 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
      |
 | ||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
'An Independent Baptist Church'
Creation / Gap Theory (Part 2)
Why Was Lucifer in the Garden of Eden?
Gap Theorists would say their theory explains WHY Lucifer had access to the Garden of Eden in the first place to tempt Adam and Eve, otherwise WHY would Lucifer be there anyway?
(See James Montgomery Boice, GENESIS, Vol 1, p53)
He was originally ruler over this earth and dwelt in Eden according to Ezekiel 28:12,13:
"Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.13 Thou HAST BEEN IN EDEN the garden of God;"
Lucifer is called the 'prince of this world' and the 'god of this Age. He seems to have been given some authority over the earth at sometime.
(How that Lucifer could be Prince of this world and god of this age while Adam was given dominion is looked at in detail further below)
Death Came by Adam
In 1 Corinthians 15:21 Scripture says that “for since by MAN (Adam) came death, by man (Jesus) came also the resurrection of the dead”. Some would say there couldn’t have been death of animals on a Pre-Adamic earth on which Lucifer reigned because this verse says death came BY ADAM.
Romans 5:12 also implies the same thing, that death didn't come until Adam came. " Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by
man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.22 For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Gap Theorists reply: In context, these passages of Scripture are referring to why death came to mankind…because of Adam’s sin. It doesn’t necessarily say animals, etc. from a Pre-Adamic earth couldn’t have died from an ‘Ice age’ type judgment from God due to Lucifer’s rebellion as he was over this earth and an angelic civilization. (Rev.12:4 and Isa.14:17)
This passage in 1 Corinthians is talking about 'death' coming to 'mankind' because of Adam's sin.
But then again, The Gap Theory doesn't insist animals must have lived and died on a Pre-Adamic earth. It may have just been Lucifer and angels, which of course, as angels, would never die. Some proponents of the Gap Theory, such as Clarence Larkin and Kenneth Wuest, say that Lucifer was over a Pre-Adamic 'man' or 'humanoid' race that existed on the Pre-Adamic earth, and the the demons today are the disembodied spirits of this race. While that is a possibility, I just don't see that. 1 Corinthians 15:45 declares that Adam was the first man.
(From Clarence Larkin, Dispensational Truth, p24) (From Kenneth Wuest, Prophetic Light in Present Darkness, p66)
It seems best to agree with the earlier assessment that demons today are the disembodied spirits of the angels who who were on the original earth with Lucifer.
(From M.R. Dehaan, THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS, p6-8)
The Bible says God's Creation was GOOD, so Lucifer could not have fallen yet...
In Genesis 1:31 we read that God looked at His creation and declared it was 'GOOD'. Opponents of the Gap Theory say God couldn't have said that if Lucifer's sin and fall caused judgment upon the earth earlier.
Genesis 1:31 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.
Gap Theorist's reply: When God said 'it was very good' He was referring to the 're-created earth' and IT was good. Just because Lucifer sinned earlier, that doesn't mean God can't make something 'good' now!
A Good counterpoint the Gap Theorists make is that in these six days of re-creation, He said it was 'good' after each day EXCEPT on day 2 when he separated the firmament and made the atmosphere! The reason is because this became Satan's domain after his fall and judgment!
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
This is a good argument I have yet to hear opponents of the Gap Theory to answer. "Why did God not say it was 'good' after day 2?
Do the Fossils disprove the Gap Theory?
Six-Day Creationists say the FOSSIL RECORD declares all of the fossils were laid as they are found as a result of Noah's Flood, not because of a Pre-Adamic earth.
Gap Theorists reply: Fine. All of the fossils today could be the result of Noah's worldwide Flood.. The 'Gap Theory' doesn't INSIST animals and fossils HAD TO EXIST ON THE PRE-ADAMIC EARTH. In fact, I do believe the flood gave us the fossils we have today.
The Earth is young, not billions of years old
Six-Day Creationists believe Scientist attests to a YOUNG EARTH of only 6000 to 12,000 years old, not millions of years.
Gap Theorists reply: This very well could be true. The Gap Theory only says there must have been some time between Gen.1:1 and Gen.1:2 for Lucifer's rebellion. That's all we're saying. That could have happened in a very short period of time from his creation. It could have been only few months or years, or a much longer period. The Gap Theory doesn't insist on an earth millions of years old. Dinosaurs, for example, could have existed in Noah's Day, and on a Pre-Adamic earth, too. The Gap Theory allows for either. I tend to personally believe they lived during Noah's Day and after the flood many soon became extinct, but many still exist today, especially in the oceans! Many have been discovered in the past 100 years, but evolutionists have done a good job of not letting it be advertised very much...because they feel that would harm their precious EVOLUTION THEORY...
The Gap Theory is held to accommodate the evolutionist's view of a EARTH billions of years old and Its Geological Strata
Six-Day Creationists claim Gap Theorists hold to their view to appease evolutionists who say dinosaurs and the earth and Geologic strata are millions of years old.
Gap Theorists reply: Not so. Perhaps some of the earlier proponents of the view such Thomas Chalmers in the late 1800's and Scofield in the early 1900's thought their theory would allow for the long period of time that Science seemed to teach in that day, but that wasn't their primary reason to holding to the Gap Theory. Just like Gap Theorists today, They just Believed it best lines up with Scripture and Science.
I Believe the whole GEOLOGIC COLUMN and STRATA as taught in many Science Books is a BIG HOAX!
DOESN'T CARBON DATING TEACH THAT THE EARTH IS MILLIONS Of YEARS OLD?
No. Carbon Dating is a bunch of bologna. It has been proven to an unreliable as a 3 dollar bill. Carbon Dating has been done on freshly killed animals has shown them to be millions of years old!
Another argument I have heard against the Gap Theory is...
WAS SATAN ALREADY THE 'GOD OF THIS WORLD' (2 Corinthians 4:4) WHEN GOD GAVE ADAM DOMINION (GENESIS 1:26-28) OVER THE EARTH?
2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "In whom the god of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Now look very closely at these verses and what they are saying and what they are not saying....
It says Adam was to have 'dominion' over the animals, fish, and birds....it never says to have 'dominion' over the earth.... Adam is to 'subdue' the earth....but it does not say have 'dominion' over the earth...
Now if I wanted to be unkind, I could reply, "Who is 'adding' to the Word of God now?" This is a charge often leveled at 'Gap Theorists.
The 'Gap Theory' is only of RECENT ORIGIN
Opponents of the Gap Theory say it is only a recent theory in the past couple of hundred years and was not held by the early church. Answer: This is just not true either. As James Montgomery Boice notes, "Arthur C. Custance, who has written an excellent book in the theory's defense, traces it to the certain early Jewish writers,...who even put a 'rebhia' mark in the Masoretic text of the Old Testament to let the reader know there is a break in the narrative between v1 and v 2..
....some of the church fathers REFER to the Gap Theory and even referred to in some ancient Sumerian and Babylonian documents, according to Boice, a very scholarly and reliable writer and Bible Teacher. He adds that It crops up in the middle ages as well. It was in Scotland at the beginning of the last century, through the work of the capable pastor and writer Thomas Chalmers, that the idea gained real coherence and visibility....The single most effective teacher of this view was C.I. Scofield, who included it in his notes on Genesis in the astonishingly popular Scofield Reference Bible. From there it became the almost unquestioned view of Fundamentalism..."
(See James Montgomery Boice, GENESIS, Vol. 1, p50,51)
To say that the Gap Theory was invented in 1814 is just not true. That is just an incorrect statement.
Gap Theorists are ADDING to the Word of God!
Opponents of the Gap Theory claim that because the good men listed above in the annotations who hold to forms of a 'Gap Theory' and believe there could have been a 'GAP' of time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2....that they are 'adding to the Word of God'!! ....a serious charge that will result is dire consequences to that Believer when we get to heaven!
Revelation 22:18,19 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
Pretty serious charges against good men of God who simply have a different interpretation of a verse in Genesis, are they not? Are you telling me that because men like M.R. Dehaan and the others mentioned above are 'adding to the Word of God' simply because they believe Lucifer could have fallen between Gen. 1:1,2!
One opponent of the Gap Theory actually mocks anyone who would offer the Gap Theory as at least a possibility to at least consider with a cartoon in which a student says,
"Professor, Why Can't I Just Believe The Bible?"
(From Ken Ham's CLOSING THE GAP, p1 from www.icr.org )
Another well-respected opponent of the Gap Theory argues,
DOES EVERYONE WHO READS THE BIBLE NEED SOME 'GURU' TO TELL THEM WHAT THE BIBLE SAY?
Well, to be truthful, I really don't understand that statement. To imply that the good men above can not simply 'take the Bible' for what it says and must have a 'GURU' to explain it to them....it just not a fair....or a kind statement. To imply that these men above needed a 'GURU' to come their well-studied conclusion....is unfortunate.
I believe this attitude is actually doing more discredit to those who oppose the Gap Theory than they realize. To imply those who hold to a 'gap' between Gen.1:1,2 are not Bible believers is ludicrous.
THE GAP THEORY DESTROYS THE WORK OF THE CROSS
This opponent of the Gap Theory even goes on to say " ..the gap theory actually destroys the foundation work of the cross..." (p2, Closing the Gap) Unbelievable.
Remember The Gap Theory does not insist on a race of people on a Pre-Adamic earth who died.. . YOU SEE, see here is an example where an opponent of the Gap Theory, takes a rare suggestion of Larkin and Wuest that a race of men might have lived on a Pre-Adam earth, and they use this to discredit the whole theory!
GAP THEORISTS ARE JUST TOO PROUD TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG
A good man told me he knew preachers who were just too proud to admit the Gap Theory was wrong because they hate to admit they had been wrong.
Well that is probably true of preachers in a lot of cases. But I can honestly say in my case, if someone could convince that the GAP THEORY (as presented in this paper) is wrong and not Scriptural, I would change my view right now. The fact is, I have looked at every argument against it. I have used my power of deduction and reasoning from my days at Purdue University, and I, for one, just have found holes in every argument used by the opponents of the Gap Theory. I have been surprised by the arrogance of some of the folks who disagree with me. I have seen them almost get mad when I present this paper to them. I think that is sad. Good people can disagree and you don't have to slander and belittle them and accuse them of not being 'Bible Believers'!
Good people are on both sides of this controversial issue, and Christians can disagree on this matter, but to make it a matter of fellowship or even slanderous accusation is sad, and we need to be careful to refrain from that. Both sides agree that God was the one Creating and we did not evolve from some amoeba after a BIG BANG sometime in the distant past! Both of these views agree the Theory of Organic Evolution as taught in Public Schools is WRONG! BOTH of these views would say that 'Theistic Evolution' is also wrong. One side simply believes Lucifer could have fallen between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, and the other does not. The Bible says we ought to be ready to give an answer to every man....and anyone who can show where we are looking at this wrong, we would certainly be willing to listen to what you have to present.
In Conclusion
The two pastors of Gospel Center, Pastor Steve Frederick and Pastor Harold Head, believe the 'Gap Theory' as described above is the most logical interpretation according to the Bible. We do not take this position just to 'fit' science, we just believe it makes the most sense! Now that is not saying we hold to all of the 'Gap theories' around either...
We have studied both sides of the issue for years and have weighed the Creation Science arguments and they just don't add up to disprove the 'Gap Theory' in our minds.
As James Montgomery Boice says on page 53 of his commentary of Genesis,
"the arguments of the Gap Theory 'have not been taken seriously enough by those who oppose the theory".
We would agree.
Other Earlier works which do a good job of supporting the 'Gap Theory' include:
G.H.Pember, EARTH'S EARLIEST AGES; Harry Rimmer, MODERN SCIENCE AND THE GENESIS RECORD; Francis Schaeffer, GENESIS IN SPACE AND TIME; Arthur Constance, WITHOUT FORM AND VOID;
|