How to Navigate the Complexity of Secondary Doctrines
Wisdom and Balance
I would argue that the appropriate mentality corresponding to first-rank doctrines is courage and conviction, and I would argue that the appropriate mentality regarding third-rank doctrines is circumspection and restraint. Here I propose that our mentality concerning second-rank doctrines should be wisdom and balance.
By “second-rank doctrines” I mean that middle body of Christian doctrines that make a noticeable difference in how we understand and articulate the gospel, though their denial does not generally constitute a denial of the gospel. Second-rank doctrines are not essential to the gospel, but they are often important enough to justify divisions at the level of denomination, church, or ministry. These are issues outside the Apostles’ Creed but more important than, say, your interpretation of an obscure passage in Daniel.
I want to draw attention to two broad and somewhat overlapping reasons for the importance of secondary doctrines. First, although second-rank doctrines are not essential to the gospel, they exert a significant influence over our witness to and/or our understanding of the gospel. Second, second-rank doctrines lead to practical differences in how we do church and/or ministry, such that attempting formal unity amid our different convictions will often lead to divisiveness, confusion, and violations of conscience. For these reasons, it is understandable and appropriate—though ultimately regrettable—that Christians divide over these issues in certain contexts.
Finding the Right Hills to Die On
Gavin Ortlund
Pastor Gavin Ortlund uses four basic categories of doctrine to help church leaders consider how and what to prioritize in doctrine and ministry, encouraging humility and grace along the way.
Why Secondary Doctrines Can Be Hard to Rank
Some doctrines are easy to rank—I have no hesitation in labeling the doctrine of the Trinity, for instance, a first-rank doctrine. It is foundational to the gospel; its essential content is clearly and abundantly set forth in the Bible; it was systematically defined by the early ecumenical creeds and councils; and it is practically relevant throughout every aspect of the Christian life.
But, of course, not every doctrine fits neatly into one of three or four categories. There is a spectrum of doctrinal importance. Some doctrines, we might conclude, are on the border between one category and another. For instance, some secondary doctrines might be almost essential; others might be almost tertiary. Thus, if we assume that all secondary doctrines are equally secondary, we may be in danger of glossing over important differences.
This is a danger inherent in any system of categorization. It is not a reason to avoid the use of categories; it just means we must recognize that they are somewhat clunky and inexact and therefore do not convey all that must be said about a doctrine. Oversimplification is a particular risk with second-rank doctrines. They are distinctive in that they fall short of being essential to the gospel, but they are important enough to separate Christians from one another. By definition, therefore, this category spans a wide breadth of issues, whereas first-rank and third-rank doctrines are arguably more focused categories.
I am especially eager to help people avoid thinking like this: “X is a second-rank issue; y is a second-rank issue; therefore, x and y are equally important.” If you tell me a doctrine is secondary, you have told me something about its importance but not everything. Generally speaking, you have told me relatively little.
There are several other reasons why second-rank doctrines are difficult to categorize, and why we must therefore examine each of them with sensitivity to its context and its relation to the whole gospel. First, doctrines do not exist in a theological vacuum. Each doctrine finds its ultimate meaning in relation to the entire gospel. Thus, some doctrines may appear to be relatively minor in themselves but utterly essential in the way they function toward other doctrines—like a plank in a bridge that looks relatively unimportant but in fact keeps it from collapsing. As an example, many modern Christians reject the idea that God is simple because they find it bizarre, without consideration of how foundational this doctrine has been throughout church history for grounding a proper conception of God’s transcendence over the world.
Each doctrine finds its ultimate meaning in relation to the entire gospel.
Second, the importance of any particular doctrine sometimes turns out to depend, to some extent, on context and usage. As I have indicated, being a member in a church and being an elder in a church should have different doctrinal criteria. Or a particular doctrine may be especially urgent for the church’s public witness at one time and place, and less so at another. That doesn’t mean that the truth of the doctrine itself ever changes; but if you are doing triage, you might look at these issues differently, depending on the level of practical urgency at play.
Finally, when we engage in theological triage, we are dealing not just with doctrines but also with doctrinal attitudes. Every Christian, church, ministry, and theological institution has not only theological positions but also a theological culture or ethos—a set of unspoken tendencies and unofficial policies. Often what causes division is not a breach of any official statement of faith but a conflict at the level of ethos and culture.
Theological triage is, therefore, about far more than technical correctness in adjudicating this or that doctrine. It involves our whole posture toward theology. As one of the pastors I interviewed put it to me, having observed the lack of love Christians often exhibit amid doctrinal differences, “It’s not just about what you fight over but about how you fight.”1 We must especially bear this point in mind when dealing with secondary doctrines.
The Need for Wisdom
Hopefully, this discussion has drawn attention to several factors that complicate judgments of theological triage. Whether an issue is a second-rank or third-rank doctrine, or how important it is as a second-rank doctrine, often depends on what other doctrines come along with it and the attitude with which it is held. We have to take into account the “whole package” for its real-life consequence.
Many of us don’t like to live with ambiguity. We like to have things nailed down. We want to know, once for all, what number to assign to each particular issue so that we can function in light of that judgment.
Unfortunately, real life is more complicated than neat categories allow. Many doctrines defy a once-for-all classification without consideration of context. So, just as courage is the great need surrounding first-rank doctrines, the great need surrounding second-rank doctrines is wisdom. Theological triage is not a matter of crunching the numbers. It is not a math equation. There are practical and relational nuances constantly in play.
Therefore, among the most important practices for doing theological triage effectively are prayer and humble reliance upon the Holy Spirit. Theological wisdom, like all forms of wisdom, is more a spiritual matter than an intellectual one In this area of life, as in every other, we must heed the advice of Solomon:
do not lean on your own understanding. . . .
Be not wise in your own eyes. (Prov. 3:5, 7)
Realizing our need for wisdom may seem like a small gain, but it encourages us to humbly ask God to supply what we lack. Happily, this is a prayer he has promised to answer (James 1:5).
Notes:
- Hans Kristensen, who ministers in Sydney, Australia, put this helpful observation to me during a March 2019 Skype conversation.
This article is adapted from Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage by Gavin Ortlund.
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