Dr. Westcott still more emphatically claims the epistle as evidence for the fourth Gospel, and we shall, in order impartially to consider the question, likewise quote his remarks in full upon the point, but as he introduces his own paraphrase of the context in a manner which does not properly convey its true nature to a reader who has not the epistle before him, we shall take the liberty of putting the actual quotations in italics, and the rest must be taken as purely the language of Canon Westcott. We shall hereafter show also the exact separation which exists between phrases which are here, with the mere indication of some omission, brought together to form the supposed references to the fourth Gospel. Canon Westcott says: "In one respect the two parts of the book are united,(2) inasmuch as they both exhibit a combination of the teaching of St. Paul and St. John. The love of God, it is said in the letter to Diognetus, is the source of love in the Christian, who must needs 'love God who thus first loved him' [------], and find an expression for this love by loving his neighbour, {354} whereby he will be '_an imitator of God!_' For God loved men, for whose sakes He made the world, to whom He subjected all things that are in the earth.... unto whom [------] He sent His only begotten Son, to whom He promised the kingdom in heaven [------], _and will give it to those who love Him._' God's will is mercy; '_He sent His Son as wishing to save [------].... and not to condemn'_ and as witnesses of this, '_Christians dwell in the world, though they are not of the world!_(1) At the close of the paragraph he proceeds: "The presence of the teaching of St. John is here placed beyond all doubt. There are, however, no direct references to the Gospels throughout the letter, nor indeed any allusions to our Lord's discourses."(2) It is clear that as there is no direct reference to any Gospel in the Epistle to Diognetus, even if it were ascertained to be a composition dating from the middle of the second century, which it is not, and even if the indirect allusions were ten times more probable than they are, this anonymous work could do nothing towards establishing the apostolic origin and historical character {355} of the fourth Gospel. Written, however, as we believe it to have been, at a much later period, it scarcely requires any consideration here.