Before I started blogging, I wasn’t aware of doctrinal camps within evangelical Christianity. I only recently discovered that Christians disagree on several topics such as the doctrines of grace, women preachers, the rapture. And when someone called me a heretic because I defended an end-time view, it made me wonder, for which doctrines should we agree to disagree, and for which ones should we suit up and contend for the faith? Gavin Ortlund answers these questions and more in his book, Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage.
Al Mohler first coined the term theological triage to separate doctrines according to their importance to the gospel. The purpose of the theological triage is not to distinguish important doctrines from unimportant ones. All doctrines matter. They are, however, not all equally essential (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
There are some doctrines we must defend to the death, and others we don’t. In this book, Ortlund helps us recognize which doctrinal hills are worth dying on and which ones are not.
He offers four main classifications of doctrines. There are doctrines essential to the gospel (first rank), doctrines urgent for the health and practice of the church that may separate Christians into denominations (2nd rank), doctrines important to Christian theology but not worth separation (third rank), and doctrines unimportant to our gospel witness and ministry collaboration (fourth rank).
The book has two main parts. In the first section, Ortlund tells us the importance of prioritizing doctrines. He mentions the danger of the two extremes: fighting and separating overall doctrines because they are equally important and not fighting over any doctrine for the sake of unity.
In the second section, Ortlund walks through different ranks of doctrines. He gives a few examples for each and explains why we should fight for first rank doctrines, can separate over secondary doctrines, and must not divide over tertiary ones.
The book concludes with a call to theological humility where Ortlund urges Christians to approach theological triage with humility and grace, not arrogance and haughtiness.
Ortlund shared his journey in theological triage and I found it to be a lot like mine. He was raised in one denomination (Presbyterian) and had only been exposed to that denomination’s teaching until his adult life. I grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition and only knew its doctrines until I was in my early twenties. We both stepped out of our comfort zones and ventured into different denominations. He is now a Baptist, and I am a non-denominational protestant (Yes, I know it’s not a denomination per se). And we both had to figure out what to believe regarding secondary and tertiary doctrines.
Well, I am still figuring them out, which is why I was eager to read this book. And Ortlund’s classification of doctrines was useful.
I particularly liked his explanation of secondary and tertiary doctrines and his approach towards them. He worked through sensitive topics in the church, such as cessation of gifts and women preaching to illustrate how we should navigate these differences. Though he shared a few of his positions, Ortlund doesn’t attempt to convert us to his views. Instead, he gives us a framework to form our convictions on secondary and tertiary doctrines and how to use them in our lives and ministry.
What I loved most about Finding the Right Hills to Die On is the underlying theme of humility that ran throughout the book.
Ortlund’s said, “The greatest impediment to theological triage is not a lack of theological skill or savvy but a lack of humility. A lack of skill can simply be the occasion for growth and learning, but when someone approaches theological disagreement with a self-assured, haughty spirit that has only answers and no questions, conflict becomes virtually inevitable.”
I have seen this happen too often on social media. We often get so zealous and confident in defending God’s truth that we forget to be humble and charitable. It damages our relationship with one another. And as Ortlund said, humility is the way to unity.
Finding the Right Hills to Die on is a short but beneficial book. It provides a lot of wisdom concerning doctrines and how to approach others who think differently. It’s a much-needed book for our generation, and I highly recommend it.
*Crossway publishers graciously gave me a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. *
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