What Jesus Said
The Holy Bible is loaded with things that Jesus said. Preachers often quote the words of Jesus from the Bible. Movies about Jesus or Christianity use the words from the Holy Bible that quote Jesus. Jesus had a lot to say, and Christians take his words to heart.
For example, in Luke 6:31, Jesus is quoted to say, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." That is a good rule to go by rather you are a Christian or not. It is reasonable, and wise, to treat others like you would want to be treated. Who can argue with that?
However, some of the quotes from Jesus are troubling. For example, Jesus said, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19:29, Mark 10:29-30, Luke 18:29-30) Jesus encourages the abandonment of one's family and home in order to enrich their life a hundredfold and have everlasting life. There is just something wrong with that!
But this essay is not about trying to sell you the wisdom of Jesus or to criticize his words when they are unwise, untrue, or troubling. This piece is about the genuineness of the quotes from Jesus.
Regardless of the truthfulness, wisdom, or troublesome nature of the words Jesus is said to have spoken, how do we know Jesus said it? Christians unquestionably believe the words of the Bible, including what supposedly Jesus said. If it is in the Bible that Jesus said such and such, Christians unequivocally believe Jesus said it.
One of the problems in believing Jesus said what the Bible says he said is that there is no proof Jesus existed. Before one can consider what Jesus reportedly said it has to be proven Jesus even existed. But, for the sake of argument and for my point in this essay, I will accept Jesus existed. That still does not prove the authenticity of the words accredited to Jesus.
It is considered one of the significant moments of his life, Jesus' fictionalized Sermon on the Mound that lasted several days. His sermon is miraculously recited in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. How do we know he said those things?
No one can remember word for word what someone has said over the course of an hour, let alone over several days. To believe the words written in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 are the true and accurate account of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mound is nothing more than credulity [ a tendency to be too ready to believe that something is real or true].
The writers of the New Testament were not with Jesus when he walked the Earth. It's a given that electronic recording devices were not available at the time of Jesus. I do not recall any mention in the Bible that Jesus had a stenographer following him around or that any of his disciples took notes. If so, where are the stenographer's transcripts or notes from the disciples? If there are not any notes or a stenographer's transcripts, then the quotes of Jesus are either hearsay or just made up.
From my perspective, credulity is a common trait among Christians and their reading of the Bible. God has not been proven to exist. Therefore, the Bible has not and cannot be proven to be 'the word of God.' That makes anything Jesus said in the Bible fictitious. Yet Christians, because of their faith (a belief without evidence), incredulously accept the Bible as an accurate account of what Jesus said.