The Gap Theory, also known as the Ruin-Reconstruction Theory, is an interpretation of the biblical account of creation in Genesis 1-2. It attempts to reconcile the apparent differences between the six-day creation account in Genesis and scientific evidence showing the earth to be billions of years old.
According to the Gap Theory, there was an indeterminate gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” This gap could have spanned millions or billions of years.
Advocates claim there is a “gap” between these two verses, with Genesis 1:1 describing the original creation of the universe, perhaps billions of years ago, and Genesis 1:2 ff describing its much more recent re-creation or “reshaping” after a catastrophic judgement akin to a global flood.
The Gap Theory postulates that God created a fully-functioning earth with land continents, plants, animals, and intelligent human-like beings in Genesis 1:1. There was no rain or seas at this time (Genesis 2:5), and humans and dinosaurs may have coexisted.
Then, sometime after this initial creation but before Eden, Satan and fallen angels were cast down to the earth after rebelling against God. This fall precipitated God’s judgment on earth in the form of a global flood-like cataclysm that decimated the planet. The geological layers with fossils formed during this “Lucifer’s flood”, not Noah’s flood.
Genesis 1:2 describes the aftermath of this judgement – “without form and void”, engulfed in darkness and the raging waters. The rest of Genesis 1 describes how God reconstructed the earth in six literal days to make it habitable again for a new race of humanity through Adam and Eve.
Thus, the Gap Theory places an indefinite “gap” of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 to account for the fossil records and geologic ages scientists say prove an ancient universe and earth. This allows Gap theorists to reconcile biblical chronology showing creation around 4000 BC, with scientific evidence of a 4.5 billion year old earth.
Below are the key points of the Gap Theory explained in more detail:
An Initial Creation in Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1 opens with the simple declaration: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Gap theorists take this verse literally, claiming it describes God’s initial creation of the universe, perhaps billions of years ago. They claim the Hebrew verb “bara” (created) refers to an absolute initial creation.
This creation may have included the sun, moon, stars, other planets, a primordial earth, light, water, firmament, dry land, plants, animals, creatures, and even pre-Adamic intelligent beings made in God’s image – all sometime during this initial phase or age of creation. Genesis 1:1 sums up the entirety of this untold history spanning indefinite eons before Eden.
Chaos and Judgment Before Eden
Gap theorists believe something catastrophic happened that caused God’s initial creation to become “formless and empty” (Genesis 1:2). This state of chaos is attributed to the fall of Satan and the rebellion of fallen angels against God’s authority.
Isaiah 45:18 is cited for support – “For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.” The earth became chaotic and empty after an initial creation.
2 Peter 3:5-7 is also referenced – “…the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.” The “world that then existed” before Noah’s flood perished.
Gap theorists speculate that God judged the earth at this time, potentially with a global flood-like cataclysm. This ended the previous world and age of dinosaurs and pre-Adamite man through a geological disaster, setting the stage for God’s re-creation or reconstruction of the earth to prepare it for Adam and Eden.
The “Gap” Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2
Gap theorists point to what they believe is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 based on the differences between the verses:
Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (The original perfect creation.)
Genesis 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.” (Chaos, cataclysm, and judgment.)
The Gap Theory places an unknown, untold period of time between these two verses, described as a “gap” that could encompass billions of years of unrecorded history including dinosaurs, ice ages, cavemen, and pre-Adamite beings.
This allows Gap theorists to accommodate scientific evidence of an old earth and universe. The fossils, geologic ages, and starlight we see today came from this initial creation and cataclysmic judgement, not during or after Eden.
Re-Creation Account in Six Days
Starting from Genesis 1:2, Gap theorists believe the six days of creation do not describe the universe’s initial creation, but a literal six-day reconstruction and reshaping of the earth to make it habitable again for a new race of man – Adam. This re-creation spanned six literal 24-hour days.
Each day of Genesis describes a stage in God preparing the chaotic, flooded earth for Eden and mankind. He establishes day and night cycles, the sky and seas, dry land, plants, the sun and moon, animal life, and finally creates man in His image as a new intelligent being to have dominion – Adam.
Gap theorists take the six days as literal 24-hour days based on the language used. The Hebrew word for “day” (yom) accompanied by “evening and morning” elsewhere indicates a literal solar day. God’s rest on the seventh day also points to literal days.
Two Separate Creations of Man
A core component of the Gap Theory is the belief that Genesis describes two separate creations of man. Genesis 1:27 states: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Gap theorists say this refers to God’s original creation of human-like beings and races during the initial creation phase or age after Genesis 1:1. This explains cavemen fossils and ancient advanced civilizations with intelligent beings that existed before Adam.
Adam’s creation in Genesis 2 with Eve was a separate event during the Edenic age as a new race. This occurred after God reconstructed the earth after an indefinite time gap. Adam was created around 4000 BC, while pre-Adamite beings existed millions of years earlier.
Two Separate Floods
The Gap Theory believes there were two major worldwide floods – one before Adam in the initial creation, and a later flood during Noah’s time in Eden. The earlier flood judgement came after the fall of Satan upon the pre-Adamite world, destroying dinosaurs and earlier races of man.
The geological layers with fossils of extinct creatures were formed catastrophically during this first “Lucifer’s flood” judgement, not gradually over ages. Noah’s later flood did not produce the fossil record, only generating topsoil layers.
Noah’s flood was sent as judgement solely on the descendants of Adam and Eve to cleanse the earth for a new post-diluvian age. It occurred around 2300 BC during recorded human history, destroying Eden. But the earlier flood erased the pre-Adamic world and age that preceded it.
Major Flaws and Criticisms
While the Gap Theory seeks to reconcile science and scripture, there are significant theological and scientific flaws with its premises:
- There is no clear gap indicated in the Genesis text itself. It imposes an arbitrary “gap” not supported exegetically.
- It assumes animal death, catastrophe, and suffering existed before human sin. This contradicts the biblical depiction of original perfection.
- It adopts pre-Darwinian “progressive creation” ideas of different ages. But the bible shows a single continuing age since creation.
- It posits multiple creations and races of man before Adam. But the bible teaches Adam was the first man.
- Dinosaurs and most fossils were deposited after Noah’s flood, not eons earlier.
- Scientific dating methods falsely assume constancy of decay rates over billions of years.
- Starlight reflects God’s supernatural creation of a mature universe, not billions of years.
Most bible scholars today reject the Gap Theory as unbiblical, instead adopting other approaches to address science-faith questions. But the theory retains some support among those seeking to reconcile deep time with scripture.
In the end, the Gap Theory represents an attempt to impose modern scientific beliefs about the age of the earth upon scripture. But the geological ages and evolutionary timeline are constructs that impose a false history on the world’s actual origins – a young creation as the bible teaches.