potentialiter
.
But Taylor's 1st and 7th arguments following are, the former weak and incorrect, the latter
dictum et vulgatum, sed non probatum, ne dicam improbatum
. Who doubts that all that is indispensable to the salvation of each and every one is contained in the New Testament?
But is it not contained in the first chapter of St. John's Gospel? Is it not contained in the eleventh of the Acts, and in a score other separable portions? Necessary, indispensable, and the like, are multivocal terms. Dogs have survived (and without any noticeable injury) the excision of the spleen.
Dare we conclude from this fact that the spleen is not necessary to the continuance of the canine race? What is not indispensable for even the majority of individual believers may be necessary for the Church.
Instead, therefore, of these terms, put 'true,' 'important,' and 'constitutive,' that is, appertaining to the chain (
ad catenam auream
) of truths interdependent and rendered mutually intelligible, which constitute the system of the Christian religion, including not alone the faith and morals of individuals, but the