The second “exact reference” is, that Vattius had “the Spirit more abundantly than Zacharias;” “such an unnecessary and insidious comparison would scarcely have been made had the writer known our Gospel and regarded it as inspired Scripture” ("Sup.  Rel.,” vol. ii., p. 204).  The quotation “that the day would come when everyone that slayeth you will think he is doing God a service,” is one of those isolated sayings referred to Christ which might be found in any account of his works, or might have been handed down by tradition.  This epistle is the last witness called by Paley, prior to Irenaeus, and might, indeed, fairly be regarded as contemporary with him.

Although Paley does not allude to the “Clementines,” books falsely ascribed to Clement of Rome, these are sometimes brought to prove the existence of the Gospels in the second century.  But they are useless as witnesses, from the fact that the date at which they were themselves written is a matter of dispute.  “Critics variously date the composition of the original Recognitions from about the middle of the second century to the end of the third, though the majority are agreed in placing them, at least, in the latter century” ("Sup.  Rel.,” vol. ii., p. 5).  “It is unfortunate that there are not sufficient materials for determining the date of the Clementine Homilies” ("Gospels in the Second Century,” Rev. W. Sanday, p. 161).  Part of the Clementines, called the “Recognitions,” is useless as a basis for argument, for these “are only extant in a Latin translation by Rufinus, in which the quotations from the Gospels have evidently been assimilated to the canonical text which Rufinus himself uses” (Ibid).  Of the rest, “we are struck at once by the small amount of exact coincidence, which is considerably less than that which is found in the quotations from the Old Testament” (Ibid, p. 168).  “In the Homilies there are very numerous quotations of expressions of Jesus, and of Gospel History, which are generally placed in the mouth of Peter, or introduced with such formula as ‘The teacher said,’ ‘Jesus said,’ ’He said,’ ‘The prophet said,’ but in no case does the author name the source from which these sayings and quotations are derived....  De Wette says, ’The quotations of evangelical works and histories in the pseudo-Clementine writings, from their free and unsatisfactory nature, permit only uncertain conclusions as to their written source.’  Critics have maintained very free and conflicting views regarding that source.  Apologists, of course, assert that the quotations in the Homilies are taken from our Gospels only.  Others ascribe them to our Gospels, with a supplementary apocryphal work, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, or the Gospel according to Peter.  Some, whilst admitting a subsidiary use of some of our Gospels, assert that the author of the Homilies employs, in preference, the Gospel according to Peter; whilst others, recognising also the similarity of the phenomena presented by these quotations with those of Justin’s, conclude that the author does not quote our Gospels at all, but makes use of the Gospel according to Peter, or the Gospel according to the Hebrews.  Evidence permitting of such divergent conclusions manifestly cannot be of a decided character” ("Sup.  Rel.,” vol. ii., pp. 6, 7).