The 10 Things You Should Know About the Creation vs. Evolution Debate by Ron Rhodes Read Free Book Online Page A

miracles are impossible is to disprove the existence
of God."39 And that is something that naturalists cannot do!4o
    What does all this mean for our present study? It means that
the assumptions that undergird naturalism-such as the idea
that the natural world is a closed system, the idea that we have
no God who can intervene, the idea that we can account for all
things in the universe by materialistic causes and effects, and so
forth-are false assumptions. And since naturalism undergirds
evolution, evolution too finds its foundational base collapsing.
    Later in the book, I demonstrate substantial evidence that
a transcendent and powerful God-an intelligent Designercreated the universe and left His fingerprints all over it.41 This
evidence, many believe, deals a philosophical deathblow to naturalism.

    A book like this would be easier to write if all Christians
uniformly believed the same thing on the issue of man's origin.
But they do not.' All Christians believe in God, but they hold
to a variety of interpretations regarding His role in man's origin.
    Among the views Christians have held on this issue are the
gap theory, progressive creationism, theistic evolution, and youngearth creationism. A basic working knowledge of these diverse
viewpoints will help you understand the creation-evolution
debate. In what follows, then, I will present summaries of each
position followed by objections raised against them.
The Gap Theory
    The gap theory teaches that God created the world perhaps
billions of years ago, and it was perfect and beautiful in every
way. This is the creation described in Genesis 1:1. This creation
was populated with plants and animals and perhaps even with
a race of pre-Adamic men who had no souls. Then, as a result
of Lucifer's rebellion and fall (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28), the earthLucifer's domain-became chaos. The picture of formlessness,
emptiness, and darkness in Genesis 1:2 is allegedly a picture of divine judgment, for God could not have originally created the
earth this way (see Isaiah 24:1; 45:18; Jeremiah 4:23-26).2
Darkness is often used as a symbol of judgment and sin in
Scripture (John 3:19; Jude 13). The original creation in Genesis
1:1 was one of light, but after God judged the earth, it was characterized by darkness (verse 2). Millions of years-perhaps even
billions of years-are said to have taken place between verses
1 and 2.' Hence the "gap" theory.

    Gap proponents typically translate Genesis 1:2 this way: "But
the earth became without form and empty" (italics added).
Traditional translations render it, "But the earth was without
form and empty" (italics added). Gap proponents argue that
the earth "became" (Hebrew: hayetha) without form and empty
when God judged the world as a result of Lucifer's sin. The
words "without form and void" (Hebrew: tohu wa-bohu) appear
elsewhere only in Isaiah 34:11 and Jeremiah 4:23, and in these
verses "formless" and "void" speak of judgment and destruction. Therefore, the words must have the same meaning in
Genesis 1:2.
    In this view, God's judgment on the earth involved a devastating global flood followed by an Ice Age. All life on planet
earth was apparently extinguished. The apparent old age of the
earth and the extensive fossils showing development over long
periods of time relate to this first creation.' The six days of
creation discussed throughout the rest of Genesis 1 (verse 2 and
following) relate to God's re-creation or restoration of the earth,
not the original creation.5 This reconstruction probably took
place around 4000 B.C.
    The gap theory has been held by such notable scholars as
John Eadie, F. Delitzsch, Arthur Custance, C.I. Scofield (of the
famous Scofield Study Bible), G.H. Pember, Arthur W. Pink, and
Donald Grey Barnhouse. Out of all the "gap" proponents I have
read, Barnhouse's explanation is the most lucid. Following are
a few distinctive highlights of his version:

    Barnhouse argues that one of