How many words did Jesus speak?

Answer 1

In modern culture we would never attribute words to someone unless we had good reason to believe that this is just what the person said, but this was not always the case. In classical times, it was considered both normal and honourable to attribute words that the person probably would have said in the circumstances, without knowing whether the person even said anything at all. This is, in part, the basis of the biblical account of what Jesus said. He taught high moral principles so what we read in the gospels is what the evangelists believed he would have said, not what he actually said.

It is still widely believed that two of the gospels were written by disciples of Jesus, who would at least have vague memories of what Jesus said. However, the gospels were actually anonymous and were only attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John later in the second century, when the Church Fathers sought to establish who, in their views, probably wrote the gospels. However, modern scholars say there is no good reason to accept any of these attributions, and go on to say that none of the gospels could have been written by an eyewitness to the life and mission of Jesus. Thus, we do not have a first-hand account of anything Jesus said, even distorted by the passage of time and memory.

No words in The Bible can be attributed with certainty to Jesus.

Answer 2

1020

Answer 3

a lot