Aug. 16, 1917
Born in Norman, Oklahoma, to J. L. and Elsie Lisle Lindsey.
Jan. 23, 1935
Graduates from University High School, Norman, Oklahoma.
1935
Preaches his first sermon (age 18).
Jan. 1939
A.B., University of Oklahoma. Major: Greek. Minors: English and History.
Feb. 4, 1939
Arrives in Palestine on Holy Land tour led by Dr. David L. Cooper.
Jun. 1940
Returns to the United States (via India and Japan). On board the ship from Japan, meets Margaret.
Sept. 15, 1940
Ordained, First Baptist Church, Norman, Oklahoma (Dr. E. F. Hallock, pastor).
Jul. 12, 1941
Marries Margaret Lutz, Methodist Church, Leonia, New Jersey.
Mar. 26, 1943
Birth of Bob and Margaret’s first child, David Lisle, in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
May 7, 1943
Th.M., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.
1944
The Lindseys appointed as missionaries by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Apr. 2, 1945
Birth of second child, Margaret Lenore, in Princeton, New Jersey.
May 22, 1945
Th.M., Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.
Oct. 16, 1945
Sails from New York for Palestine, with Margaret, David and Lenore.
Nov. 1945ff.
Resides at Baptist House in the Rehaviah neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Mar. 7, 1946
Birth of third child, Barbara Anne, in Jerusalem.
May 14, 1948
State of Israel established.
Jun. 1948-Mar. 1949
On furlough in Norman, Oklahoma.
Mar. 1949
Negotiates, on behalf of the Baptist Convention in Israel, the purchase of a 15-acre tract of land near Petah Tikvah. The Christian kibbutz Lindsey hopes to found never materializes, but the farm, known to Israelis as the Baptist Village, will serve as an orphanage and boarding school, camp and retreat center.
Mar. 16, 1951
Birth of fourth child, Daniel Norman, in Jerusalem, Israel.
1951
Completes, with the help of two Israeli translators working from English and French, a preliminary translation of the New Testament into Hebrew.
1952-1954
Postgraduate studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, during the academic years 1952/53 and 1953/54.
Aug. 7, 1952
Birth of fifth child, Robert Lutz, in Hayward, California.
May 20, 1954
Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Major: Practice and Philosophy of Missions. Minors: Old Testament Hebrew and Theology; New Testament Greek. Dissertation: “The Philosophy of a Christian Approach to Jews.”
1955
Negotiates, on behalf of the Baptist Convention in Israel, the purchase of property in the heart of Tel Aviv’s theater and cafe district for an art gallery and bookshop. The bookshop, which is named Dugith (“small fishing boat” in Hebrew), will open on Oct. 1, 1959.
1956-1959
Bob and Margaret reside at Baptist Village (near Petah Tikvah), becoming father and mother to the George W. Truett Children’s Home’s nineteen Arab orphans.
Sept. 29, 1956
Birth of sixth child, Deborah Kay, in Tiberias, Israel.
Jun. 1959-Jul. 1960
On furlough at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina. There, he produces the first draft of a Hebrew translation of Mark based on the Greek text. In the spring, he interrupts his furlough to act as Billy Graham’s translator during Graham’s visit to Israel.
Jul. 1960
Returning to Israel from Wake Forest, spends several days in England discussing textual questions with Prof. G. D. Kilpatrick of Queens College, Oxford.
Sept. 7, 1960-Aug. 31, 1962
Resides in Tiberias devoting himself to synoptic research.
Summer of 1961
Meets Professor David Flusser.
Night of Sept. 13, 1961
In an attempt to rescue 15-year-old Edward Salim Zoumout, one of the Baptist Village orphans, steps on a mine in no-man’s land between the Jordanian and Israeli sides of Jerusalem. Lindsey’s left foot is amputated in a Jordanian hospital. The Israeli press turns Lindsey into a hero. For details, read Lindsey’s biography, One Foot in Heaven: The Story of Bob Lindsey of Jerusalem.
Oct. 5, 1961
Repatriated to Israel by Jordan.
Oct. 31, 1961
Discharged from Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem after undergoing further surgery.
Around midnight, Feb. 14, 1962
The “Eureka experience”: Lindsey realizes that Luke was written before Mark. He dozes in his study, and then, “after a fantastic dream, the synoptic problem opened up like a book.” He wakes Margaret at about 2:00 in the morning to announce: “It’s not Mark that’s first; it’s Luke!”
Apr. 5, 1962
Edward Zoumout is returned to Israel by the Jordanian authorities.
End of Aug. 1962
Moves to Jerusalem, where, until his retirement in 1987, serves as senior pastor of the Narkis Street Baptist Church.
Fall 1962
Lindsey’s meetings with Prof. Flusser become more frequent.
1963
Lindsey’s “A Modified Two-Document Theory of the Synoptic Dependence and Interdependence” is published in the journal Novum Testamentum.
Sept. 25, 1964
Serves as one of five judges of the Third International Bible Quiz held in Jerusalem.
Aug. 1965-Jul. 1967
On furlough in Norman, Oklahoma.
Oct. 19, 1969
First edition of Lindsey’s A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark is published. Lindsey and Prof. Flusser hold a joint press conference at Baptist House.
1974-1976
The charismatic renewal movement sweeps Israel touching many of the Baptists in Israel, including Lindsey and his congregation.
Jan. 1979
Discovery of congruent story units. While participating in Prof. Flusser’s weekly seminar on the gospels at the Hebrew University, Lindsey discovers that many pericopae are dislocated parts of longer stories, and that it is possible to restore these longer stories by joining their dislocated parts.
Sun. morning, Mar. 11, 1979
Preaches to United States President Jimmy Carter and other regular worshipers at St. Andrew’s Church of Scotland in Jerusalem.
Oct. 9, 1982
Baptist Chapel (adjoining Baptist House), built in 1933, is destroyed by arsonists.
May 16, 1987
Retires as senior pastor of the Narkis Street Baptist Church.
May 18, 1987
Leaves Israel. Resides in Moore, Oklahoma.
Jun. 18, 1988
Ground is broken for the Narkis Street congregation’s new sanctuary.
1989
Third, and final, volume of Lindsey’s A Comparative Greek Concordance of the Synoptic Gospels is published.
1990
Lindsey’s The Jesus Sources is published.
1990
Lindsey’s Jesus: Rabbi & Lord is published.
Mar. 1994
As his health begins to fail, moves from Moore to Tulsa, Oklahoma, near daughter, Lenore, and son-in-law, Ken.
May 31, 1995
Dies in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Age 77.
Jun. 5, 1995
Funeral, First Baptist Church, Norman, Oklahoma.
Jun. 7, 1995
Memorial service, Narkis Street Baptist Church, Jerusalem. The eighteen speakers include Teddy Kollek, former mayor of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem School members Prof. David Flusser, Prof. Brad Young and David Bivin.
