makes for progress toward knowledge. Thus he composed a more spiritual Gospel for the use of those who were being perfected[Clement to Theodore 1.18 - 22]
Why is it acceptable to assume that such a development from υπομνήματα to gospel could have taken place with regards to the Diatessaron but not the so-called 'mystic gospel' of Mark? Oh, I forgot - Morton Smith was gay. It always comes down to this for these dildo-heads. If only the guy that found the Mar Saba letter was married and had three kids and a dog. Then we'd know, it was authentic ...
