Jerusalem school hypothesis

The Jerusalem School Hypothesis is one of many possible solutions to the synoptic problem developed by Robert Lindsey (that the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew both relied on older texts now lost).

The Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research is a group of individuals made up of "Jewish and Christian scholars collaborating in the land and language of Jesus; bringing historical, linguistic and critical expertise to bear on the synoptic gospels." Since the Jerusalem School does not hold to one theory as definitive for the synoptic problem, the Hypothesis label can be misleading. The term "Jerusalem School Hypothesis" is used by some to refer more generally to the threefold assumptions of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research: Hebrew language, Jewish Culture, and Synoptic Relationships, as basis for explaining the timeline of the Gospels. The Jerusalem School believes that Hebrew should stand along with Greek and Aramaic, as fundamentally important for analyzing the Synoptic Gospels, that ancient Jewish Culture, significantly preserved in Rabbinic literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls is carefully engaged in the study of the Synoptic Gospels, and that with the Synoptic Gospels, Greek and Semitic linguistic elements and Jewish cultural items should be identified and carefully traced for a theory of synoptic relationships.

One of founding members of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research put forth a Lukan-based theory of Synoptic relationships. He was not the first to suggest such Luke's priority. In 1922, a man by the name of William Lockton produced a theory of Lukan priority. He was the first to suggest that Luke's gospel writing was the original gospel. Lockton believed that Mark copied from Luke who in turn was copied by Matthew, who he believed copied his material from Luke as well. After William Lockton, a man named Robert Lisle Lindsey independently and unintentionally discovered a similar solution to the synoptic problem years after in 1963. He also established a theory of Lukan priority which argues: "Luke was written first and was used by Mark, who in turn was used by Matthew who did not know Luke's Gospel." Lindsey's theory suggests that there were two non-canonical documents (documents not included within a canon or group of rules) unknown to the scholars within the field of synoptic gospels. The two non-canonical documents were:

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