Strengthen your faith in God's word

Some say that vs 2 in Gen1 is the original Earth in vs 1 overflowed by water as a result of a judgement by God, and there is an unknown gap of time between the destroyed earth and when God began recreating it in verses 3-31. Then others say that vs 3 is when God started creating, and verse 1 is a summarized statement of what happened in vs 3-31. So scripturally which is it?

Bro Steve, I have studied this out because I was challenged by a Secular Humanist Biology teacher who would mock and ridiculed. I believe that no gap exists between verse 1 and 2. Just like a Human child in the womb is imperfect. An example is in Psalms 139:16, " Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect ; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. My personal view is that the earth was in the stage of development that all the parts were there, it just needed the hand of God to complete the process. Just as Col. 1:17 that the Lord Jesus, " And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." The Gap Theory did not become popular view until the advent of the Scofield Study Bible footnote for verse 2. This was an attempt to get the scientific community to harmonize itself with Bible believers. They developed the Theistic Evolution theory whereby they state that God used Evolution to bring forth life. John Ankerburg and Hugh Ross are now advocating that the Universe is millions of years old and that Biblical Christians must accept this Theistic Evolutionary view. I strongly reject that theory and I believe that the Universe is about 6000 years old. God is the author and creator of life and he did not use evolution to bring forth any life whatsoever! Please let me know what you think,
God Bless,
Bro. Chris Davidson
Eccl.3:1

In modern versions of the bible you can have it any way you like. The KJV is very specific in the creation account. There is no evidence to support a judgment or does it describe any chaotic conditions as a result of judgment. The earth being without form and void simply describes the condition of the earth at the initial act of creation. Also refer to GEN 1: 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31. In each case God says "and the evening and the morning were THE # day". Notice the word "THE", that is the definate article. There is only one THE first day in history and only one THE second day in history and so on. The modern translations will use, one day or a period of time. The KJV is the only one that got it right.

In response to Mickey’s “pro gap” comments: Simple reading can weed out false doctrine and error, such as the gap THEORY. Let’s be reminded that the original scrolls were not broke down into verses and blends together perfectly without any confusion. Notice in GEN 1:1 God created the heaven (singular) and the earth. Let’s focus on the heaven first: heaven singular simply means “expanded place”, everywhere else in the bible heaven is plural. God made an earth consisting of raw material and it was void of any detail, step one and the heaven was not divided up into three slices yet. What is so hard to understand? The three heavens consist of the atmosphere which we breathe, outer space, and where God dwells. Listen, common sense says when you start to build a house you start with the foundation and the frame, then you have something to work with ie. Plumbing, electrical, insulation ect. The word “and” in Gen 1:2 is a very weak argument and does not prove a thing except the author continuing from previous stated comments (conjunction). As far as your lacuna and missing detail, well I think you’re just totally missing the detail, keep reading the preceding verses.
There is no question that any intelligent person reading the bible understands that 2 PT 3: 5, 6 is speaking of the Flood in the days of Noah. Look again at “heaven(s)" (plural), the heavens were divided later in the creation account. Where do you get this “pre-adamic” stuff from, it is not in my bible.
Let’s discuss your blurb regarding 2 PT 3: 7: Maybe you should quote the entire verse. It says nothing about a flood covering anything in that verse. “Which are now” is speaking of the time 2 PT 3:7 was written and the verse speaks of future judgment of ungodly men.
If you get all your facts right you will know that 2 PT 3:13 is not talking about a third earth. We are still on the first earth! So either learn to count or read God’s word for what it is. Remember God is not the author of confusion.
Heresy – Any opinions that differ from establish biblical doctrine. What you teach sir is heresy plain and simple! Read Ex 20:11 “for in six days the Lord made heaven (singular) and earth, the sea, and all that in them is and rested on the seventh day:”

As far as I know, Ruckman does say there is a Gap. but that gap is not where evolution happened. This is an important distinction that hardly ever gets surfaced, especially in a debate about creation & evolution. When you hear the term "gap theory" it is almost always assumed that the gap is a time where evolution happened. Ruckman says that was the time of the pre-human race.

comparing Adam and Noah, both were given very similar commands and have a host of similar traits and situations. the chiefest is that they were both told by got to "replenish" the earth. Noah certainly did replenish; we know there was soemthing before his time. But Adam? the bible doesnt mention a world and inhabitants on the earth before Adam, but it certainly doesn't preclude that idea. The similarity between Noah and Adam is one point that suggests that there was a pre-human race and world, but doesn't outright necessarily say or dictate so.

So to conclude, this is an often overlooked theory
1) "that the gap is a time of a pre-adamic race (no evolution involved whatsoever)"
compared to the other two common theories
2) "there is a gap, and God used evolution in that time"
3) "no there is no gap; the first day was the beginning of all"creation. (part of the reason this last position is taken is b/c there must not be any room for evolution. but this 3rd presented theory of Ruckman's is one that does not marry a gap with evolution. There can be a gap without evolution.

The man most responsible for the idea of the gap theory was a Scottish theologian named Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847). He is believed to have mentioned this idea in one of his lectures in 1814. One should understand that before the 1800's, most people believed the earth was only as old as the Bible says- which is around 6000 years old. This "gap theory" was made extremely popular by and for those who chose to compromise the clear teaching of the Bible with the supposed long ages of the earth. For me it is very clear that God created everything in six 24-hour days and rested on the seventh.

(Exodus 20:8-11) 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

We also know that there can be no death before Adam sin.

(Romans 5:12,14) 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:... 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

This is strong evidence that there was no pre-adamic civilization that was killed before Adam sinned. Furthermore, the gap theory only seemed necessary to those who thought that science proved that the earth was extremely old. In fact, there exists overwhelming evidence that the earth is quite young- (see The Evolution Handbook). I feel that the Bible should be our final authority on matters of faith and practice, therefore when I am presented with a theory, I investigate it for validity. The research that I have done leads me to the conclusion that the gap theory does not fit the clear teaching of scripture. I encourage everyone to do their own research on the topic.

• The Gap Theory: Lucifer's Flood or Church Compromise? by Stephen Lawwell


• Unformed and Unfilled by Weston Fields


• Thousands... Not Billions by Dr. Don DeYoung


• Refuting Compromise by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati