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As for my claim that, even on the assumption that it is the witness of the apostles that is the real Christian canon, scripture nonetheless retains a unique place over against all of the rest of Christian tradition – -- namely, because it is the primary source of this witness (in the case of the NT writings) and the primary source of the assumptions made in formulating it (in the case of the OT writings) – -- two comments are pertinent.

First of all, it is important to distinguish between the necessary presuppositions of the apostolic witness and the assumptions made in formulating it – -- the first being the conditions logically necessary to the meaning and truth of the assertion(s) of which the witness is a particular formulation, and the second, whatever was in fact taken for granted (empirically as well as existentially) in so formulating it.

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