The Gap Theory Examined

I think you underestimate the majority of Christians. On the contrary, I think those who espouse the fringe theories such as the gap theory and YECism are most likely to be uninformed, biblically as well as scientifically.(Many of the unbelievers on this board are better-informed about the Bible than the YECists - or gapists.) Because that was what I asked for.It reflects on your ability to understand a simple question and to answer a simple question. The copy/translation reflects what the copyists/translators understood about the original texts. My point is that none of them saw fit to mention a gap - suggesting that the original texts do not mention a gap either.But I think we've danced around the maypole long enough. Any of our readers who aren't already bored to tears can see that the gap theory is a fringe theory, not based on scripture.

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1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

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1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

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1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

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According to Genesis, first God spoke light into existence, then the earth brought forth plants and then God made the sun.According to science, the sun came first, then its light shone on the earth and then plants grew.Question 1: How can you reconcile the Biblical order with science at all?Question 2: Since your "gap" is inserted before any of this happened - i.e. before Gen. 1:2 - how does it help in the reconcilliation of the Bible and science?

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

(Pssst. I'm trying to take the high ground here. )

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

It's strange highways for me.

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

You're dancing in circles. Where does Genesis say anything about "allowing it to shine into the atmosphere again"? You can't reach that conclusion unless you assume that the sun was already created.Let's try a slightly different tack: If you didn't know anything about science - how old the earth is, whether or not light comes from the sun, etc. - would you still make the same assumption? In other words, are you assuming a gap because it "fits" science, or are you concluding a gap, based on evidence? Notice arachnophilia's quote in Message 106:

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Genesis 1:1-3, JPS
When God began to create heaven and earth -- the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep adn a wind from God sweeping over the water -- God said "Let there be light"; and there was light.

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No indication there that the sun was "already" created. First you made an unsubstantiated claim that there is a difference between "made" and "created". Now you are claiming that God saying "let there be light" was not an act of creation? You have three "different" concepts now, all describing exactly the same thing.Since I don't mind repeating myself, I'll repeat an example that I gave some time back:

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1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

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Notice the words "said", "make" and "created" - all describing the same act of creation. Genesis says plainly that the sun, moon and stars were created (= "made") on day 4. You can only assume they were created "in the beginning" by assuming that there was a gap. Dancing in circles. Both you and arachnophilia think I give Christians too much credit, so I will concede that a lot of Christians are stupid. Is it unrealistic then to think that some of the ancients might have been stupid too?They did, after all, write that plants grew before the sun was created/made. Why do you assume that they had any scientific knowledge at all? And why do you assume that scientific accuracy was even necessary to their purpose in writing Genesis? So, ancient Hebrew science is yet another area where you know better than the "mainstream"? Again, you are assuming that the sun was there on day 1, when the text says quite plainly that it wasn't there until day 4.The contradiction is between science and what the Bible says.I ask again, if you didn't know anything about science, would you still twist the Bible the way you do?And the light/plants/sun thing is only the beginning. Where's the scientific evidence of everything that happened during the "gap"? Were there not people and animals in the "gap-world"? Where are their fossils? How can we distinguish their fossils from those of the post-gap world? Geologically, where is the gap/post-gap boundary?Show us the scientific evidence of your "gap".

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

Allow me to remind you that most Christians - including most theologians and Hebrew scholars - would agree with me. Are they all obtuse too? As I have already said, look at how it is rendered in the JPS:

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When God began to create heaven and earth -- the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water -- God said "Let there be light"; and there was light.

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No pre-creation. No gap. No restoration.Clear enough? Will you answer Message 113 now?

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

I'm not going to play that game. I told you what Genesis 1:1 means to me.Why are you avoiding the topic? Address Message 113.

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

The topic is "The Gap Theory Examined". I have asked you to address Message 113, concerning scientific evidence for the gap theory.If you want me to answer extraneous questions, you will have to show how they relate to the topic.

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

As per the Queen's instructions, I repeat:

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Where's the scientific evidence of everything that happened during the "gap"? Were there not people and animals in the "gap-world"? Where are their fossils? How can we distinguish their fossils from those of the post-gap world? Geologically, where is the gap/post-gap boundary?

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

As far as I'm concerned, the Biblical questions have been put to rest for anybody except the die-hard gapists. If you want to continue that discussion, start a new thread.Meanwhile, the scientific questions at Message 122 are waiting for your response.

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.