Christians can go wrong in two main ways when it comes to theological distinctives: we either under- or over-emphasize them. Those who under-emphasize distinctives usually say something like, “I don’t care about denominations—I just try to live by the Bible.” Those who over-emphasize theological distinctives tend to treat every doctrine as if it’s a matter of salvation. Amidst practical concerns over whether women should be pastors or if Christians should use “gay” as a label, it’s necessary for us to distinguish between the primary beliefs that all Christians must hold to, and the tiers of secondary beliefs that faithful Christians can disagree on. Without distinguishing the various levels of doctrinal importance, we cause division in the body of Christ where there ought to be unity.
In a class on the Trinity last semester, my professor Kelly Kapic mentioned how the Nicene Creed has historically been the test for orthodoxy. It’s interesting to note what is in the creed and what is absent from it.
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Except for the last paragraph, the creed is a confession of the nature and work of God. He is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. The Son—sent by the Father and empowered by the Spirit—became incarnate, lived, died, and rose for our sake. This is the essence of the gospel.
The centrality of the church, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life are non-negotiables as well. And as far as primary issues go, I would also throw in the inspiration of Scripture, the human condition, and the doctrine of hell. We could get more nuanced than this—e.g. do you believe in a bodily resurrection? (I hope so!)—but broadly speaking, these are the essentials.
At the risk of stating the obvious, this means that everything else is not essential. Issues like infant vs believer’s baptism or evolution, while important, are not issues we should divide over unless they contradict the essentials. So let’s have strong, biblically-based convictions about secondary issues. But even more, let’s remember our common conviction about the beliefs that matter most. We may attend different churches, but we can still remember that collectively we are one body–one holy, catholic and apostolic church.
so good and so true!!!
Makayla, wow I love your topic! You are right in addressing the temptation towards polarization within the body of Christ. Your response reminds me of the quote attributed to Augustine (though no one really knows the source): “in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, Love.” I agree that we must decipher what is essential and not.
However, though I am sure you are aware of this… I believe you are potentially oversimplifying this complex issue. Truth be told, not all “secondary tier” issues are all that secondary. There is a third tier that is important to note, and many scholars label the tiers like this: Dogma, Doctrine, and Adiaphora (Opinion). The first Tier is essentials… what believers HAVE to get right. And you are right on on those up above. The third Tier (Opinion) are things that we can disagree on and still be in the family together (i.e worship styles, young/old earth, eschatological timelines, etc). But the second Tier is a little nebulous, because they can often be linked to the first.
For example, scripture often addresses the sanctity and “set apartness” of the “Church.” To that end, church discipline and accountability come into play. Jesus himself (the very son of God and member of the trinity) gave us the blueprint on what to do when our brothers and sisters begin separating themselves from the body through their sin. Yes… Jesus said in Matt 7 to take the plank out of ones eye, but it is not loving to not address the speck in our brothers eye thereafter (“then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye”). And Matt 18 is very decisive in language… “go to them… bring another with you… bring before the elders… bring before the church…. remove them.” How does this fit with what you said above? Well, it is one thing to say that something is not necessary for salvation, thereby it is an “non-essential” issue. But when scripture does speak to the life, sanctification, holiness of the brethren, then these issues now have to be filtered through the lens of scripture (which you add to essential beliefs above) before carried out in discipline. Does that make sense?
All this boiled down… you got the essentials right when it comes to adoption into God’s family. I agree and applaud. However, scripture also is VERY clear about church sanctity and pursuit of holiness as to emphasize the gospel, protect the gospel (from distortion and false teaching), and spread the gospel.
Essentials… non-negotiable.
Opinions… debate away.
However, Doctrines that scripture clearly touches on in regards to sin and sanctification … sincere thought is needed. And sometimes the action of discipline and separation is needed as well.
All this said, we must be careful not to dismiss issues, but find the appropriate Tier for them. I pray as you do that we do not make non-essential issues dogmas. BUT also may we not be so cavalier to place strong, scripturally supported Doctrinal issues into the Tier of mere opinion.
Hey David, thanks for your comment! I could’ve elaborated more in this post, but I basically divided it into “essentials” vs “non-essentials” because I think issues such as women’s ordination (or any area of Scripture where Christians who hold to the authority of Scripture come to different conclusions) cause unnecessary division in the church. I used to be the person that considered everything essential. So I’m still trying to figure out exactly what is doctrine vs adiaphora because it can get difficult to distinguish. What would you put into the second-tier category? I totally agree with your comments on church discipline–I think discipline is necessary when a brother or sister is walking in sin.