and to arrive at a Scriptural definition of every item of truth which it

contains.  Then, with no errors in our premisses, our understanding of the

truth of God would be clear and convincing.

A name is something concerning which something can be predicated, for

example: 'stone is heavy'; 'snow is white'.  A moment's thought, however,

will bring to mind many 'names' that are not like 'stone' or 'snow', so that

some 'right division' of the large family of names will be of value.

Aristotle divided all existing things into 'categories', a word which

is used many times in the New Testament in the sense of 'accusation':

'Where are those thine accusers (kategoros)?' (John 8:10).

'What accusation (kategoria) bring ye ...?' (John 18:29).

'There is one that accuseth (kategoreo) you' (John 5:45).

Every 'name', then, can be 'accused' of something.  When we say, 'The

man walked' or 'The man is tall', we, in logic, 'accuse' that man of a

certain action, just as, in another sense, we accuse him when we say, 'The

man is a murderer'.  Aristotle's categories or classes of being, into which

the subjects of a proposition may be divided, are: Substance, Quantity,

Quality, Relation, Space, Time, Situation, Having, or Manner of Being,

Action, Passion.

These divisions have been modified from time to time.

Kant arranged

them as follows:

Quantity including unity, plurality, and totality.

Quality including reality, affirmation or negation, and limitation.

Relation including substance and accident, cause and effect, active and

Modality including possibility, existence, necessity and contingency.

Another very common subdivision of names or 'predicables' is fivefold:

Differentia, Property, Accident, Genus and Species.  We do not propose to go

minutely into the details of these divisions; they will be more carefully

examined later.  We are only concerned here with the classification of names,

because of their connection with the construction of propositions, which are

now considered.

Having seen that correct names are at the very root of all right

thinking, we now proceed to consider the question of propositions.  A

proposition is 'a sentence indicative', something asserted, affirmed or

denied.  It will be seen that it differs from a question or a command, and

that all that is necessary for its formation is a predicate and a subject.

The relation between the predicate and subject is indicated in several

ways.  It is sometimes indicated by inflection, as when we say, 'Fire burns',

but more generally, by the words 'is' or 'is not', a use of the verb 'to be'

which must not be confused with that conveying the idea of 'existence':

'A proposition being a portion of discourse in which something is

affirmed or denied of some other thing, the first division of

propositions is into affirmative and negative'.