The GAP Theory

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

DavyP

Active member
Aug 11, 2024
281
95
28
USA
#81
Scripture defines the holy mountain of God…Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
And the "stones of fire"?

Exodus 25 already explains the meaning of a cherub that covereth.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#82
And the "stones of fire"?

Exodus 25 already explains the meaning of a cherub that covereth.
Cherub is a creature of God that covers, watches over, etc.

The cherubs in Exodus 25 was set there to watch over the ark of the covenant.

Wherever Lucifer was, he had to ascend to get to God. Wherever Lucifer was, he had a throne.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,834
4,320
113
mywebsite.us
#83
God is eternal and God can create anyway and any time, He chooses to.
While this is a technically correct general statement with regard to the omnipotence of God, we should also remember that just because God can do as He pleases does not mean that He has chosen to do so according to the most far-fetched possible whims of the imaginations of man.

What the Bible shows us about the character of God must be consulted and considered.

One of the things the Bible shows us about God is that He is very direct - He does not "waste motions" with anything that He does. Every last detail of what He does and how He does it - He does it according to His own righteous purpose without any "foolishness" whatsoever.

Do not draw a line in the sand as that is just generating divisions in the church.
The one line that is worth drawing in the sand is the one that separates truth from error.

Of course, depending on the type and degree/level of error - not all disagreements should result in the total disruption of fellowship between Christians - being peaceable with all men (Romans 12:18) should certainly be most prevalent between born-again believers.

However, there are some that should raise a warning flag of awareness - to help keep us from deception and the clutches of evil.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,777
113
#84
Where and why this statement? Evolution? I believe the gap theory but also a literal six day creation. They fit hand in hand, no evolution.
You can't have it both ways, since the six-day creation account effectively cancels any Gap Theory.

The Gap Theory was created by men trying to accommodate the evolutionist geologists who claimed that the earth was millions of years old. "Proponents of the gap theory often use it to explain the existence of fossils and geological formations that are commonly regarded as being millions of years old. They propose that these fossils and formations belong to the pre-Adamite era and were preserved through the catastrophe that caused the gap."

And the pre-Adamite era includes the fantasy that Lucifer was king over the earth.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#85
You can't have it both ways, since the six-day creation account effectively cancels any Gap Theory.

The Gap Theory was created by men trying to accommodate the evolutionist geologists who claimed that the earth was millions of years old. "Proponents of the gap theory often use it to explain the existence of fossils and geological formations that are commonly regarded as being millions of years old. They propose that these fossils and formations belong to the pre-Adamite era and were preserved through the catastrophe that caused the gap."

And the pre-Adamite era includes the fantasy that Lucifer was king over the earth.
You are wrong my friend. The six literal days of creation starts in verse 3. The gap theory fits in verse 2.

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#86
You can't have it both ways, since the six-day creation account effectively cancels any Gap Theory.

The Gap Theory was created by men trying to accommodate the evolutionist geologists who claimed that the earth was millions of years old. "Proponents of the gap theory often use it to explain the existence of fossils and geological formations that are commonly regarded as being millions of years old. They propose that these fossils and formations belong to the pre-Adamite era and were preserved through the catastrophe that caused the gap."

And the pre-Adamite era includes the fantasy that Lucifer was king over the earth.
You still haven't answered my previous questions. Where was Lucifer when he fell? Wherever he was, he had a throne. Wherever he was, he had to ascend above the heights of the clouds to get to God.

All throughout the bible, darkness is associated with Satan. Light is associated with God. The division was made in Genesis 4.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
2,972
871
113
#87
It’s ok
God used human timelines
and the evening and morning were the first day

Even the sabbath shows us the timeline. For in 6 days….and on the seventh he rested.
You realize that people fall away from the faith because they are taught
the six day creation story. Then when they encounter scientific facts from
many different subjects in science, regarding the age of the earth. They
stumble and fall away.

Salvation by grace through faith has nothing to do with some interpretation
of Genesis 1. People should be taught what matters in the scripture not some
hypothesis or interpretation.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,777
113
#88
You realize that people fall away from the faith because they are taught the six day creation story.
That is simply hilarious. :LOL:

Since it is divine revelation, how can anyone fall away for believing God? Do you see how nonsensical you sound? What about the rest of the Bible? If you don't believe the first chapter then you really don't believe anything else in the Bible. Need I go further? The entire Gospel narrative is based upon the fact that one man's disobedience brought sin and death on the human race.

It is the Gap theorists who contribute to unbelief with a fanciful bogus theory. No Christian should be afraid of telling other Christians and the world that God literally created everything as revealed in Genesis 1 and 2.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,834
4,320
113
mywebsite.us
#90
The six literal days of creation starts in verse 3. The gap theory fits in verse 2.
No - the 'grammar of the language' does not allow it.

No out-of-context long period of time can be inserted between any two consecutive verses:

Genesis 1:

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

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

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

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.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

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.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

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.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

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.

27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

The first word of verse 2 - 'And' - connects it to verse 1 as a continuation of the creation process - describing the "state" of "the heaven and the earth" (verse 1) at the time of its [initial] creation (brought into existence from nothing) - or, upon its creation (the end result "stable state" of 'created' in verse 1).

All of those 'And' words at the beginning of the verses in chapter 1 indicate an on-going process that is finally "finished" (Genesis 2:1) after the six days.

You can no more put a 'gap' between verses 1 and 2 - or between verses 2 and 3 - than you can do so between verses 9 and 10 or verses 24 and 25.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#91
No - the 'grammar of the language' does not allow it.

No out-of-context long period of time can be inserted between any two consecutive verses:

Genesis 1:

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

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

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

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.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

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.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

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.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

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.

27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

The first word of verse 2 - 'And' - connects it to verse 1 as a continuation of the creation process - describing the "state" of "the heaven and the earth" (verse 1) at the time of its [initial] creation (brought into existence from nothing) - or, upon its creation (the end result "stable state" of 'created' in verse 1).

All of those 'And' words at the beginning of the verses in chapter 1 indicate an on-going process that is finally "finished" (Genesis 2:1) after the six days.

You can no more put a 'gap' between verses 1 and 2 - or between verses 2 and 3 - than you can do so between verses 9 and 10 or verses 24 and 25.

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

(13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.)


2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

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

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#92
Salvation by grace through faith has nothing to do with some interpretation
of Genesis 1.
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? John 3:12
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,834
4,320
113
mywebsite.us
#93
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

(13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.)


2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
I understand what you are illustrating here; however, it simply "cannot be"...

Verse 2 indicates the status-and-nature of the 'event' in verse 1 - in the same time frame - at the moment when it is established.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,834
4,320
113
mywebsite.us
#94
There can be no gap between verse 1 and verse 2 - "the moment verse 1 is done" - verse 2 becomes valid as a description of the end result of verse 1.
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
2,972
871
113
#96
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? John 3:12
So you don't believe in continental drift?

You do not believe that Africa and South America were not one continent?
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
2,972
871
113
#97
That is simply hilarious. :LOL:

Since it is divine revelation, how can anyone fall away for believing God? Do you see how nonsensical you sound? What about the rest of the Bible? If you don't believe the first chapter then you really don't believe anything else in the Bible. Need I go further? The entire Gospel narrative is based upon the fact that one man's disobedience brought sin and death on the human race.

It is the Gap theorists who contribute to unbelief with a fanciful bogus theory. No Christian should be afraid of telling other Christians and the world that God literally created everything as revealed in Genesis 1 and 2.
Have you ever studied plate tectonics and continental drift.

If you took the time to investigate plate tectonics you would
see the chronology of Genesis 1 as epochs. Rather than simple
days of the week.
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
2,972
871
113
#98
While this is a technically correct general statement with regard to the omnipotence of God, we should also remember that just because God can do as He pleases does not mean that He has chosen to do so according to the most far-fetched possible whims of the imaginations of man.

What the Bible shows us about the character of God must be consulted and considered.

One of the things the Bible shows us about God is that He is very direct - He does not "waste motions" with anything that He does. Every last detail of what He does and how He does it - He does it according to His own righteous purpose without any "foolishness" whatsoever.


The one line that is worth drawing in the sand is the one that separates truth from error.

Of course, depending on the type and degree/level of error - not all disagreements should result in the total disruption of fellowship between Christians - being peaceable with all men (Romans 12:18) should certainly be most prevalent between born-again believers.

However, there are some that should raise a warning flag of awareness - to help keep us from deception and the clutches of evil.
You need to examine the hard evidence that supports a very ancient earth.

The evidence is overwhelming.

Any interpretation of Genesis that is not supported by the visual evidence
will be incorrect.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#99
I understand what you are illustrating here; however, it simply "cannot be"...

Verse 2 indicates the status-and-nature of the 'event' in verse 1 - in the same time frame - at the moment when it is established.
Nope, the period can indicate a gap. There are plenty examples of this in scripture.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
I understand what you are illustrating here; however, it simply "cannot be"...

Verse 2 indicates the status-and-nature of the 'event' in verse 1 - in the same time frame - at the moment when it is established.
If no gap, when and where did Lucifer’s fall take place?