What is the evidence there in the New Testament of the transmission of

authoritative doctrine? Could you outline some aspects of authoritative

doctrine, sometimes called sound teaching?

What is the authoritative doctrine (sound doctrine)?

The authoritative doctrine is the teachings of Jesus Christ’s apostles that was
present before the writings of the New Testament came into existence. It was
some sort of unwritten corpus of main ideas that were preached and taught in
the early days of Christian church which were focused on “the proclamation of
Jesus Christ , according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long
ages” as paradigmatically Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 16.25
The authoritative doctrine was the common ground that all newcomers to
Christianity should share, embraced as the writer of Hebrew put it “let us hold
unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the
promise is trustworthy.” Hebrew 10,23.
The authoritative doctrine should be guarded as well in accordance to saint
apostle Paul advice to Timothy: “guard what has been entrusted to you.” 1
Timothy 6, 20
Saint Apostle Paul on several occasions refer to authoritative as this is “the
gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your
stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word, I preached
to you.” 1 Corinthians 15, 1-2
Saint Apostle Paul not only preached the sound doctrine but encourage his
followers to do the same. He wrote to Titus to "teach what accords with
sound doctrine" Titus 2,1
This sound doctrine has been considered a healthy doctrine, in comparison with
all heresies that attempted to corrupt the newly Christian community.
Saint Apostle Paul mentioned this explicitly while writing to Timothy “If
anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our
Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand
nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about
words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant
friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and
who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” 1 Timothy 6.1-5
Sound doctrine is based on correct teachings, which are meant to give people a
clear idea about how to live a correct Christian life. Saint Apostle Paul was very
clear about that an authentic Christian life depends on correct teachings and he
advised his disciple about the danger that he might face with regards this: “For
the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from
the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations,
endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your
ministry.” 2 Timothy 4.3-5
This authoritative doctrine that New Testament mentions has been conceived
through different means, as Saint Apostle Paul mentioned in one of his letters to
the church in Thessalonica” So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold
fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by
letter.” 2 Thessalonians 2,15 However, there are plenty of written evidence with
regards the explicit content of the sound doctrine.
As Kelly mentioned this authoritative doctrine is “to be found everywhere in the
New Testament. In the later strata the references to an inherited corpus of
teaching are clear enough. In Jude 3 for example, we read of the faith once
delivered to the saints; later in verse 20 the author speaks of your most holy
faith, again using the word in the sense of an accepted body of beliefs.
Similarly, in Pastoral Epistles such phrases as model of sound words
(2Timothy1,13), the healthy doctrine (2 Timothy 4,3), (Tit 1,9) the deposit and
the noble deposit. (1Timothy 6,20), the faith in its concrete acceptation
(1Timothy 1,19) and the splendid teaching (1 Timothy 4,6).”
The core of this authoritative doctrine is presenting Jesus Christ as the Saviour
and the apostles as his truly messengers. As the writer of Hebrew wrote”
Therefore reflect on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.”
(Hebrews 3,1)
The Apostles made always clear that the message they convey has been given to
them by God. “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the
salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the
faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” Jude 1,3
The sound doctrine played a very important role in the early church specifically
in the second generation, the generation of Apostolic Fathers. Clement of Rome,
Polycarp of Smyrna and later Irenaeus.
The Apostolic fathers were facing persecutions and fighting heresies, in their
spiritual battle they always referred to the “What the apostles preached to us.”,
to the sound doctrine. Eventually with Irenaeus this appealing to the sound
doctrine and its content takes a different name and becomes the rule of faith.

What can be said about the sound teaching?

In our view sound teaching is more than a doctrine, is primarily a message
centred on Christ and the salvation and secondary is about recognising the true,
the healthy and the sound approach that should be taken in order to discover
Christ which is by following the Apostles. We think that a possible justification
for the secondary reason which in some situation became the principal reason is
the historical context when this sound doctrine originates.
The early Christian church could not survive without the secondary role of this
sound teaching, this keeps the church united and protect its message. We fully
agree with Kelly, who puts forward the idea that although we cannot find a clear
elaborated creed in the early church until the middle of the second century, for
sure we can talk about the creed of the primitive church, and the existence of
sound teachings is an argument for this position.