| The Gap Theory
places a very long time "gap" between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, in an
attempt to reconcile the "long ages" of conventional uniformitarian Historical
Geology with the literal integrity of the Bible. During this period the
geology of the earth was supposedly formed, together with the fossils,
which represented the destruction of pre-Adamic races men and animals -
many of which are, of course, remarkably similar to modern species! According
to this theory, the world described as created in the rest of Genesis 1
constitutes a re-creation. Its major theological weakness is that, given
that human fossils are found in the fossil record, it is impossible to
reconcile with Romans 5:12-14, which says that human death only entered
the world as a result of the sin of Adam. The Gap Theory, though less popular
than it once was, still has adherents, usually people who wish to maintain
the truth of the Bible and of accepted science. In fact the theory
is an accommodation entirely towards science. This is unnecessary: recent
geological studies show that the long ages of Historical Geology do not
exist, and the rocks and fossil record are better explained by the Genesis
Flood and the several centuries of ecological recovery that followed. |