Disquisitions on this subject since Ludwig Traube enunciated the term nomina sacra (NS) more than a century ago had largely been on the genesis of the system. No proposal on its origin, nevertheless, has yet commanded general assent; discussions continue. The prevalent view, however, is that there are fifteen words that have been consistently treated as NS across manuscript tradition, and have come in a three-tiered developmental timeframe. This schema results from comparative analyses of surviving manuscripts using mainly the criterion of consistency (or inconsistency) in the application of the system, in terms of referents, i.e., sacral or profane. A number of methodological problems, however, can be raised against this perspective, foremost of which is the presentation and analysis of manuscripts as evidence for this schema. A more sustainable methodology, I submit, is to approach the subject from the standpoint of particularly more extensive (earlier) manuscripts, in conjunction with their establishable scribal practices, based on palaeographical, codicological, and textual evidences. It is along this path of discussion which this paper seeks to pursue using evidentiary details from the Chester Beatty Papyrus II (P46). This paper attempts to show how its scribe used and understood the system, not only at the level of the text of his exemplar (textual properties), but also at the aesthetic levels (palaeographical and codicological properties). Using this model will consequently show whether there is indeed any justifiable ground to the claim that the scribe of P46 had a difficulty in comprehending the system, as some students of P46 have already proposed.