Analysis of Opposing Views, Gap Theory and Young Earth
Elizebeth Rickard
CRST 290 -B08: Creation Studies
March 2, 2024
The gap theory presents a theological interpretation of the biblical creation story,
explaining the inclusion of a time gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.1 According to the theorist,
hat time interval must account for catastrophic events that transforms the Earth, leading to its
young-earth state which Genesis 1:2 defines calls "becoming." Aimed at harmonizing the
creation narrative with the young-earth accounting, the Gap Theorists endeavor to reconcile
diverse scientific perspectives on Earth's age while adhering to the biblical account of a 6-day
creation.
Despite the proponents' amicable intentions, criticism arises due to the inconsistency of
their narrative with the nature of God, eroding reliance on faith. The ongoing debate, particularly
from the young-earth perspective, continues to yield fresh insights and interpretations, notably
concerning the timeline of Earth's creation.
The Non-traditional View of creation ignores the ex nihlio 2 (“out of nothing”) arguments
of the strict young-earth proponents. (The Non-traditional View theorists are left with two
dilemmas known as the “day-age” and “gap theory.” Both are attempts to reconcile the old- and
new-earth accounts of science and bible, respectively.
The day-age theories posit that the six days recounted in Genesis were not literally
twenty-four-hour days. At the time of creation clocks did not exist. The Hebrews understood that
a day was defined by the emergence of light and darkness, not a clock. Thus, when Gen 1:5
recounted, “When daytime had passed, the period allotted to darkness returned (and there was
evening), and when the night-time came to an end the light held sway a second time (and there
was morning), and this completed the first calendar day (one day)”. For the non-traditionalists,
1
H Pember, Earth’s Earliest Ages (CreateSpace, 2013).
2
Tom McIver, “Formless and Void: Gap Theory Creationism | National Center for Science Education,” Ncse.ngo,
last modified 2019, https://ncse.ngo/formless-and-void-gap-theory-creationism.
there is no accounting of the current earth-time period of darkness between day 1 and day 2,
which the day-age creationists feel could have been millions of years in duration.
The gap theory argument is also known as “ruin-restitution” theory, which maintains the
literal length of days but focuses on the interpretation of the verb “became” in in Genesis1:2.
They posit that “became” has two meanings, one of which means “something existed and was
restored or replaced”. Assuming that interpretation they posit that earth had an initial form and
abundant life, and that it had become sin filled. Thus, God ruined and restored the earth to create
Eden, Adam and Eve as a restart of a sinless world.
It is reported that creation theories began as far back as the Babylonian era. During the
eighteenth century it took on a more vigorous appeal. Variations of the ruin-restitution" theories
have been proposed, particularly from the 1800’s to the present, as archeological evidence
emerged.
The construction of the creation week, as a story, establishes God as an omnipotent, all
powerful, methodical, orderly and benevolent creator who deliberately avoided leaving any
evidence of the process of creation, other than creation itself. Thus, his entire creation was left
with a mystery that could only be acknowledged by faith. Absent of faith the mystery could only
be justified by mythology.
Given the only objective for non-traditional creationists is to establish a proof that
reconciles young-earth and old-earth such that they diminish the young-earth proponents and
silence the atheists and evolutionists. Young earth and gap theorist agree that God can create and
did control the movements and positions of the Sun and Earth, and thereby the lengths of
day/night (earth’s rotation), seasons (earth’s orbit around the sun) and therefor climate (floods,
ice ages, etc.) For gap theorists to achieve their ends they are required to establish God’s
intentionality beyond that which is literally written. God must either employ a different time
scale or resort to destroying and recreating earth, or both. Either way, the young-earth proponents
have ample opportunity to refute the gap theorists' arguments.
Day-age theorists’ reason that God’s creation of a day was not equivalent to the lengths of
day which we now treat as function of clock time. Clocks were created to accurately synchronize
with astronomical time, not the other way around. Since days at the time of creation were merely
defined as periods of light and darkness day-age theorists argue that God merely created days of
prolonged darkness during the pre-Adamaic period. There are at least two problems with that
theory. First, it is not consistent with the literal words of the Bible. Second, the absence of
sunlight would have created disastrously prolonged period of death, which is not readily apparent
from the archeological records we now have.
The gap (ruin-restitution) theorists have achieved popularity in recent times but also has a
steep hill to climb in its defense. The foundational assumption of their theory is that a sin-filled
orb existed prior to Genesis 1:2 and that God found it necessary to destroy it and re-purpose it as
a sinless paradise for Adam. Their theory fails to explain creator of this earlier orb, and some
have gone as far as to impute the sinful nature of this environment based on the archeological
existence of carnivores and death.
Among young-earth proponents (i.e., those who believe in the literal meaning of the
Genesis creation story) the refutations of the day-age and gap theories are obvious. First, to not
believe in the literal meaning of the bible destroys the underlying, inherent completeness of it. To
suggest that any words within the bible cannot be trusted or must be twisted in their
Bibliography
interpretation destroys the reliance by faith of all Christians3. At their face, day-age and gap
theories are inconsistent with the entirety of the bible.
Gap theory is very controversial among young-earth proponents and the subtleties of the
alternative theories ensure the discussion of creations will remain unsettled for a very long time.
Proponents supposing that billions of years exist within the gap of the first two verses in Genesis
is a straightforward account of creation. Opponents assert there is no support anywhere in the
Bible for such a notion. The absence of scriptural evidence for the gap theory does not concern
the proponents because they claim the biblical accounting is provisional, either by day-age or
ruin-restitution means. The gap theorists use Satan's rebellion and fall as the evidence of when
this occurred.
3
Henry Morris, “Why the Gap Theory Won’t Work,” Www.icr.org, last modified November 1, 1997,
https://www.icr.org/article/why-gap-theory-wont-work/.
McGowan, E. “Conclusion on the Gap Theory.” An Exploration into the Gap Theory. Last
modified 2020. https://www.gaptheory.net/conclusion-on-the-gap-theory/.
McIver, Tom. “Formless and Void: Gap Theory Creationism | National Center for Science
Education.” Ncse.ngo. Last modified 2019. https://ncse.ngo/formless-and-void-gap-
theory-creationism.
Morris, Henry. “Why the Gap Theory Won’t Work.” Www.icr.org. Last modified November 1,
1997. https://www.icr.org/article/why-gap-theory-wont-work/.
NIV Bible. Grand Rapids, Mi: Zondervan Pub. House, 2011.
Pember, H. Earth’s Earliest Ages. CreateSpace, 2013.
Scofield, C I, and Doris Rikkers. The Scofield Study Bible : New International Version. New
York ; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Stewart, Don. “What Is the Gap Theory? (the Ruin and Reconstruction Theory?).” Blue Letter
Bible. Last modified April 24, 2007.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_654.cfm.
