dispensability (dispensabiliti)

[ 3. In theol.: (a) The method or scheme by which God has at different times developed his purposes, and revealed himself to man; or the body of privileges bestowed, and duties and responsibilities enjoined, in connection with that scheme or method of revelation: as, the old or Jewish dispensation; the new or Gospel dispen sation. See grace. (b) A period marked by a particular development of the divine purpose and revelation: as, the patriarchal dispensation (lasting from Adam to Moses); the Mosaic dispensation (from Moses to Christ); the Christian dispensation. There is, perhaps, no part of divinity attended with so much intricacy, and wherein orthodox divines so much differ, as the stating the precise agreement and difference between the two dispensations of Moses and of Christ. Edwards, Works, I. 160. Personal religion is the same at all times; "the just" in every dispensation "shall live by faith." J. H. Newman , Parochial Sermons, i. 247. 41. Management; stewardship; an act or action as manager or steward. God hath seen so much ami in my dispensations Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 279. (and even in this affair) as calls me to be humble. dispensation 5. A relaxation of the law in some particular case; specifically, a license granted (as by the pope or a bishop) relieving or exempting a person in certain circumstances from the action, obligations, or penalties of some law or regulation. The ecclesiastical laws of the Roman Catholic Church give to the pope the power of granting dispensations in certain cases, and of deputing this power to bishops and others. In universities a dispensation is a permi ion to omit some exercise. The Jews in general drink no Wine without a Dispen sation . Howell, Letters, I. vi. 14. Yet appeals did not cease, and the custom of seeking dispensations, faculties, and privileges in matrimonial and clerical causes increased. Stubbs , Const. Hist., § 403. The nece ity of dispensation arises from the fact that a law which is made for the general good may not be beneficial in this or that special case, and therefore may be rightly relaxed with respect to an individual, while it continues to bind the community. Rom. Cath. Dict. dispensational (dis-pen-sa's hon-al), a. [ The limits of certain dispensational periods were revealed in Scripture. Bibliotheca Sacra , XLV. 237.