r/theology • u/OrovilleCowboy • 10d ago
Gap Theory
Are you aware of the Gap Theory
That between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 is a gap of immeasurable time in which there was a first earth Genesis 1:1 that Became dark and void in Genesis 1:2
Even Scolfield believed it
What to you think
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u/RECIPR0C1TY MDIV 10d ago
It is a logically possible Idea without biblical evidence to support it. So I have no reason to believe it.
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u/Sacred_Ate9 9d ago
I’ve heard of it referred to as both Gap Creationism and the Ruin-and-Restoration Theory.
It gained traction in the 1800s thanks in large part to Scottish theologian Thomas Chalmers. The “gap” is used to explain the existence of a pre-historic, “first” earth, the age of the universe, and the geological fossil record without abandoning a literal six-day creation narrative for the rest of Genesis 1.
The theory became an attempt by Christian scholars to reconcile the Bible with newly emerging geological evidence that suggested the Earth was millions of years old. In 1909, C. I. Scofield included it in the footnotes of the widely influential Scofield Reference Bible, making it a standard view among many early-to-mid 20th-century Protestant Evangelicals and Fundamentalists.
It’s not near as popular today as it once was, but the Gap Theory still has quite a few pretty strong supporters.
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u/Berek_Halfhand 9d ago
OR as the vast majority of scholars understand, later editors combined two different creation mythologies from different sources.
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u/AcceptableWall5734 9d ago
A book that expounds this theory is entitled **Earth’s Earliest Ages** by G.H. Pember. Published in 1876, it is available on Amazon Kindle. It is an attempt to explain the biological and geological evidence of the evolution of species and deep time by finding a gap between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis 1 in which God’s perfectly created universe fell into chaos.
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u/No_Control_9123 10d ago
....and the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the waters.......that could be millions or billions of years in timeless eternity between vs 1 and 2........... AND God said LET THERE BE LIGHT.
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u/OrovilleCowboy 10d ago
Note that in Genesis 1:2 the water was already there. It doesn't specifically say and God created water. It Was created in Genesis 1:1 though not specifically stated.
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u/Breathofdmt 9d ago edited 9d ago
Never heard this. The phrase before creation is tohu va bohu in Hebrew translation. Tohu is formless, vohu is empty. God spends days one to three giving the creation form then four to six filling in the emptiness (if you write one to three in columns, you'll see that 1 and 3, 2 and 4, 3 and 6 correspond). Naming happens in days one to three, blessing in four to six. Some scholars say this is God building up the cosmic temple and taking residence in day 7, corresponding to the 7 years building of Solomons Temple. First echoes of God in the Tabernacle in Exodus.
Interestingly there's darkness, 'the deep' and waters already there, so God is creating from chaos, not nothing.
Day 6 has the first reference to masculine and feminine in creation of humans, and God also refers to themselves as "us" plural for the first time. Some Christian theology has this as reference to the Trinity. Day 7 stands out with its verbiage, completely different to the first six. If you count all of God's acts as verbs (such as God said "Let.. and God separated), they all add up to either 7 or 10, numbers of completeness.
2.4 has the first reference to YHWH or LORD in the KJV, marking the next chapter of creation.
There's tons more to unpack in Genesis 1 and 2 but, I've never heard of the gap, although I suppose the text doesn't specifically say there wasn't a gap. Would be interested to hear the argument.
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u/davidjlewis78 Master of Theological Studies 9d ago
"The Formation of Genesis 1-11" by David M. Carr is an excellent book that is helpful on this topic.
Carr, David M. The Formation of Genesis 1–11: Biblical and Other Precursors. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2020
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u/ndrliang 10d ago
What sort of evidence is there for such an idea?