Q: But what really lurks in that gap?
Often when encountering two conflicting views, our first instinct is to find middle ground.
The gap theory is often offered as an idea that would build a bridge between the historical record of Scripture and the evolutionary time frame of billions of years by inserting millions of years in the creation account.
The gap theory not only adds to Scripture,
it also contradicts what God says elsewhere in his Word.
It even destroys the scarlet thread of the gospel that runs throughout the Bible’s interwoven narrative.
The gap theory tucks them between Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”) and Genesis 1:2 (“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”).
While a minority of scholars held long-age interpretations before the gap theory, long ages weren’t perceived as necessary to explain
Genesis until about 200 years ago, when a group of geologists began arguing that the way the earth looks now can be entirely explained by processes that we see happening today, an idea called uniformitarianism. However, without considering the earth-changing catastrophe of the global flood (Genesis 6–8), these geologists appealed to slow and gradual processes that would take millions of years to shape the planet—hence the need for millions of years of history.
Uniformitarian geologists, such as James Hutton in the late 1700s and Charles Lyell in the 1800s, began to study the earth’s different landforms and argued that geological evidence pointed to an earth much older than a plain reading of Scripture would allow. Lyell was not a dispassionate scientist following the evidence wherever it led—he had an agenda. He wanted to “free the science of geology from Moses.”
The gap theory makes no sense when we examine the grammar of Genesis 1. Gap theorists claim that Genesis 1:2, “The earth was without form and void,” should read “and the earth became without form and void.” However, the Hebrew word waw (and) in this passage can be used in various ways, telling us what the author means in a specific instance and how it should be translated into English. The use of this waw does not indicate a chronological progression, such as the next event in a series. Rather, the word describes the state of things at the beginning of God’s creation of the heavens and earth.
The gap theory becomes even more problematic when we look at what’s inside the gap. To explain why the earth became without form and void, gap theorists normally place the fall of Satan and the other angels who rebelled with him (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28) between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
When Satan appeared in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, he was clearly already a fallen creature, though still splendid (as described in Ezekiel), which is probably why he easily persuaded Eve.
The Bible doesn’t allow for a gap in Genesis, and we don’t need one. The Bible’s clear history of creation in six days, the introduction of death and suffering into creation after Adam’s fall, and the global flood in Noah’s day explain the evidence we find in the geological record." AIG
The gap theory tucks them between Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”) and Genesis 1:2 (“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”).
While a minority of scholars held long-age interpretations before the gap theory, long ages weren’t perceived as necessary to explain
Uniformitarian geologists, such as James Hutton in the late 1700s and Charles Lyell in the 1800s, began to study the earth’s different landforms and argued that geological evidence pointed to an earth much older than a plain reading of Scripture would allow. Lyell was not a dispassionate scientist following the evidence wherever it led—he had an agenda. He wanted to “free the science of geology from Moses.”
The gap theory makes no sense when we examine the grammar of Genesis 1. Gap theorists claim that Genesis 1:2, “The earth was without form and void,” should read “and the earth became without form and void.” However, the Hebrew word waw (and) in this passage can be used in various ways, telling us what the author means in a specific instance and how it should be translated into English. The use of this waw does not indicate a chronological progression, such as the next event in a series. Rather, the word describes the state of things at the beginning of God’s creation of the heavens and earth.
The gap theory becomes even more problematic when we look at what’s inside the gap. To explain why the earth became without form and void, gap theorists normally place the fall of Satan and the other angels who rebelled with him (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28) between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
When Satan appeared in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, he was clearly already a fallen creature, though still splendid (as described in Ezekiel), which is probably why he easily persuaded Eve.
The Bible doesn’t allow for a gap in Genesis, and we don’t need one. The Bible’s clear history of creation in six days, the introduction of death and suffering into creation after Adam’s fall, and the global flood in Noah’s day explain the evidence we find in the geological record." AIG