Territorial Bloggings

I routinely have very little problem with what I read over at the Rev. Dr. Al Mohler’s commentary blog. Heck, I’m a fan, even, and I’ve even been known to think that this Southern Baptist is more Lutheran than a great many “Conservative Lutherans” in the LCMS. That, however, shouldn’t, and doesn’t, mean that once in a while he goes a little too far off-the-beam for me!

His July 12 commentary is a case in point. In A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity, Dr. Mohler makes some good points. These good points, however, are kernels of wheat buried within a mountain of chaff. In the commentary, Dr. Mohler outlines a tiered approach to doctrine that I just don’t think holds water — at best, it’s merely mistaken. At worst, it trades the birthright of solid, Truth-based, doctrinal unity for the pottage of false, feel-good, “unity.”

More specifically, I find his second- & third- orders to be a bit too facile and, thus, quite problematic. In no way do I doubt that it could be argued that certain doctrines are more, shall we say, foundational than others — after all, the sainted Dr. Luther himself said that Justification is “the doctrine by which the church stands or falls.” The problem I have found is that when folks try to rank doctrines in order of “importance”, such a ranking belies a desire to minimize certain among doctrines. It also seems to betray a misunderstanding of the fact that many (if not all) of the “lesser/2nd&3rd-order” doctrines are very much intimately tied to the understanding of the “major/1st-order” doctrines.

For example, Dr. Mohler exposes his Reformed roots when he relegates Baptism to a tier-2 doctrine (i.e., one upon which Christians can disagree, but still remain in fellowship of some significant level…). [NOTE: Over at Ask The Pastor, Pr. Snyder gives a wonderful outline & explanation of just why Baptism is, in the context of this posting, a 1st-order doctrine, intimately bound together with Justification.] Dr. Mohler also makes the ordination of women into a 2nd-order doctrine, which is astounding given the importance he places on Christology as a 1st-order doctrine.

It’s not a bad, necessarily, posting by Dr. Mohler — just a disappointing one, in that he seems to be espousing what is really more of a “feel-good” unity that is based on a less than honest definition of what true doctrinal unity is (or, at least, should be). Such “unity” yields debacles like the JDDJ between Rome & the LWF, or the hideous communion between the ELCA & the mainline Reformed denominations. It’s sad, and it’s wrong.

-ghp