THE PROBLEM WITH THE GAP THEORY

 

Genesis 1:1-2:3 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning— the first day.  And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."  So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.  God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning— the second day.  And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.  God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.  Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning— the third day.  And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.  God made two great lights— the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.  God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning— the fourth day.  And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."  So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."  And there was evening, and there was morning— the fifth day.  And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.  God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."  Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground— everything that has the breath of life in it— I give every green plant for food." And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning— the sixth day.  Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

 

In order to explain why I do not give credit to the Gap Theory I must first give a short analysis of the relationship between the theory of evolution and time.  The theory of evolution requires vast periods of time for the proposed mechanism of natural selection to function.  A professor holding up a worm before his class and saying: "This is what your grandfather looks like" carries much more weight when it is phrased: "Millions of years ago this was what your grandfather looked like."  Time is the agent upon which those who believe the theory of evolution to be true cast all their hopes, it is time which they have discovered by their interpretations of the dating methods of rocks and specimens.  Without time evolution could not function for no opportunity for natural selection to function would present itself and no self respecting believer in evolution could seriously entertain the thought of the spontaneous appearance of each form of life for that would require the higher being for which evolution has no desire (this is specifically what evolution argues against when it denounces creation of everything by God).

 

The Gap Theory is a theory of origins that seeks to reconcile evolution's requirements for vast spans of time with the Bible.  It has become quite popular for the reason that it appears to end the conflict that has so long existed between science on the one hand and Christianity on the other.  In fact, it is so popular that the theory has even found its way  into the NIV translation of the Bible:

 

Genesis 1:1-2 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was {2 Or possibly <became>} formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

 

The implicit support for the Gap Theory appears in the footnote of verse two where we read: "Or possibly <became>."  Quite simply the entire thrust of the Gap Theory is that between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 there is inserted an indeterminate span of time, in keeping with the span of time postulated by proponents of evolution.  It is during this period of time that Satan is believed to have rebelled, bringing chaos upon the previously perfect creation of God and causing the earth to become "formless and empty."  It is also during this time that all the fossils found today are believed to have formed from the deaths of countless generations of animals.  God is therefore thought to have been embarking upon a work of re-creation in the verses that follow those quoted above, not actually creating but bringing order out of the chaos that resulted from the earlier corruption of His creation.  The Gap Theory ignores that the Bible teaches very clearly that death was introduced into the world by man's rebellion, not by Satanic activity before man was created.

 

The Gap Theory is wrong since it is merely an attempt to reconcile the apparent findings of science with the teachings of the Bible.  In so doing it twists the Bible so that these spans of time can be acknowledged yet fails to acknowledge that  the only reason for vast spans of time is that such time is required by evolution and its proponents have interpreted all aging methods to support this.  Time is required in order for evolution to have a even the slimmest chance of success, evolution is required so that those who chose to believe it have an apparently reasonable alternative to creation, and an alternative to creation is required so that God may be ignored.

 

The Bible does not offer the slightest support for the Gap Theory.  The text of Genesis 1 and 2, both in the choice of words and in the structure, is most easily understood as God performing a new work that has never been seen before.  Elsewhere in the Bible this is confirmed, specifically in Revelation where God will usher in a new creation to replace the current one corrupted by our rebellion.  Paul supports this when he says:

 

Romans 8:19-21 - The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

 

In accepting the teachings of science required by the theory of evolution the Gap Theory has abandoned the concept of a trustworthy God, since He has apparently hidden the truth from us in His own record of what He Himself has done, and thereby casts doubt on all the rest of His revelation of Himself to man.  If the creation account as found in Genesis cannot be trusted the entire Bible cannot be trusted.  Capitulation to error will always weaken truth and those who hold to the truth must hold it firmly.