Should the teachings of Jesus be a higher priority than doctrines about Jesus?

When I first started working with scholars involved in the study of the Jewish Jesus it was pointed out that the "scriptural authority" upon which important Christian doctrines were based was the words of Paul. As institutional belief systems developed, adherence to the doctrines of the Church became the standard used to determine who was a "believer" and who was not. As time passed the words of Jesus, as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, seem to have been moved to a lower position of importance. Many people are able to say what should or shouldn't be believed about Jesus, but cannot explain what Jesus taught.

The question that I would like to have some feedback on is this -- Should understanding the words of Jesus, as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, be a highest priority than doctrines about Jesus?

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Why did they lay their coats at Saul's feet?

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Rabbi Stephen S. Wise’s Sermon at Synagogue on Jewish Jesus Causes a Storm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Samuel_Wise#/media/File:Stephen_Samuel_Wise.jpg Rabbi Stephen S. Wise gave this sermon in late December 1925 and it set off a storm of protests in Jewish communities. Before you read the article, it is important for you to be aware of some of the accomplishments of Rabbi Wise. ● a founder of the New York Federation of Zionist Societies in 1897 ● first vice-president of the Oregon State Conference of Charities and Correction in 1902 ● appointed Commissioner of Child Labor for the State of Oregon in 1903 ● co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) ● founding of American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) in 1918 ● founded the Jewish Institute of Religion, an educational center in New York City in 1922 ● founding president of the World Jewish Congress in 1936 (created to fight Nazism) ● co-chair of the American Zionist Emergency Council in WWII ● hel...

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