JohnR7 said:
Is the Gap theory a workable theory?
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. 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.
Although some folks are very comfortable with the Gap theory, I personally have problems with it from both the scientific perspective and from a scriptural persective. There are other theories that are probably more consistent with both scientific evidence and with scripture.
JohnR7 said:
Could both the YEC and the OEC theorys of creation be true?
If you are asking if the universe could be over 13 billion years old before the first man appeared--but yet be less than six full days old when God finished His creation of Adam's and Eve's souls--and if time is measured the same way both times.......the answer would probably have to be no.
If, however, you are asking if it is possible for six consecutive 24-hour "days" to equal a time frame in excess of 13 billion years looking backward toward the time God initiated creation, then the answer would be yes. In fact, that is the theory that has been advanced by physicist and Hebrew Bible scholar Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder. He has proposed that the six “days” are in fact six consecutive 24-hour periods of time
measured at the speed of outward thrust using Einstein's theory (or law) of relativity and a universal time-clock based on cosmic background radiation and the wavelength of light beginning about the time God initiated creation (what science now calls the Big Bang). Because of time dilation, 144 hours measured at a speed calculated by using such a universal time-clock would be equal to about 15.75 billion Earth-years looking back toward the time of creation.
