Verbatim Quotations or Paraphrased Messages?

[Josh]

An overly rigid view of the accuracy of Scripture might cause one to worry about how differently the sayings of Jesus come out when comparing the different gospel accounts or how Jesus is portrayed in other New Testament documents. But the writers of the New Testament had no qualms about paraphrasing the remembered message of Jesus so it would be more suitable to various audiences.

"The first thing to be said is that if we compare James's writings with Paul's [as one example], both of them from time to time draw on the sayings of Jesus and apply them, but both of them do so with a certain amount of freedom to paraphrase the source material. They are not slavish repeaters of the Jesus material, whether the audience is predominately Jewish or predominately Gentiles."

Ben Witherington III

[Josh]

Another quote along these lines:

"There is no question that John has written up his material with [his own] distinctive and characteristic linguistic style and vocabulary. This, too, was standard convention among ancient writers in a world without quotation marks or any felt need for them. The Synoptics no less than John paraphrase, select, abbreviate, omit, add, and interpret the teachings of Jesus according to their theological and literary purposes. But none of these practice necessarily calls into question their accuracy according to the hisoriographical standards of the first century, which, of course are the only standards by which we may fairly judge them."

Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel