Gap creationism
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Gap creationism (also known as Ruin-Restoration creationism, Restoration creationism, or the "Gap Theory"), is a form of Old Earth creationism that posits that the six day creation, as described in the Book of Genesis, is historically accurate and involved literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, explaining many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth.[1][2][3] In this it differs from Day-Age creationism, which posits that the 'days' of creation were much longer periods (of thousands or millions of years), and from Young Earth creationism, which although it agrees concerning the six literal 24-hour days of creation, does not posit any gap of time.
History
The concept of the Gap theory was first promulgated by William Buckland[4] and Thomas Chalmers[5] in the early 1800s, as modern methods and investigations into the natural sciences had gained popularity during the 18th century. However, it has been argued that the belief can be traced back to biblical times.[6][7] Certainly it gained widespread attention when a "second creative act" was discussed prominently in the reference notes for Genesis in the influential 1917 Scofield Reference Bible.[8]
Gap theory proponents have included Cyrus I. Scofield, Harry Rimmer, Arthur Pink, G. H. Pember, Lewis Sperry Chafer, L. Allen Higley, Robert Thieme, Clarence Larkin, and Jimmy Swaggart.[9]
Interpretation of Genesis
Gap creationists believe that science has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the Earth is far older than can be accounted for by, for instance, adding up the ages of Biblical patriarchs and comparing it with secular historical data, as James Ussher famously attempted in the 17th century.
To maintain that the Genesis creation account is inerrant in matters of scientific fact, Gap creationists suppose that certain facts about the past and the age of the Earth have been omitted from the Genesis account; specifically that there was a gap of time in the Biblical account that lasted an unknown number of years between a first creation in Genesis 1:1 and a second creation in Genesis 1:2–31. By positing such an event, various observations in a wide range of fields, including the age of the Earth, the age of the universe, dinosaurs, fossils, ice cores, ice ages, and geological formations, are allowed to have occurred as outlined by science without contradicting Genesis.[10][11]
Biblical support
Because there is no specific information given in Genesis concerning the proposed gap of time, other scriptures are used to support and explain what may have occurred during this period and to explain the specific linguistic reasoning behind this interpretation of the Hebrew text.[6][8][10][11][12][13][14] Some of these are listed below:
- The word "was" in Genesis 1:2 is more accurately translated "became". Such a word choice makes the gap interpretation quite easier to see in modern English.
- God is perfect and everything he does is perfect, so a newly created earth from the hand of God shouldn't have been without form and void and shrouded in darkness. Deuteronomy 32:4, Isaiah 45:18 1 John 1:5
- The Holy Spirit was "renewing" the face of the earth as he hovered over the face of the waters. Psalms 104:30
- Angels already existed in a state of grace when God "laid the foundations of the Earth", so there had been at least one creative act of God before the six days of Genesis. Job 38:4–7
- Satan had fallen from grace "in the beginning" which, since the serpent tempted Adam and Eve, had to have occurred before the Fall of man. Isaiah 14:12–15, Ezekiel 28:11–19, John 8:44
- In addition, space, time, water, and the rock which constitutes the main body of the earth existed before the period of six days began in Genesis 1:3.
See also
- Creation
- Creationism
- Dating Creation
- Day-Age Creationism
- Old Earth Creationism
- Answers in Genesis
- Answers in Creation
Notes
- ^ Evolution Vs. Creationism: An Introduction, Eugenie Scott, pp61-62
- ^ The Scientific Case Against Scientific Creationism, Jon P. Alston, p24
- ^ What is Creationism?, Mark Isaak, TalkOrigins Archive
- ^ Geology and Mineralogy considered with reference to Natural Theology, William Buckland, 1836.
- ^ REMARKS ON CUVIER'S THEORY OF THE EARTH, Thomas Chalmers, circa 1814.
- ^ a b Without Form and Void, Arthur C. Custance.
- ^ Who did believe?, a list of pre-1800 sources including some textual citations, compiled by Ole Madsen.
- ^ a b Scofield References Notes online, verse by verse notes on Genesis 1.
- ^ Numbers(2006), p11
- ^ a b The Bible, Genesis, and Geology, Gaines Johnson, 1997.
- ^ a b Creation: Chaos and Restoration, Robert Thieme, 1974.
- ^ To Gap or Not To Gap?, Pastor David Reagan, 2003.
- ^ De Principiis, Book 4 (chapter 9) Origen, 3rd century.
- ^ Systematic Theology, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Vol 1, p253, 1948.
References
- Numbers, Ronald (Nov 30, 2006). The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design, Expanded Edition. Harvard University Press. pp. 624 pages. ISBN 0674023390.
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