Hippo
Puritan Board Junior
I was reading an article on biblical studies that highlights differing accounts of the same (or perhaps similiar) occasions in the different Gospels.
The example quoted was the parable of the mustard seed, the three comparable texts read as follows:
Each account is subtly different but the exact words of Jesus are different.
Is it both acceptable and orthodox to believe that the writers could have been paraphrasing what Jesus said and are not strictly correct in a word for word sense?
If not what is the explanation?
The example quoted was the parable of the mustard seed, the three comparable texts read as follows:
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Mt 13:31-33
And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
Mk 4:30-32
He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
Lk 13:18-19
Each account is subtly different but the exact words of Jesus are different.
Is it both acceptable and orthodox to believe that the writers could have been paraphrasing what Jesus said and are not strictly correct in a word for word sense?
If not what is the explanation?