and verses and parts of verses taken from the different Gospels,
by omitting verbal duplicates, by rearranging in some cases and by
occasionally adding a word or phrase to join dissimilar parts, Tatian
produced a marvellous mosaic gospel, known as the _Diatessaron_. All of
the Fourth Gospel is thus preserved, and most of the first three.
So successfully was the work done that the volume was widely used
throughout the Eastern Church. If, as once seemed possible, it had
completely supplanted the original four Gospels, the literary history of
these would have been a repetition of that of the earliest Old Testament
records.

[Sidenote: _The dominant motive of the prophetic historians_.]

It is very important to note that the motive which led the prophetic
historians to commit to writing the earlier traditions of their race was
not primarily historical. Like the author of the Fourth Gospel, they
selected their material chiefly with a view to enforcing certain
important religious truths. If an ancient Semitic tradition illustrated
their point, they divested it of its heathen clothing and, irrespective
of its origin, pressed it into service. For example, it seems clear that
the elements which enter into the story of the Garden of Eden and man's
fall were current, with variations, among the ancient Babylonians
centuries before the Hebrews inherited them from their Semitic
ancestors. The early prophet who wrote the second and third chapters
of Genesis appreciated their value as illustrations, and made them the
medium for imparting some of the most important spiritual truths ever
conveyed to mankind. Like the preachers or moral teachers of to-day, the
first question the prophets asked about a popular story was not, Is it
absolutely historical or scientifically exact? but, Does it illustrate
the vital point to be impressed? Undoubtedly Israel's heritage of oral