Gap Theory

Great question. And I belive HoG did a great job of explaining what I believe as well. However I would add one thing to his post. Understanding that Genesis 1:2 gives us the first mention of restoration we can truly understand salvation, because that is the restoration of man (man being a ruined creation as was the earth).

The Holy Spirit moved, God spoke and light became. That's exactly what happens in salvation.

Seeing the seven-day process also gives us a timeline as to Man's Day (six days of restoring a ruined creation - with six days being six thousand years) and the Lord's Day (the day of rest - being the 1,000-year reign of Christ).

God is taking six days (six thousand years - as per II Peter 3:8) to restore the ruined creation of man. He will rest again on the seventh day. That is why the Sabbath rest was so important for Israel, because it was a sign that God was working six days and He would rest again on the seventh.

That is a very brief look at the importance. If you are interested in going deeper, especially with how these Truths tie into the signs in the Gospel of John PM me and I'll send you a great resource which will help.

 

BTW, if you want to download the preceding document in pdf format, I've made it available on my web site. You can right click and save: Genesis 1

 

I think Ruckman is a person that has really turned people away from this teaching for one reason or another. I don't know what he has said, or what he believes, but I've heard several people say that's what he believes and therefore they won't accept it or won't study it out for themselves.

Not sure what the story is though.

 

But if this were not true it would be a substantial setback to those who support a young earth.
For if the heavens and earth were created “In the beginning” as the texts say, then what all was produced in the seven times that follow? I would suggest that what you have been taught is wrong.

It’s interesting how things have changed over the last 50 or so years.
Quite a few of the early framers of the Fundamentalist movement were old-earth creationists. Benjamin Warfield, C.I. Scofield, James Orr, R. A. Torrey, famous in their own right were all old-earth creationists of one bend or another and did not believe that the text required that each day had to be defined as twenty-four hours in length.

Although the Gap theory is quite dated and passé due to exegetical difficulties, I would suggest that the first place you look would be the historical book, The Fundamentals which can be picked up quite cheaply at Christian Book Distributors.

Rob

 

I am neither an OEC nor a YEC, as I don't think it really matters to the Bible how old the earth is. What matters is that God created it and is the Sovereign Lord over all the universe.

Joseph Botwinick

 

Amen! This is one of the major things that clogs down this issue from both sides. One saying that science can't have anything to do with the Bible and the other saying science and the Bible have to agree.

JB you said it well. It doesn't matter how old the earth is. God doesn't tell us so let's not try to rack our brains to figure it out. If He would have wanted us to know He would have given us a date so we can know.

Let's focus on the things He does want us to know, because He has revealed those things to us and let's just let lie what He didn't think was important enough to tell us about.

 

I always wondered if the world didn't have twenty-four hour days until the fourth day? It was then God gave us the stars sun and moon so we could have seasons, days and years. How do we know how long in our time the first three days actually were?

 

My husband and I have said many times that we would like to have been able to go to PBI. We have several vhs tapes by Dr. Ruckman and enjoy every one of them.. Best wishes to you .....As far as the gap theory is concerned, we both believe in the gap.. From the study we have done, we have found that the word "replenish" in Genesis1:28 is the same word in Genesis 9:2 and that was after the flood....

 

My husband and I don't agree with Dr. Ruckman on everything, but we do enjoy his unique presentation ( chalk talks)....We enjoy every vhs tape, mp3, cassette tapes and books we have bought from his bookstore.....

 

Whew! If this is true, then I would say stay far away from them! That's very dangerous and bordering on cultic. (It's not, but still very dangerous.)

Now, to stay on topic, anyone here familiar with Dr. Waltke's pre-creation chaos theory? Very similar to the Gap theory, but without some ofthe assumptions made by the Gap theory.

FA