Sometimes, even academic commentaries on the Bible are worth quoting. This is from the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Revelation by Grant R. Osborne. He’s wrapping up his lengthy discussion of the Ephesian church in Revelation 2. (This is a little long, but great.)
We must learn to “test” the leaders in our churches and make certain that their orthodoxy is sound. We must do so carefully, however, for at the same time there are “heresy hunters” who attack for any doctrinal difference whatever and seem to be interested in power as much as in truth. The key is to separate between cardinal doctrines (issues that are clear in Scripture and essential for the Christian faith) and noncardinal issues (points that are not as clear in Scripture and are not essential for remaining a Christian). We must discipline believers on the first but dialogue on the second. The key is to allow the history of dogma (church history) to control our interaction on theological issues. We have known the cardinal doctrines for fifteen hundred years — the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the Holy Spirit (but not the charismatic debate), the return of Christ (but not the millennial issue), baptism (but not the mode), substitutionary atonement (but not Calvinism or Arminianism.) We need to be clear about what heresy is but be firm when we encounter it.
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That is one of the most fantastic statements I have ever read. Totally agree with that approach. I will try to check out this author!
While I like the theory, in practice it is not so easy. It is those defining statements to the core beliefs (so what exactly do you mean by “return”) we may not want to call core, but without them the core beliefs have no substance. Because of that, we may need to rethink what we define as cardinal beliefs.