Robert Lisle Lindsey, also known as Bob Lindsey

(August 16, 1917 – May 31, 1995), founded together

with David Flusser the Jerusalem School of Synoptic

Research.

He spend most of his adult life as pastor in the Holy

Land. He is especially known for pastoring the Narkis

Street Baptist Church in Jerusalem. His biography has

recently been published under the name One Foot In

Heaven: The Story of Bob Lindsey of Jerusalem.[1]

He was an Israeli New Testament scholar. He was a

contributor to the Jerusalem Perspective, an academic

journal of a consortium of Israeli scholars, including

Jews, Christians, and others, of Jesus Research, the

Quest for the Historical Jesus.

Contributions to scholarship

Lindsey is the author of A Hebrew Translation of The

Gospel of Mark. The book is notable for its solution to

the Synoptic Problem. He argues the existence of a

Proto-Mark gospel ("Ur Markus"), which was a highly literal translation from an originally Hebrew source into

Greek, which he calls the Proto-Narrative. The text of the Gospel of Luke is the most faithful to and best

preserves this Proto-Narrative. Especially in the "minor agreements" between Matthew and Luke against Mark,

it is evident that Mark deviates paraphrastically from the Proto-Narrative. Mark's paraphrases Graecize the text,

including many phrases that are "non-Hebraic", being common in Greek but lacking an idiomatic counterpart in

Hebrew. Luke knows this Mark-like Hebraic Proto-Narrative, but does not know the Gospel of Mark as we

know it today.[2]

While it is easy to show that Luke knows a Proto-Mark (which happens to be closer to Hebrew) and not Mark,

Lindsey speculates further with more surprising conclusions, and argues for Lucan Priority. Thus, the first

gospel texts are in Hebrew. These were translated into Greek as the Proto-Narrative and the collection of

sayings, often called Q. Luke knows PN and Q. Lindsey argues Mark knows both PN and Luke, as well as other

New Testament documents, including Acts, James, and Paul's Colossians 1&2, Thessalonians 1&2, and

Romans. Then Matthew knows both PN and Mark (but not Luke). Matthew is faithful to both PN and Mark and

weaves their texts together, thus often agrees with Luke through PN against Mark.

Despite the surprising claim that Mark depends partially on Luke, Lindsey emphasizes that his solution to the

Synoptic Problem agrees substantially with the majority who hypothesize Markan Priority, since this Proto-

Narrative is identical with "Ur-Markus", and that all three synoptic gospels - Luke, Mark, and Matthew -

depend directly on the Proto-Narrative.

See also

• Jerusalem school hypothesis

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_school_hypothesis

References

1. ^ a b Kenneth R. Mullican Jr. and Loren C. Turnage, One Foot In Heaven: The Story of Bob Lindsey of Jerusalem,

Frederick, Maryland: PublishAmerica, 2005.

2. ^ A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark: A Greek-Hebrew Diglot with English Introduction, Second

Edition, Jerusalem: Dugit, 1973

Bibliography

During his life he published a few books and articles, namely (this list may not be exhaustive):

• Jesus, Rabbi and Lord: The Hebrew Story of Jesus Behind Our Gospels, Oak Creek, WI: Cornerstone

Publishing, 1990, ISBN 0-9623950-0-5

• The Jesus Sources, Tulsa, OK: Hakesher, 1990

• A Comparative Greek Concordance of the Synoptic Gospels, 3 volumes, Jerusalem: Dugit, 1985-1989

• A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark: A Greek-Hebrew Diglot with English Introduction,

Second Edition, Jerusalem: Dugit, 1973

• "A Modified Two-Document Theory of the Synoptic Dependence and Interdependence" in Novum

Testamentum 6 (1963), 239-263.

•

Read "Remembering Lindsey", Halvor Ronning

http://www.narkis.org/Archives/Lindsey%20Lectures/H.Ronning%20(Remembering%20Lindsey)%202008.pdf

Robert L. Lindsey (1917-1995; BA, University of Oklahoma, Th.M., Princeton Theological Seminary,

Th.M. and Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) was the long-time pastor of Jerusalem’s Narkis

Street Baptist Congregation. His research on the Synoptic Gospels led to the creation of the Jerusalem School of

Synoptic Research. Lindsey’s publications include his three-volume A Comparative Greek Concordance of the

Synoptic Gospels, A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus Rabbi & Lord: The Hebrew Story of

Jesus Behind Our Gospels, and The Jesus Sources: Understanding the Gospels.

List of Articles by Robert L. Lindsey [1917-1995]

• An Introduction to Synoptic Studies

• Jesus’ Twin Parables

• Paraphrastic Gospels

• The Kingdom Of God: God’s Power Among Believers

• Unlocking the Synoptic Problem: Four Keys for Better Understanding Jesus