GAP theory?

[Bonhoffer]

Can anyone explain GAP theory to me ?(or show me any websites which explain it)

I want to know scriptural support for it, as well as scientific.

I would also want to know possible reasons for rejecting it.

 

[mhess13]

Can anyone explain GAP theory to me ?(or show me any websites which explain it)

I want to know scriptural support for it, as well as scientific.

I would also want to know possible reasons for rejecting it.

I used to believe the gap theory and many great christians that I respect hold this view. It is very popular among pentecostals. Even a few "fundies" hold to the gap theory. If you ever listen to "Thru the Bible" w/ J. Vernon Mc Gee, he believes it. Here's a fundie site that teaches the gap http://www.kjvbible.org/
I think it's the best of the compromise positions. If you get a Dake's Annotated Reference Bible or a Scofield the notes speak a lot of a "pre-adamite world".

The obvious problem w/ the gap is that a straight-forward reading of scripture would NEVER lead you to this conclusion and the theory was invented in 1830(if I'm not mistaken) by Thomas Chalmers. The gap theory was very popular among fundies up until the resurge of YEC and flood geology hit the scene. Now most literalists prefer YEC

This is how it goes:
In the beginning(possible billions of years ago) God created the earth and universe.
During this time there was a preadamite civilazation (some believe men inhabited this earth-some believe angels, some believe both, etc) ruled by Lucifer. Lucifer and the inhabitants eventually rebelled and had to be judged.

We see in verse 2 the earth is without form and void, darkness is upon the face of the deep. This is taken to mean the earth was flooded, the darkness is taken to mean that God with held the light of the sun (and restored it on the 4th day), and this darkness possibly caused a great ice age.

Anyway, long story short God restored the earth 6,000 years ago in 6 literal days. As far as I know most gap theorists DO believe that Noah's flood was global.

Scripture "support"
-they try to use some Hebrew words for support
-Jer 4:23-26
- Ezekiel 28:11-17;
-Isaiah 14:12-14

I know of no real scientific evidence for it. It seems to me any evidence of a flood before the "restoration" would have been wiped out by Noah's flood.

My biggest reason for rejecting it is that adam is the first man 1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
God didn't say in his word that there we humans are humaniods before the creation
romans 5:12 is clear that Adam's sin introduced death into the world
ex20:11 is concrete proof that all of creation was done in 6 literal days

good sites for you (pro-gap)
http://www.bbmhp.org/visaids/ot/tohu/slshow.html good slideshow
http://www.bbmhp.org/editorial/tohu.html

The worldwide church of God were big promoters of the gap and have done the most research into the scientific aspects of it. (at least the used to in the 70's I don't know about today)

Anyway, there's a lot more websites, if you want I can dig them up. Also, if you're interested in this topic I can send you tons of info both pro and con by email

 

[Bonhoffer]

thanks. Are there any books that can be bought about it also?

 

[mhess13]

thanks. Are there any books that can be bought about it also?

Arguably the best work is by Arthur Custance, but his books are out of print (I believe) and VERY pricey. THEY GET VERY TECHNICAL. I tried to get them thru amazon, but wasn't willing to cough up the kind of dough that they were asking...
at any rate all (or most) of his work can be found at www.custance.org and most can be downloaded

A great pro-gap book that I have is "another time, another place, another man" By Dake publishing www.dake.com
You may want to dig around www.wcg.org and especially through their "Plain Truth" section see if they have any literature for sale (i know they once did)

Remeber though that the best info for a gap is found in the Scofield Reference Bible and the best is Dake's Annotated Reference Bible.
If you want some free Bible software download e-sword.You now can get all of Scofield's notes from www.e-sword.net

I encourage you to study BOTH sides of the issue. The gap sounds good and has a lot of appeal, but this theory has a lot of holes.
Weston W. Fields addresses this in "Unformed and Unfilled"
The hated Dr.Hovind in his booklet "The Gap Theory" has about the best refutation of the gap that I've ever read, and it's an easy quick read.go to www.drdino.com and search thru the frequently asked questions section. If you can't find it, (website was recently restructured) I have it downloaded and can email it to you.

Also the ever so hated www.theyoungearth.com has a Genesis ch 1 and 2 commentary refuting the gap. http://www.theyoungearth.com/ayoungearth/id25.html


Hope this helps

 

[nephilimiyr]

thanks. Are there any books that can be bought about it also?

Hi Bonhoffer!

Hi Bonhoffer!

I believe you can find a wealth of information in this old thread
http://www.christianforums.com/t92221

Also try finding this book by G.H. Pember - Earth's Earliest Ages. Also Stephen Quayle does a great job of explaining it in his book - Genesis 6 Giants

Look through all those website kjvbible.org has down on it's home page. Some of those are excellent!

Or try David F. Reagan's website
http://www.learnthebible.org/gap_or_not.htm

 

[Sinai]

Can anyone explain GAP theory to me ?(or show me any websites which explain it)

I want to know scriptural support for it, as well as scientific.

I would also want to know possible reasons for rejecting it.

The Gap theory (also known as the Interval and Restitution theory, the Divine Judgment theory, and the Recreation theory) was more popular about 50-80 years ago than it is now, partly because it was advocated by Scofield and the Scofield Reference Bible was especially popular then.

The Gap theory is usually largely based upon the fact that Hebrew tends to be more general and less specific than English or Greek. Thus, Hebrew words can often have a wider range of meanings. In the first part of Genesis 1:2 ["and the earth it was formless, void and empty"], the verb hayethah (which is generally translated "it was") can also be translated as "it became." Proponents of the Gap Theory therefore generally claim that Genesis 1:2 should be translated to read "and the earth became formless, void and empty" rather than using the more common translation of the phrase. This theory uses passages (primarily in Isaiah and Ezekiel) regarding the fall of Satan or Lucifer to bolster the theory that the world was created in Gen. 1:1 but became formless and void because of Satan's fall, and then creation continued in verse two.

There are, however, some proponents of the Gap theory who go about it slightly differently. Instead of translating hayethah as "it became" they use verse one of Genesis to emphasize that God had created the Earth "in the beginning" of creation, but by verse two, the Earth was formless, void and empty. These persons tend to ignore the fact that Hebrew had no single word for universe and that the Hebrew phrase "the heavens and the earth" is the Hebrew equivalent of the English word universe.

 

[wobbly]

You can download Arthur Custances writings his site on the web. I can't post links yet but you can find it easily by searchihng for arthur custance.

Martin