Gap theory creationism
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Gap Theory Creationism, also known as the Ruin-Reconstruction interpretation of Genesis, is a belief system which holds that there is a "gap" of time inferred from the Bible during which the Earth became "ruined", and was then "reconstructed" during the six days of creation described in Genesis. The gap theory claims that God pronounced a cataclysmic judgment upon the earth during this period (Gap) as the result of the fall of Lucifer (Satan) and that the verses following Genesis Chapter 1:2 describe a re-creation or reforming of the earth from a chaotic state; this re-creation, then, is not the first creative work of God.
The gap theory allows for both the geologic evidence of an old earth and the literal wording of the Holy Bible. It does not need to appeal to evolution, parable, symbolism, or allegory, nor does it deny accepted scientific data. Therefore, proponents believe it deserves full consideration.
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Beliefs
Gap of Time
Gap theorists generally assert that an indefinite span of time exists between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. The time span can be, and usually is, very large (Millions or Billions of years) encompassing the so-called “geologic ages.”
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." - Genesis 1:1-2
Judgment
Proponents of this theory propose that a cataclysmic judgment was pronounced upon the earth prior to the seven-day-creation event, because of Satan's (Lucifer's) Fall. Some of the proponents of this theory also believe that there existed a race of pre-Adamic beings. Certainly, many believe the earth was filled with various types of (now extinct) animals. These animals, of course, (possibly including Dinosaurs?) were destroyed during the cataclysmic judgment.
The gap theory was preached in Europe and America long before Darwin's Theory of Evolution was written and before modern geological science was born. The Gap Theory does not always agree with some adherents of the theory of "Catastrophe and Reconstitution", since a judgment is not always required in the theory of "Catastrophe and Reconstitution".
The gap theory basically states that: In the beginning, God created the Earth to be inhabited. This fact is made very clear in Isaiah 45:18:[1]"For this is what the LORD says - he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited - he says: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.'" - Isaiah 45:18Isaiah shows that God had originally made the earth in the way He wanted, and following this original creation, earth was not in ruins. Later it became ruined because of a catastrophe.
Objections to the Gap Theory
Critics of the Gap Theory would say that the compromise of the gap theory is that it attempts to allow for both the supposed geologic evidence of an old earth and the literal wording of the Holy Bible. It claims not to need to appeal to evolution, parable, symbolism, or allegory, yet it accepts many evolutionary concepts of scientific data, such as millions of years.
However, the error of the gap theory is seen in that it allows for millions of years of death and suffering before the fall of Adam. Yet Romans 5 makes it clear that death came into the world through Adam.[2]"Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come." - Romans 5:14Also, the idea of God declaring the creation to be "very good",[3] knowing that there were millions of years of death and suffering, is untenable.
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day." - Genesis 1:31
References
External links
- Christian Geology Ministry Gap theory website by Gaines R. Johnson
- Creation Compromises Gap Theory, Theistic Evolution, Progressive Creation. By Answers in Genesis
See Also
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