For many centuries, Jesus' followers survived and thrived without any extensive written doctrinal statements. It was during this time period that the church grew from a few hundred to tens of millions, and eventually won over the Roman empire. The gospel message applied to people's hearts by the influence of the Spirit within a formative community of believers was the sufficient means to pass on sound doctrine, which included a very limited number of core beliefs along side of many examples of the kinds of behavioral patterns that were befitting of a follower of Christ as an outward evidence of having been transformed by the gospel.
Below is a helpful summary of New Testament orthodoxy and orthopraxy, that is, a recounting of what was really important to Jesus and his apostles regarding these facets of a faithful life in Christ, and by implication, what was not. We would do well to imitate their emphases, noticing where they spoke loudly, where they whispered, and where they did not speak at all.
Adapted from the conclusion of Craig Blomberg's article: THE NEW TESTAMENT DEFINITION OF HERESY (OR WHEN DO JESUS AND THE APOSTLES REALLY GET MAD?), JETS 45/1 (March 2002), 59-72
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