Extra-biblical practices

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

John 21.25 NLT

John states that Jesus did so many things that if all of them were recorded there would not be enough books in the world to contain them. If there was so much more to be recorded but only a tiny fraction of it was recorded for our benefit, then it stands to reason that the disciples of Jesus who saw those other things he did that were not recorded may have practiced them. There would be no fear that they were practicing in error because they saw the master do them.

It is probable that the early church, which consisted of many disciples who followed Jesus abounded with these extra-biblical practices with the justification that they saw the master do it. It is this line of reasoning that the Roman Catholic church uses to justify its fixation on certain practices, claiming a heritage of practices, handed down from the early disciples via an unbroken chain of transmission.

The danger with this line of reasoning is that there is no stable or consistent means of checking error that may creep into the execution of these practices, permitting the undesirable and fatal deviation from the right course. It is undoubtedly the case that the majority and essence of the core teaching and practice of Jesus were recorded for our benefit without much left which cannot be derived form the bulk that has already been presented.