The Gap Theory: Full of Holes

One version of “old earth creationism” is the Gap Theory. It is quite widely held to, and is something I feel I should address.

This is the theory that there is a “gap” of millions or even billions of years between Genesis 1:1 and the second verse.

“(1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

-Gen 1:1-2

According to this theory (This is very brief, and there are variations), God created the heavens and the earth in 1:1, and all the animals, etc. Some variations even hold that there was a race of men without souls in this first world. All these creatures lived for millions of years, creating all the fossils we see today. Satan then fell, and the earth was obliterated with a global flood (not “Noah's”). Then verse two picks up with “The earth was without form, and void...”. The proponents of this theory say that the word normally translated “was” here (hebrew, “hayah”) could also be translated “became” (While this is true, context is everything here. In this context, there is no way that it could be translated became). This would now say that the earth became void and without form. God then proceeded to recreate the world, the one we know now.

The only reason for this theory is to try to fit man's idea of evolution into the God's Word. A careful reading of Genesis, and the rest of the Bible, for that matter, gives no evidence for this theory.

There are several problems with this theory. First, it requires death and suffering before the fall, and the Bible states that “...sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned...” I think everyone would agree that that “one man” refers to Adam. The Bible makes it clear in this passage, and others, that death and disease were punishment for sin. How, then, could there be millions of years of death, decay, and suffering before sin? This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with this theory.

Exodus 20:11 says that the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. According to the gap theory, the Lord made the heavens and the earth in one day, then millions of years, then six more days. Since the days in that verse refer to six 24-hour days, there is not much room for millions of years there.

1 Cor. 15:45 states that Adam was the first man. This discredits any theories of a race of men in this “gap world”.

Another problem is that if the fossil record was laid down during this gap period and its accompanying flood, it leaves no room for the flood of Genesis 6-9 to leave any traces. According to them, this “second” worldwide, catastrophic flood left no trace. Odd.

And lastly, as I argued in a previous post, there is just a lot of evidence for a young earth, and not for an old one. This is evidence against the gap theory.

In conclusion, I would advise anyone holding to this theory to seriously reconsider it, weighing it with the Bible, letting the Bible be the authority, not man's opinions. If a theory contradicts the Bible, it is the theory that is in the wrong. You may think that this is not a big deal, but it is. Undermining the origin of sin is undermining the very reason for salvation. Think about it.