A. The Gap Theory
One such attempt at reconciling the Biblical account of Creation with the belief that the universe is 16 billion years old came from Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) the first Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland.
There are three basic premises to the Gap Theorist thought. First, they insist on a literal view of Genesis. Second they believe in a very long but unknown age of the earth. To fit premise 2 into premise one, the Gap theorist states that the origin of most of the geological strata and geological evidence can be fit in between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 due what they refer to as Lucifer's flood.
Weston Fields, author of Unformed and Unfilled provides the following explanation of the Gap Theory.
In the far distant, dateless past, God created a perfect heaven and a perfect earth. Satan was the ruler of the earth, which was peopled by a race of men without souls. Eventually, Satan who dwelled in the Garden of Eden composed of minerals, rebelled by desiring to become like God. Because of Satan's fall, sin entered the universe and brought on the Earth God's judgement, in the form of a Flood (indicated by the water of Genesis 1:2), and then a global ice age, where the light and heat from the sun were somehow removed. All the plant, animal and human fossils upon the Earth today date back from this 'Lucifer's Flood,' and do not bear any genetic relationship with the plants, animals and fossils living upon the Earth today."
Stated already, the main purpose of the Gap Theory was to harmonize the Biblical chronology with the scientifically accepted geological ages. There are many faults to such a theory, not the least of which was its motivation, however well intentioned.
Leading Creationists have identified five major problems with the Gap Theory that should lead any student of the Bible to reject it. The reasons are both scientific and theological.
A Theological Analysis
One major problem in accepting the Gap Theory, is that the Gap Theory attempts to harmonize the interpretation of the geological column with that of the Bible. In truth, this is impossible. Fossils speak to the universal reality that there was suffering, disease and death, a death that was often violent and widespread. There was 'Nature red in tooth and claw,' as Tennyson put it. T.H Huxley speaks of a violent fight for survival, and often that was the case. The theory of evolution makes it essential that for millions of years before man many things have lived and died. The problem was this: Both evolutionists and Gap theorists believe there was much competition and widespread death early in the Beginning. Gap theorists go a step further and state that there was even a soulless race of people that populated the earth very early on. Few evolutionists feel it their place to comment on whether or not early man had a soul, but they also accept a struggle for survival, and though many claim that 'survival of the fittest' refers to genes, in fact it can be seen all throughout history. The negative implications do not lessen the fact that it does take place.
The reason such a view (whether it is an evolutionary one, or the Gap Theory) is unacceptable to the serious Biblical student, is because the Bible teaches that there was no death before the sin of Adam. Romans 5:12 states that, 'Just as sin came into the world though on man, and death came through sin, and so death spread through sin to all because all have sinned.' Those not familiar with the Bible may wonder: If death came to all because of one man's sin then who was this man who sinned first? 1 Corinthians 15:21 answers this, 'For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being, for as all die in Adam so all will be made alive in Christ. At this point it becomes obvious that in an attempt to harmonize the Bible with modern science, the Gap theorist has brought contradiction to his theory. He may have been successful in bringing the Bible and modern science together with his theory, but now he has the much harder problem of explaining why one part of his Bible now contradicts the others. For there was no sin before Adam, and so no death, yet the Gap theorist believes that a race of men existed much earlier, who after committing evil were destroyed by Lucifer's flood. We see both sin and death, well before Adam, and this lead to an open contradiction after considering what Paul wrote in both Romans and Corinthians.
Human fossils are not the only fossils that have led the Gapists to their theory.
Animals were also found in it. Yet just as humans did not taste death until after Adam's sin, that curse of death was also placed on animals, after Adam's fall from grace. Could animals have died?
The evolutionist states, as does the Gap theorist, that for millions of years animals lived and died. They struggled for existence, they killed and they themselves were eventually killed. Is this possible? Could animals have tasted death before the fall of man? There are two likely causes of death for animals if in fact they did experience death. The first is that just as they hunted down their prey, they in fact were prey to others. Their predators were prey to others. Could they have used each other for food? The second cause of death is, assuming they were lucky enough, the ability to die an old age.
We will address the latter first.
That animals could die of old age, is impossible because Romans 8 explains that decay and corruption only entered the world when sin did. Death of old age implies that life forms eventually wore out. Yet Romans 8:22 makes it clear that all creation has been subject to corruption through the bondage of one man. This implies that before this bondage occurred, corruption and decay did not exist or affect living forms. Aging before the fall would seem also to contradict God's description of the world as being 'Good.' There is nothing 'Good' about an All-Powerful Creator who simply created animals that would die a short time later. His original plan was explained when he told Adam that Adam would die when he ate of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Jews and Christians interpret this to mean a physical death, which started the day that Adam ate of this tree. Adam began to wear down that day, and the animals would have also.
Some wonder what Adam may have used for food, and if he was permitted to use animals for food. There is no indication the Adam did use animals for food. In Genesis 1:29, God gives Adam permission to eat any of the plants, but he does not give Adam permission to eat animal meat. Interestingly the first animal death we read of is God making clothing for Adam and Eve as he is having them leave the Garden of Eden. Despite rejecting his friendship by disobeying Him, God has mercy, and from part of the Creation that he calls 'Good' he provides for them clothing. Such a gift, speaks volumes of our Creator's mercy, and yet the gift pales in comparison to one that he would give to all humanity thousands of years later.
Diseases, or accidental death, things common today, would not have occurred in the Beginning. To consider such things question the sovergnty and greatness of God. While death and bloodshed virtually exist from the beginning of life in the evolutionary history, they were non-existent before the fall of Man.
Because death did not exist in the beginning, it must be assumed that all animals were vegetarians. Today's animals eat the flesh of others as a means for survival, but Genesis 1:29-30 states that the flesh of animals would not be food for man or animal. 'See I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." For a theistic evolutionist, the eating of meat would simply be the means God used to survive. Yet this contradicts Genesis 1:29-30. After the flood of Noah we specifically encounter God given permission to man to eat meat. Many think that because certain animals possess particular kinds of teeth, these were created to eat meat. This seems logical until one examines nature and discovers that many of the animals with very sharp teeth, teeth that could easily rip flesh, these teeth feast on plants today. One must conclude that there was no death at all before the fall of Adam. This flies in the face of evolutionary history, but I have no desire to change my Biblical beliefs in favor of scientific ones, scientific ones that are always being changed and revised. I have no desire to do what the Gap theorist has done, by harmonizing my Bible with modern science but in doing so having a Bible whose Books contradict other parts of the Bible.
Other theological problems exists, but I shall spare you of the details thinking that is one contradiction is evidence enough for the believers in the Bible to reject such a theory.
A Scientific Analysis
As previously stated, the Gap theorist believes the earth is very old. He believes this because he accepts the geological evidence. The geological age system depends on the succession of fossils that have been preserved in the sedimentary rocks of the earth's crust. The geological column is very important to evolution's believers for the column is seen to show the ascent from less complex forms to more complex forms.
The Gap theorist is a literal believer in Creation, and does in fact take Genesis literally. He does accept the geological column but cannot accept the evolutionary implication from it. Neither does he accept that the days of Genesis correspond to different geological ages.
To solve this problem (accepting both Genesis and the geological column) they state that God re-shaped the earth and recreated all life in six literal days, which took place after Lucifer's flood. Thinking he has solved the problem by introducing Lucifer's flood, in fact he has removed the reason for which he had proposed the theory in the first place. If all of the sediments and fossils were produced quickly by one massive worldwide flood then the evidence that the earth is extremely old is gone. For the major piece of evidence among geologists that the world is very old comes from the belief based on the slow formation of sediments. A massive flood very quickly produces sediments and fossils and leads to the conclusion that the earth is not old. Lucifer's flood unintentionally, if true (though I do not believe it is) leads to the conclusion that the earth is young.
The Gapist believes in the Bible and also an old earth, because of the slow formation of sediments as seen in the geological column. To harmonize his beliefs with the evidence of an old earth, he has produced the concept of a massive world wide flood, which rather pointing to a slow formation of sediments do, which implies an old earth, actually very quickly produces all sediments and fossils which implies a young earth.
The natural belief in the Bible is that the earth is about six thousand years old. Believing the Bible to be true, but also the old age of the Earth, the Gapist has introduced Lucifer’s flood, which ironically instead of harmonizing their belief in the Bible with an old earth, actually leads back to a young earth conclusion. Lucifer's flood does not aid them, in their belief in a old earth.
The Gap theorist likes to believe that the fossil record is explained by Lucifer's flood. If it does then what effect did the flood of Noah have? Genesis 6:17 states that water covered the earth for a whole year. Only one family survived, and all plants and animals that breathed air died. Surely such a flood must have left some traces. Yet the Gapist believes it occurred but did not leave traces. Some answer this by saying that the flood was local. This is not the case at least from the Biblical perspective. Yet to the Gapist it was Lucifer's flood (a flood that is not recorded in history) that left all traces.
Interestingly, Lucifer's flood left earth inundated with water and with darkness covering all. To produce such results would have taken nothing less than a global explosion, blowing billions of tons of debris into the sky to blow out the sun and blot all the rest of the solid earth down into the ocean. Such an explosion would have obliterated the sedimentary crust and all of its fossils, thus leaving no evidence of the geological ages, which the gap theorist is attempting to accommodate by proposing such a flood.
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