6days
New member
In attempts to fit eons of time into scripture, some people go with the 'gap theory". This 'theory' *requires mental gymnastics that result in a rejection of what God clearly says. The 'theory' basically is that Genesis 1 *is not God's original creation...His original creation was ruined, and this was a re-do, or a makeover.
Here are a few of the arguments for the gap theory I have seen here in TOL, and reasons why Christians should reject those arguments.
#1 False argument: God uses 2 different words in Genesis to describe creation;
'Bara' meaning CREATE *from nothing, or
'Asah' meaning to MAKE or mould from something that already exists. The word 'asah' is the more commonly used word in Genesis 1 indicating creation was really a makeover.
False because: In order to insert billions of years into Genesis, gap theorists create an artificial distinction between bara and asah. It is not difficult to notice these words are used interchangeably in scripture.*
For ex. V21 God created (bara) fish and birds.
V25 God made (asah) the animals.*
Or
V26 God is speaking of making man.
V27 God created man.
Or
Nehemiah speaks of God making the angels.
Psalms speaks of God creating the angels.*
#2 False argument: "was formless and void" (Hebrew- tohu wabohu) refers to something fallen in disrepair, or a state of chaos. The translation should read 'became formless and void'.*
False because: *Gap theorists should take a hint that they might be wrong in that no major translation of the Bible says that the earth 'became' formless.*
Also, false because 'tohu wabohu' does not mean chaos or disrepair. The phrase simply means what it says in most translations. The earth was without form and empty. There were no inhabitants on earth. The earth had not yet been formed... there was no dry *land, no mountains etc.*
#3 False argument: Pre-adamites lived in a previous creation accounting for "homonoid" fossils found in geological strata.*
False because: Gap theorists unwittingly erode, or even destroy the gospel message with *this belief. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15:45 that Adam was the first man. If gap theorists are correct... then Paul and the gospel message is false.*
Rom. 5, 12 and 1 Cor 15 tell us that sin entered our world because of sin. As a result of that original sin, death and suffering entered our world. Because of death caused by "first Adam", the death and resurrection of "Last Adam" became necessary to defeat "the final enemy". (See 1 Cor. 15)
#4 False argument: The heavens existed further back from when the earth was formed. Supporting verse...2 Pet 3:5 "But they deliberately forget that long ago (Ekpali) by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water."
False because: Gap theorists are forcing a definition onto the word 'ekpalai' that is inconsistent with other scripture. The word is also used in 2 Peter 2:3 and 5 other times in the NT, and it's usually associated with human activity....never once referring to a time before Genesis 1.
OTHER arguments against the gap theory.
A. *As shown above, *gap theorists need to perform mental gymnastics which leads to a very confusing Gospel. *
It's interesting that just this morning a atheist in TOL made this comment to a gap theorist..."Wow. Then the Biblical text is not a simple, clear, and meaningful message to be taken to the world at large, but instead is an obscure abstract treatise that can be appreciated only by those who are learned in the subtleties of ancient languages...."
The mental gymnastics is also easy for youth to see through. When they are taught to perform mental gymnastics with Genesis, it then becomes natural to 'interpret' the gospel with the same technique.*
B. Genesis 1:31 God calls everything "very good". *It defies logic to think God would rebuild upon millions of dead things from a previously corrupted world and call it very good. But, even more difficult is that Satan would already have been "god of this world". 2 Cor. *4:4
C. Ex. 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them"
Question. ..if everything was made in six days, what was made before the six days?
Here are a few of the arguments for the gap theory I have seen here in TOL, and reasons why Christians should reject those arguments.
#1 False argument: God uses 2 different words in Genesis to describe creation;
'Bara' meaning CREATE *from nothing, or
'Asah' meaning to MAKE or mould from something that already exists. The word 'asah' is the more commonly used word in Genesis 1 indicating creation was really a makeover.
False because: In order to insert billions of years into Genesis, gap theorists create an artificial distinction between bara and asah. It is not difficult to notice these words are used interchangeably in scripture.*
For ex. V21 God created (bara) fish and birds.
V25 God made (asah) the animals.*
Or
V26 God is speaking of making man.
V27 God created man.
Or
Nehemiah speaks of God making the angels.
Psalms speaks of God creating the angels.*
#2 False argument: "was formless and void" (Hebrew- tohu wabohu) refers to something fallen in disrepair, or a state of chaos. The translation should read 'became formless and void'.*
False because: *Gap theorists should take a hint that they might be wrong in that no major translation of the Bible says that the earth 'became' formless.*
Also, false because 'tohu wabohu' does not mean chaos or disrepair. The phrase simply means what it says in most translations. The earth was without form and empty. There were no inhabitants on earth. The earth had not yet been formed... there was no dry *land, no mountains etc.*
#3 False argument: Pre-adamites lived in a previous creation accounting for "homonoid" fossils found in geological strata.*
False because: Gap theorists unwittingly erode, or even destroy the gospel message with *this belief. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15:45 that Adam was the first man. If gap theorists are correct... then Paul and the gospel message is false.*
Rom. 5, 12 and 1 Cor 15 tell us that sin entered our world because of sin. As a result of that original sin, death and suffering entered our world. Because of death caused by "first Adam", the death and resurrection of "Last Adam" became necessary to defeat "the final enemy". (See 1 Cor. 15)
#4 False argument: The heavens existed further back from when the earth was formed. Supporting verse...2 Pet 3:5 "But they deliberately forget that long ago (Ekpali) by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water."
False because: Gap theorists are forcing a definition onto the word 'ekpalai' that is inconsistent with other scripture. The word is also used in 2 Peter 2:3 and 5 other times in the NT, and it's usually associated with human activity....never once referring to a time before Genesis 1.
OTHER arguments against the gap theory.
A. *As shown above, *gap theorists need to perform mental gymnastics which leads to a very confusing Gospel. *
It's interesting that just this morning a atheist in TOL made this comment to a gap theorist..."Wow. Then the Biblical text is not a simple, clear, and meaningful message to be taken to the world at large, but instead is an obscure abstract treatise that can be appreciated only by those who are learned in the subtleties of ancient languages...."
The mental gymnastics is also easy for youth to see through. When they are taught to perform mental gymnastics with Genesis, it then becomes natural to 'interpret' the gospel with the same technique.*
B. Genesis 1:31 God calls everything "very good". *It defies logic to think God would rebuild upon millions of dead things from a previously corrupted world and call it very good. But, even more difficult is that Satan would already have been "god of this world". 2 Cor. *4:4
C. Ex. 20:11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them"
Question. ..if everything was made in six days, what was made before the six days?