Exposing Compromise - The Gap Theory

 Since Darwin published his book, the “church” has bent over backwards to try to reconcile the Bible with atheism. Unfortunately, when it comes to compromise, it’s never the atheistic worldview that caves. In every compromise with the theory of evolution, it’s always the Bible that loses ground.

There are at least four of these compromises - and all of them devastate the plain reading of the first chapter of Genesis. Each of these compromises may be different, but they all have one thing in common - they consider the changing ideas of man more important than the once-revealed Word of God.

Let's examine these four compromises closer. As we do, keep this question in mind: Whose words are more reliable - mankind’s or the Creator’s?

Let’s begin with the Gap Theory.

Origin of the Theory

As we saw in our last post, the Gap Theory was developed by a Scottish minister named Thomas Chalmers. Chalmers developed this theory to reconcile the teachings of the Bible with a book titled Principles of Geology - written by an atheist named Charles Lyell.

Here was Chalmer’s problem:
The Bible clearly states the world was made in six days, with human beings created last.
Lyell taught that the rock layers formed over long ages, and that there were eons of time before humanity ever existed.
Being a minister, Chalmers knew that He couldn’t force that time into the six days of creation - since that would destroy the credibility of the passage. So he took the long ages of time that Lyell taught, and tried to cram them between the first two verses of Genesis 1.

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep..."

Declaring that God would never make something that is formless or void, Chalmers suggested that verse 1 and verse 2 were separated by a large amount of time. He taught that there were two creations - the first creation being in verse 1, and then a re-creation beginning in verse 2.

What did Chalmers think happened during the time between the first two verses of the Bible?
He taught that the earth was filled with a pre-adamite race of beings who were ruled by the angel Lucifer.
He taught that Lucifer was lifted up in pride and led this race of beings in a rebellion against God.
He taught that Lucifer and his army waged war on heaven, and then God kicked him back down to earth.
He taught that the world was flooded in judgement, and that’s why we see it covered in water in Genesis 1:2

In addition to this, Chalmers taught that “Lucifer’s flood” also laid down the rock layers and fossils around the world. He claimed that modern-day demons are actually the souls of the pre-adamite race of beings. They joined Lucifer in his rebellion, and then were killed by the flood. Instead of going to Hell, their spirits supposedly remain on earth; forming the ranks of Satan’s spiritual army.

Many preachers and well-meaning Christians hold to this view of creation. It's taught in Bible colleges around the world. But very few believers know that its founder developed it as a compromise with Charles Lyell's theory of a “pre-human” earth. The Gap Theory is not based on the Bible, but on a secular interpretation of the earth's rock layers. One well-known theologian said this after promoting the theory, "Let the rocks say what they may." In other words, "let's interpret the Bible so that it doesn't disagree with the secular idea of millions of years."

Arguments For the Gap Theory

There are two main claims that the Gap Theory makes from Scripture:

“God never makes anything formless and void.”
And yet we see in Genesis 1:2 that the earth was formless and void.
If this was the state of the word - and God didn’t make it that way - then something had to happen to cause it.
In verse two, we see that the world was covered in water.
The only other time the world was covered in water was Noah’s flood - judgement on a wicked world.
Therefore, it’s logical to assume that the world was judged between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.

"God told Adam and Eve to 'replenish' the earth.”
Anyone familiar with the English language knows that “replenish” means to fill it again.
This means that the world was populated before Adam.
Since Eve was the mother of all humans - this must have been a race of pre-human beings,
This race of beings was wiped out by the flood of Genesis 1:2 - and may have become Satan’s demons.

These are the main scriptural arguments the Gap Theory makes. (We’ll leave out the extra-biblical arguments about the age of the earth, since we’ve already seen that has nothing to do with science.) They may sound convincing at first, until you see the problems the theory has with scripture!

Arguments Against the Gap Theory

First, let’s dismantle the arguments that the Gap Theory uses:

One, the state of the earth in Genesis 1:2 had nothing to do with judgement.
The earth was formless only because God hadn't formed it yet!
All He did in verse one was lay its foundation.
It was void (or empty) because He hadn't filled it yet!
God had a seven-day plan; all we see in Genesis 1:1 was the beginning of day one.

Where I live, there was a particular restaurant whose owner wanted to build at a new location. He had a good plan, but because wanted to do it all debt-free, he only built as much as he had money for. For several months, the foundation was laid, but the framework sat in a pile on the ground, unformed and unfilled. Was this because the building was demolished? No, it was waiting for the next step of the project.

This serves as a perfect example of what we see in Genesis 1:2. This verse is not talking about a judged earth, it's talking about an unfinished earth - there's a huge difference!

Two, God never told Adam and Eve to "refill" the earth.
The King James translated the Hebrew word "male" (mal-ay) as "replenish."
But this is a poor translation of the word - “male” simply means “to fill”!
In the Hebrew language, there is absolutely no indication of mankind populating the earth again!
They were simply told to fill the earth and bring it under their control.

Now, let’s look at a few Biblical problems the Gap Theory has:

What was God calling Good?
Genesis 1:31 “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

The Gap Theory teaches that Lucifer’s fall happened before this...that there was already a global flood that judged the earth and laid down the rock layers with all of their fossils. So everything we see in the fossil record - according to the Gap Theory - was called “very good” by God.

But we see some things in the fossil record that are clearly not good!
We see diseases like arthritis and cancer.
We see carnivores tearing apart other animals.
We see fossilized thorns and thistles.
The fossil record is a record of death and bloodshed...could that have been in place when God said everything was very good?

This brings us to another important point: At the end of the sixth day, God called everything that He made “very good.” Did God make Lucifer? Did he make the angels who fell with Lucifer? Of course He did! If God made them, could they have fallen before God called everything He made “good”?

According to Genesis 1:31, there was no trace of sin or its curse - either in angels or in men - when God rested on the seventh day.

Lucifer was in Eden before he fell.

Ezekiel 28:12-13 “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering…”

Ezekiel 28 is a passage that focus on two subjects. Prophetically, it deals with the king of a city called Tyre. Symbolically, it deals with fall of Lucifer. It is one of the most detailed descriptions of Lucifer before he fell - while he still served as God’s covering cherub.

Notice these words - “You were in Eden…” Before he fell, Lucifer walked in Eden! When was Eden made? In Genesis chapter two...on day 6. Lucifer couldn’t have fallen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. His fall actually took place after Adam and Eve were created...probably between the second and third chapters of Genesis!

If Lucifer didn’t fall between the first two verses of Genesis, then the entire Gap Theory crumbles...there’s no rebellion against God, no race of pre-human beings, and no flood of judgement.

Jesus claimed that Adam and Eve were “in the beginning”.

Remember, the whole purpose of the Gap Theory is to reconcile the Bible with the idea of millions of years before mankind. But the final nail in the theory’s coffin comes from Jesus’ own words.

Let’s look at Mark 10:6 - and remember that it’s God Himself talking:
“But from the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female.’”
Jesus was quoting from Genesis 1:27 and said that was at the beginning of creation.

There was no millions of years before people. There were no long ages of time before the first man.
Jesus tells us that humanity was made at “the beginning”.
Whatever happened to Lucifer, happened after Adam and Eve were placed in Eden.
And every trace of death, disease, bloodshed, violence, thorns, and the curse had to occur after God called everything “very good”.

To believe anything else would compromise the truth of God’s Word….with a lie.