Dinosaurs

[Vambram]

I thought GAP taught there was a gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, not the chapters?

I just had this discussion with someone last Sunday who believes in GAP. He claimed Genesis 1:28 proves it.
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

Because it says "replenish" - but that's an old English word for plenish. The Hebrew word מלא "mela" or "mele" simply means "fill" or to plenish, not RE plenish. That's the word that was translated to "replenish" in 1611.

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The "Gap Theory" teaching that there's a huge gap of time between vs 1 and 2 in Genesis chapter one is a Theory that can be supported by other verses in the Bible.

What is the Gap Theory? Did anything happen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? | GotQuestions.org

What is the Gap Theory? Did anything happen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? Was there a multi-million year gap between Genesis chapter 1, verses 1-2?

www.gotquestions.org

 

[Vambram]

What does it mean that the earth was without form and void (Genesis 1:2)? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean that the earth was without form and void? What is the meaning of Genesis 1:2?

www.gotquestions.org

 

[Diamond72]

I thought GAP taught there was a gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, not the chapters?

GAP like TE is not very well defined.

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

The "Gap Theory" teaching that there's a huge gap of time between vs 1 and 2 in Genesis chapter one is a Theory that can be supported by other verses in the Bible.

What is the Gap Theory? Did anything happen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? | GotQuestions.org

What is the Gap Theory? Did anything happen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? Was there a multi-million year gap between Genesis chapter 1, verses 1-2?

www.gotquestions.org

From the link you provided:

"In young-earth creationism, Genesis 1:1 is seen as a summary of the complete chapter 1 in the Hebrew storytelling form. God created the heavens and the earth. Then verse 2 begins a detailed breakdown of the step-by-step process that verse 1 summarizes. However, the statement that “the earth was formless and empty, [and] darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Genesis 1:2) can be puzzling. The idea that God created a useless and shapeless earth is an uncomfortable position for some conservative theologians, and this leads them to the gap theory, or an old-earth perspective."

Hebrew does this a lot. It will repeat things, or as some call it "enlarge and expand" such as in Daniel where later chapters expand on what is described in chapter 2 with Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Tohu, which is translated "formless' can mean empty space, and tehom, translated "the deep" or 'waters" is basically abyss, depths, and does not necessarily have to mean water, though the Spirit hovers over water. So Genesis 1:2 is quite mysterious. A formless' earth, or an earth not exactly formed yet, and only the water, suspended in space.

I have no problem with this, for it's no different than the potter putting first a lump of clay on the wheel, and then forming it from there. The original clay is formless' and void, and what do you use with the clay to make it pliable? Water. It's certainly not a "useless earth," and it shows how God creates it by working it.

Genesis 1:6-13 is where God "works" the earth into shape so it has a habitable part:

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

1And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the third day."