{"id":3,"date":"2009-02-14T11:26:59","date_gmt":"2009-02-14T17:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/?p=3"},"modified":"2009-03-26T08:54:41","modified_gmt":"2009-03-26T14:54:41","slug":"the-gap-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/2009\/02\/14\/the-gap-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gap Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Easy AdSense V2.80 -->\n<!-- Post[count: 1] -->\n<div class=\"ezAdsense adsense adsense-leadin\" style=\"float:right;margin:12px; \"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-9726323159676378\";\r\n\/* 250x250, created 10\/4\/09 *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"0910926813\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 250;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/div><p>The gap theory is a theory that there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Simply said, in 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth, then destroyed it in 1:2.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t a wacko theory, some well known competent scholars also shared this view.<\/p>\n<p>G.H. Pember touches on this on pages 26-27 of his book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0825435331?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=blthdi-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0825435331\">Earth&#8217;s Earliest Ages<\/a>. Also G. Campbell Morgan shared this view, see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0801059690?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=blthdi-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0801059690\">This Was His Faith: The Expository Letters of G. Campbell Morgan<\/a> page 39.<\/p>\n<p>Here I&#8217;ll explain the main arguments for the Gap Theory.<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, it doesn&#8217;t say when.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>1:2 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Gap theory suggests that after 1:1 and before 1:2 God destroyed the earth, hence the gap.<\/p>\n<p>The word &#8220;was&#8221; in 1:2 is <span class=\"lexTitleHb\">\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4<\/span> <em>(hayah<\/em><em>)<\/em> in the Hebrew which according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1598560662?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=blthdi-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1598560662\">Strong\u2019s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible<\/a> means &#8220;to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.&#8221; So this verse could possibly be translated as &#8220;And the earth BECAME without form&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Next we examine &#8220;without form, and void&#8221; &#8211; <em>tohuw <\/em><em>bohuw <\/em> in Hebrew.<br \/>\n<em>Tohuw <\/em><em><\/em>means &#8220;formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness&#8221; and <em><\/em><em>bohuw <\/em> means emptiness, void, waste.<\/p>\n<p>So now we can translate 1:2 as &#8220;And the earth became confused and wasted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The verse below translates <em>tohuw <\/em>as confusion.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Isaiah 34:11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Confusion implies it was once ordered.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<!-- Easy AdSense V2.80 -->\n<!-- Post[count: 2] -->\n<div class=\"ezAdsense adsense adsense-midtext\" style=\"float:left;margin:12px; \"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-9726323159676378\";\r\n\/* 250x250, created 10\/4\/09 *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"0910926813\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 250;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/div><p>The word vain is <em>tohuw<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>It is always interesting to see how <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0913573442?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=blthdi-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0913573442\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0913573442?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=blthdi-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0913573442\">The Septuagint<\/a> translates these verses in question.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>LXX Gen 1:2 <span class=\"verse\">But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"verse\">It&#8217;s interesting that LXX translates the first word in 1:2 as But. If we start to mix LXX and the Masoretic we can translate it as &#8220;But the earth became void&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"verse\">As with most of scripture we can&#8217;t just pull a random verse and translate it how we see fit. To back the gap theory lets look at other verses and see if we can support it.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>II Peter 3:5 &#8211; &#8220;For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>II Peter 3:6 &#8211; &#8220;Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Perished means total destruction. During Noah&#8217;s flood did everything perish? Nope.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Jeremiah 4:22 &#8211; &#8220;For My people is foolish, they have not known Me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Jeremiah 4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremiah 4:25 I beheld, and, lo, [there was] no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Jeremiah 4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place [was] a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, [and] by his fierce anger.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Verse 4:25 says there was no man, that includes Noah. However, 4:26 says that cities were broken down. When did we have cities when there was no man? I believe that Jeremiah 4:22-26 is talking about something between Genesis 1:1-2, the gap.<\/p>\n<p>There are arguments on both sides of the Gap Theory. I only represented one side. I highly recommend you research both sides and form your own conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>Further reading:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.khouse.org\/articles\/2000\/262\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.khouse.org\/articles\/2000\/262\/<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.answersingenesis.com\/articles\/2005\/11\/28\/scripture-allow-for-gap-theory\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.answersingenesis.com\/articles\/2005\/11\/28\/scripture-allow-for-gap-theory<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gap theory is a theory that there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Simply said, in 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth, then destroyed it in 1:2. This isn&#8217;t a wacko theory, some well known competent scholars also shared this view. G.H. Pember touches on this on pages 26-27 of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3\/revisions\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibledunamai.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}