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

the big mistakes Christians
make in Bible interpretation is that they have a tendency to see
the events in Genesis 1:1 as closely connected in time to verse
2. He argues for a great gulf (or "gap") between the two, perhaps
involving millions of .6
    The first creation was perfect. Barnhouse makes much of
Isaiah 45:18 in support of the theory. This verse reads, "For this
is what the Lord says-he who created the heavens, he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did
not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited" (italics
added). Clearly, God did not create the original earth as "empty."
The original creation was perfect in every way.
    Barnhouse says that following the original perfect creation,
God placed a magnificent being on the earth to govern it, and
his name was Lucifer. But after a time, this magnificent being
rebelled against God and sought to take God's place. God was
therefore forced to judge his domain, planet earth.
    That something tremendous and terrible happened
to the first, perfect creation is certain.... Somewhere
back before the chaos of the second verse of Genesis
there is a great tragedy and a terrible catastrophe....
We know that it was the hand of a holy God which
struck the earth into ruin because of a great outbreak
of rebellion.'
    Barnhouse then explains the gap:
    The judgment of God on Satan's rebellion turned
out the lights on this world. We do not know how long
this period of judgment lasted. It may have been long
ages. The geologists tell us of the scars of the travail
of earlier years, and they believe that millions of years
must have been necessary to have brought about some of the phenomena which are found in the earth. Let
it be millions of years. Whatever the theory as to
primeval time, it can be dropped into the vastness of
Genesis.'

    Lucifer thus witnessed his domain demolished. He could do
nothing to prevent it. Lucifer sinned against God, and God
blasted the earth in judgment. At this time, "the earth became
without form and void, a wreck and a ruin, a chaos, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." Later, "on the occasion of
the creation of Adam, God moved to re-form, to refashion, this
earth."'
Objections to the Gap Theory
    The gap theory sounds like a great story! It is full of interesting drama. However, many biblical scholars have raised serious objections to the theory.
    1. The grammar of Genesis 1:1-2 does not allow for a gap.
Verse one is an independent clause. Verse two is composed of
three circumstantial clauses (that is, clauses that explain the
"circumstances" of the earth when God began to create). No
grammatical break exists between verses 1 and 2. Further,
Genesis 1 provides no context of judgment.
    2. Genesis 3:17-19 indicates that Adam's fall, not Satan's,
resulted in the judgment of the earth. God said to Adam,
"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you
will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and
thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field."
    3. The gap theory depends on the phrase "formless and void"
meaning "evil" or "the result of judgment." Such a conclusion
is unwarranted. Notice that the usage of the Hebrew word tohu
(emptiness) in job 26:7 does not support the idea of intrinsic
judgment: "He [God] spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing." (Space can be utterly
empty without being evil!)

    In the same way, the use of tohu (emptiness) in Isaiah 45:18
does not connote judgment: "For this is what the LORD sayshe who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and
made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited." This verse is perfectly compatible with the traditional understanding of creation. That is, God
first created the "stuff" of the earth, and then molded it into
shape so it could be inhabited. Just as a potter first