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Romans 14; 2 John 9 – Doctrine vs. Opinon
John Locke said,
“The great division among Christians is about opinions. Every sect is about opinions. Every sect has its set of them and that is called orthodoxy; and he who professes his assent to said opinions, though with an implicit faith and without examining, is orthodox and in the way to salvation; but, if he examines and thereupon questions any of them, he is presently suspect of heresy, and if he opposes them or holds the contrary, he is presently condemned as in a damnable error, and in the sure way to perdition.
“Of this one may say that there is nor can be nothing more wrong. For he who examines and upon a fair examination embraces an error for truth, has done his duty more than he who embraces the profession of the truth without having examined whether it be true or no.
“For if it be our duty to search after truth, he certainly who has searched after it, though he has not found it, in some ways has paid a more acceptable obedience to the will of his Maker than he who has not searched at all, but professes to have found truth when he has neither searched for it nor found it; for he who takes up the opinions of any church in the lump, without examining them, has truly neither searched after nor found truth, but has only found those who he thinks have found truth, and so received what they say with an implicit faith, and so pays them the homage that is due only to Almighty God.”
Without much success, I endeavored to engage others in a sincere and fundamental study and conservation on doctrine and opinion. Everyone agrees there is doctrine and everyone agrees there are opinions. Few agree on which is which. Therefore I asked the simple question, “How do you define opinion and doctrine?” It seems this is the central issue for many when it comes to Romans 14. However, Romans 14 is about doctrine, if doctrine is simply what God has revealed and God revealed all foods clean. But some had a different opinion.
One suggested way is that opinion is defined as such when there is not a majority consensus. What this tacitly does is make man the arbiter of truth. A trusted method is that doctrine is defined as that which has been historically and traditionally believed. What this does is canonize error.
Personally I have struggled with this juxtaposition of doctrine and opinion for more 20 years; struggling yet never satisfied. Here are some conclusions. By definition, a doctrine is something that is taught. Therefore anything in the Bible that is taught is by default doctrine. This is a stable scriptural beginning, but a broad beginning. Let’s delve deeper. Ironically, at the end, you may decide I have a nice opinion!
Some things taught in the Bible are taught directly while others are indirectly alluded to. Anything directly taught is doctrine. That latter tends towards what is called “necessary inference” and the question then becomes “necessary to who?” The problem in calling things taught via necessary inference is that some conclusions by some people are not valid. And yet we cannot throw out necessary implication because that is the very foundation of parables, which taught doctrines, often the doctrine of the kingdom.
Some things taught in the Bible are specific while others are generic. Anything specific is doctrine; but then again so is the generic command. However, when deciding which is the best way to fulfill a generic command, that is opinion. It is axiomatic that any generic command can only be obeyed by making specific applications. While there are both scriptural and unscriptural applications, any application is by its very nature an opinion.
What about the silence of the scriptures? When God has not spoken on a subject, is it doctrine or opinion? It is doctrinally true to state that God is silent. It is opinion as to state why God is silent or what will eternally happen to those who believe God is not silent. However, scripture leans towards the doctrinal position that staying silent where God is silent is treating God as holy. If man lives on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, then God’s silence does not give life.
All this brings us to another question. When asking whether something is doctrine or opinion, aren’t we missing a necessary implication which is, what we believe to be doctrine is our opinion, but that doesn’t mean the opinion is wrong. It just means we have the right opinion about what is not opinion! I laugh sometimes at the confusion I cause myself and maybe others. In conclusion, I submit my conclusions: Doctrine or Opinion?
- Directly stated – doctrine
- Indirectly stated – doctrine
- Specifically commanded – doctrine
- Generically commanded – doctrine
- Necessary Inference – doctrine
- Probable Inference – opinion
- Applications of Generic command – opinion
- Silence of the scriptures – opinion
Now why is there hesitancy to declare everything God teaches as doctrine? I have an interesting opinion about that!
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