Theological Triage: How Do You Decide What Hill to Die On?

Doctrinally, of course. I mean, you can talk about what hill you’re willing to die on when it comes to your 2-year old’s behaviour, or for that matter, your teenager, but those are not life or death hills. Are there Christian doctrines that are life or death hills? Yes, I believe there are. For example, if you deny that Jesus is the Eternal Son of God, you will not be saved. If you refuse to believe in the mystery of the Trinity, you will not be saved. So those are two hills I am willing to die on when it comes to standing my ground in my life of faith.

There has been a lot of discussion in the particular denomination I’m part of in recent weeks about some issues within the church that people do not agree on. Tempers can get the better of people, some will firmly hold to an issue that is not a salvation issue, teaching their children that others who hold to a different viewpoint are not good or right. There is gossip and uncharitable speech and behaviour. This should not be.

One of the challenges that unbelievers like to lob at us is how can we know what is true when there are so many different Christian denominations?  If within Christendom we cannot agree on interpretations and doctrines, then what hope is there for anyone else? It’s the main argument for Roman Catholicism versus Protestantism.

You may have been part of a heated discussion with other Christians and heard, “It’s not a salvation issue, so let’s not argue.” Okay. We’re getting somewhere. But are we? What’s a ‘salvation issue’? What’s not? Who gets to decide? Based on what?

[If you like this kind of information, here’s a mini church history lesson: (otherwise feel free to skip!)

Living in the 21^st century gives us a huge advantage. We are standing on giants’ shoulders. Over the last 2 millennia, there have been masterful theologians and councils and synods and the like that have solidified doctrine and matters of Christendom. Theologians that stretch all the way back to the 1^st century. Of note is the belief that Ignatius of Antioch (50-117 AD), bishop in Antioch, was a disciple of the apostle John – the longest living apostle who died a natural death, not a martyr’s death. Polycarp (69-155 AD) was the bishop at the church in Smyrna (mentioned in Revelation) and was also a disciple of John’s.  Polycarp and Ignatius may not have been direct disciples of Jesus, but they learned from the apostle Jesus loved, and built their theology on his teachings.  Other notable “church fathers” include Justin Martyr (100-165 AD), Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202 AD) who studied under Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD), Tertullian (150-225 AD), Hippolytus of Rome (170-235 AD) a disciple of Irenaeus, Origen (185-254 AD).  They all served to help define what today is known as Christian doctrine.

Of course, there are so many, many more. Eusebius (310-340 AD) was the bishop of the old Roman capital of Judea, Caesarea Maritima. He’s known as one of the most important church historians. His writings are often the sole source of information from earlier church fathers.  Athanasius – the first one to define the canon of the NT exactly as we have it today. Jerome – who compiled the Latin Vulgate – (the Latin Bible used by western churches for centuries), Augustine, known as the most influential theologian of the church fathers in the west, Aquinas, Anselm…….]

And during these years, the ancient Christian creeds were formed – the Nicene, Athanasian, Chalcedon, and Apostolic. These creeds form the basis of the beliefs that are hills to die on.  We call this the orthodox Christian faith – the faithful Christian witness throughout church history.

And of course, throughout the centuries, God to raise up men and women who contributed significantly to our rich theological history. Theologians, scholars, apologists such as the Reformers: Knox, Hus, Luther, Calvin.  Later, others such as Abraham Kuyper, Charles Spurgeon, Isaac Watts, Arthur Pink, AW Tozer, Herman Bavinck…more recently – RC Sproul, John MacArthur. And God continues to raise up people today.

With such a rich history, we would be unwise to think we can ignore it all and “find out new truths for today.”  (which is an argument used today). And yes, everything must be looked at with discernment, to determine the Scriptural basis of any doctrine. But here’s the beauty of it…. God has preserved the truth of Scripture and the essential doctrines of the Christian faith throughout the centuries, with men of each generation reading what was written before them, using “Berean” discernment and building on that, expanding the truths for “lay people” to understand doctrine more fully. Language changes, and it takes brilliant scholars to be able to re-word things for easier understanding while remaining faithful to the oldest original language manuscripts. For instance, in 2026, there’s no way that I would be able to truly understand the KJV!  Now that’s a translation, which is different. But I have a few books, for example, on the attributes of God, that draw deeply from older sources, such as Stephen Charnock’s “The Existence and Attributes of God”. I own a copy of that book but am so thankful for 21^st century writers who have paraphrased things Charnock spoke so eloquently about so that I can understand it without my brain exploding!

So, over the centuries, through many godly and well-educated theologians, scholars and apologists, we know doctrines that are essential to the Christian faith – doctrines that you must believe to be a faithful Christ follower. These are called Tier 1 doctrines. And then there are many other aspects of the Christian faith that don’t fall under Tier 1 and it’s hard to know what to do with them. Do they matter?  How much do they matter? Does disagreement mean division?  To answer these questions, we need to define what doctrines belong to what tier.

We need something called “theological triage”. That’s a term coined by Albert Mohler. He defines it as “a responsible way of weighing theological issues and biblical doctrines understanding which are of first importance.” You may recognize that “of first importance” from 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, where Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote, “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, …..By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you….For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” Paul is saying that there are certain beliefs essential to the Gospel. By which we are saved and must take our stand!

Framing some doctrines of “first importance” or “tier 1” does not imply that other biblical beliefs are unimportant, but that they are not essential to salvation.  Bible doctrines are simply a set of theological teachings which form the parameters for the Christian faith – the ones we find in the Creeds. There are many, from creation, to the nature of God, to the person and work of Christ, to heaven and hell, to the second coming, etc.  While some doctrines may not be essential to salvation, they remain intrinsically connected to the larger body of beliefs we as Christians hold to. 

Augustine famously said, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” When debating 2^nd or 3^rd tier issues, we need to be humble, give grace, and hold our beliefs loosely. 1^st order issues?  They need to be held with a tight grasp.

Tier 1 Doctrines

Authority of Scripture, the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture                                                                         Doctrine of Creation – that God is the Creator of all things.  Ex nihilo in particular.                                                            The Nature of God (his attributes) The Trinity The Incarnation and Virgin Birth Jesus being truly God and truly man; deity of Jesus Person and work of Christ ***Substitutionary atonement ***Christ’s death, burial and resurrection; and ascension The Doctrine of Man/ the doctrine of Sin Justification by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone – as a gift of God’s grace The Second Coming of Christ ***Our resurrection; final  judgment; Eternity with God in his presence

These are doctrines of the orthodox Christian faith that are essential to salvation. We hold these as essential, and not debatable.

Tier 2 Doctrines

These are issues of conviction. And they are very important.  Often, they are matters that will dictate what church we will attend. They’re not core doctrines, but we can disagree and still call each other brothers and sisters in Christ. These are doctrines that we believe to be true as we live out our lives as believers in community. These 2^nd Tier or 2^nd Order doctrines may distinguish denominations and affect church practice.  

Lord’s Supper (how it’s practiced and who attends) Baptism (infant or believers only baptism) Ecclesiology (Church government) Roles of men and women in the church (women deacons or not) Human sexuality Church structure Spiritual gifts Age of the earth Relationship between Israel and the church Eschatology (end times) Angels and Demons Sanctity of Life Predestination            

The next level is usually called “Tertiary issues” and could be defined by being matters of conscience or disputable matters. We can have a church filled with people who disagree on many of these matters!  Having a position on something in this category should be biblically based – it’s not just a preference or a feeling. When you have a discussion with someone, you should be able to open the Bible and show your reasoning. But these are very loosely held. We need to have humility in this – because we may not be right. The other person may not be right. (and the key Christian virtue is not to always be right!) We hold that our fellow brothers and sisters also have biblical reasons for holding a different view. These are definitely not the hills to die on!    

Views on:

Alcohol use, or food choices Tithing The Second Coming of Christ, for example: being pre or post or a-millenial. (yes, this can be in two different tiers) Bible translations Church music, songs, instruments Manner of dress (for example, women wearing hats or not) Social justice and politics (involvement) Entertainment choices Celebrating Holy Days Observing the “Sabbath” ( or example, what you can or cannot do on a Sunday) Views on schooling

(Although, some may argue that issues like church music, manner of dress, schooling, entertainment choices etc are not even Tier 3, they’re “Tier 4” or “Preference” topics.)

Romans 14 is a big help here. Here Paul gives us guidelines on how we are to get along when we disagree about issues that are not central to our faith. Without going into too much detail, Paul’s emphasis is on the “strong” believers (the Gentiles) giving up their rights to avoid creating spiritual problems for the “weak” believers (the Jews).  Courtney Doctor says that our goal must be to help all believers grow into spiritual maturity and not hinder their progress.   Paul does say that, yes, strong believers should “give in” to the conscience of the weak believer. Why? Love. The strong believer does not forsake his conscience by abstaining from certain freedoms in the presence of others.  But the weaker believer would have to violate his conscience in order to accommodate the liberties of the strong. It’s not about pleasing ourselves – it’s putting others’ needs above our own.

An example I would use about this is eating out on a Sunday. Let’s take something simple like getting an ice cream cone while at the beach on a Sunday evening walk. You may have no problem with it – your conscience is clear. This is Christian liberty. But you are with friends who do not think this is right or okay.  Do it or don’t do it?  Paul would say – don’t do it. Give up your freedom. We may be right sometimes. And it IS important to understand what God’s word says, to know what he loves, what he commands us to do or not do. But we can take our good understanding and strong convictions and use them in sinful ways – causing others to stumble. We have an obligation to put others’ needs first.

LOVE must govern Christian liberty. Being right is not the chief Christian virtue – love is.

N.T. Wright once said to his fellow congregants, “I will not make any demands on your convictions; but I will make demands on your charity.”  We can only have unity when we are charitable towards others who hold a different position. Scripture doesn’t insist that the above matters need to be seen in the same way. However, Scripture does tell us that we are to practice love, that we practice the “one another’s”!

In the essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.   

Unity is not uniformity.

There is diversity in unity. Grace and Peace!