Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage - Book Review
Book review by Peter Oram
‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Paul’s words to Timothy have rung true throughout the ages. And maybe even more so in recent years with attacks on God’s word, with apathy towards the Bible amongst many in our society, and with the Church’s general decline in holding firm to God’s word as our world opposes it.
Amongst those who are more Evangelically reformed-minded, this slip is unwelcome and rightly so has caused many to react against this more aware from Sola Scriptura. The Bible must stand firm as our truth.
But as Martin Luther says ‘Human reason is like a drunken man on a horseback; setit up on one side, and it tumbles over the other’. It can be very easy to become so zealous of doctrine and correct theology that we lose sight of being gentle, peacemakers, and compassionate.
Gavin Ortlund’s book ‘Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage’ provides a wonderfully balanced view of how we can approach the importance of doctrine and good theology without negating the fact that we are called to be united together and bear one another burdens.
He displays a four-stage system in which we can place doctrines that help us stand up for those doctrines that are most vital to contend with for the Christian faith whilst holding a doctrine of unity in our hearts which allows us to grow in Christlikeness.
First-rank doctrines either defend or proclaim the Gospel. Without them, we will lose any definition or anything to truly proclaim.
We must recognise that second-ranked doctrines do in fact have a large influence over practice and policies amongst the church, without being fundamental to either defend or proclaim the Gospel.
Third-ranked and fourth-rank doctrines are unimportant in the larger sense but still have their place, as they are found in Scripture. They have no bearing on salvation and little impact on direct church practices but play a role in our Christian practice and thought.
Like a hospital triage, Ortlund’s thought allows us to build a way in which we can think through, place, and defend doctrine when needed; allow that which is most urgent to have priority and that which is of lesser concern to be dealt with at the right time and in the correct context.
If you have found yourself defending doctrines, being concerned with different theological ideas and thoughts., then the book really does help shape that into healthy patterns of thinking and practice amongst the body of believers.
Ortlund ends his book with the importance that we all must be humble. Humility is key for all Christians. We must be humble people who hold to good doctrine. Our zeal for theology must never outweigh our zeal for actual brothers and sisters. We must pursue gospel doctrine and gospel culture. Humility is the pathway to unity. The unity of the church is so valuable Jesus died for it. If we truly care about theology then we must also care for unity too.