The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Theistic Evolution: The Gap In Logic

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Can the Bible’s six day account of Creation be harmonized with Evolution’s billions of years? Maybe it can be if there was a gap of time within the Creation account? Or, maybe there were really two different Creations, one millions of years ago while the other was only 6,000 years ago?

Dr. Jobe MartinThese puzzling questions concerning Theistic Evolutionist attempts to harmonize the Bible with Evolution were brought to Dr. Jobe Martin, former dentist, professor and Evolutionist. Having clearly seen God’s eternal power and divine nature from what has been made (Rom. 1:20), Dr. Martin came to faith in Jesus Christ and a trust in the biblical account of the six days of Creation. He and his wife Jenna Dee have since formed Biblical Discipleship Ministries based in Rockwall, Texas to teach on campuses, classrooms and churches that we can trust the Bible’s account of the Creation and Jesus as Savior.

Those who hold to Theistic Evolution say the universe evolved, but God was in control of it. Are there problems with this view?

Well, first of all, who is going to decide what is true? If we say we are Christians, are we going to believe what the Bible says?

Now, if you are a Theistic Evolutionist, that means you believe what Evolution says about things. What’s the problem there? Well, then you would have to say the Big Bang happened, and then next we have the first generation stars and then second generation stars. Then millions of years later we’ve got planet Earth. But, God said that He put planet Earth here first. So, what was first, planet Earth or the stars?

God says that He made birds on the fifth day and reptiles on the sixth day. Evolution says, “No, reptiles came first and then the birds.”

The Bible says by Adam’s sin came death (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:14). A Theistic Evolutionist would say there’s been all kinds of death coming all the way up to Adam. And so, that would mean that the sacrifice that Jesus had to make on the cross because Adam sinned would have no significance at all.

Evolution says billions of years. All you can get from the Bible is about 6,000 years.

There are all these things that are just the reverse of what they need to be if you can say I can have Evolution and also I can have the Bible.

What is the Gap Theory?

The Gap Theory states there is a big gap in the Genesis account that isn’t accounted for there, missing billions and billions of years.

With the Gap Theory we’ve got a problem. Theistic Evolutionists say there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 — in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth, and then gap, and then the Earth is remade. Well, what do we have? That means we still have a pre-Adamic race of people. That means people are living and dying before the Bible says here comes death (Rom. 5:12-14).

They change the words of Genesis 1:2, “And the earth was without form, and void.” They say instead it became that way. They change the normal translation of the verb. And so, they are saying that this Earth covered with water is like a flood judgment. Well, the Bible never talks about two flood judgments. It only talks about one flood judgment — the flood judgment of the days of Noah. They’re putting something in there because of the influence of Evolutionary thinking of the billions of years. They’ve decided they have to get that in there somehow and just put billions of years right there between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. They don’t have to do that.

Special Creation always carries with it the illusion of time. If I go and I create a tree and I bring you out and say, “Look, I just created this tree,” you would say, “No, this tree is 30 years old.” It always carries the image of time.

When God made Adam on Day 6, was he a little baby? No, he was a full grown man, just like that. Let’s say that Michael the Archangel was walking around in the garden and comes up to Adam, “Hello, my name is Michael.” (I am making this up of course.) Adam replies, “My name is Adam.” Michael asks, “Well, Adam how old are you?” Adam answers, “Ten seconds. God just made me.” He puts Adam to sleep, takes out a rib, and makes Eve. Adam wakes up, sees Eve, and he says, “Eve, you are beautiful! How old are you?” She replies, “Fifteen seconds old, Adam. God just made me just as I am.” So, we have to believe that God created fully mature systems. They look old, but they are not old in that sense.

Look at Jesus’ miracles. What did the Creator do? The Lord Jesus in His first miracle turned water into wine. Well, what was significant about that? John 2 records that after He turns the water into wine, the servants take it to the governor of the feast and he asks, “Where did this come from?” They reply, “Well, it was just water a few seconds ago, and now here we have wine.” Well, the wine tasted like aged wine. Now, I don’t know how Jesus made it, but the fact is He took water and turned it into something. And, how many water pots did Jesus use? Six. How many days in the Creation week? Six. So what is He showing here?

In the same way Jesus feeds the 5,000. He didn’t say, “We are making bread, guys, let’s get the ovens out here.” Notice also that dried fish Jesus is pulling out of that basket.

When the soldiers are going to come to get Jesus at the end of His life, Peter grabs a sword and aims to chop the fellow’s head off. I think the fellow ducked as Peter only got his ear. Jesus picks up the ear and puts it back on — no scabs, no stitches, no healing, no time. So, if we are going to believe the Genesis account as it’s written, we have to believe we have a God that doesn’t need time. He is above time. He created time. He can do things that look like they need time, but they don’t need time.

Are there two different Creation accounts recorded in the Bible?

No, there is one Creation account. Genesis 1 is the big picture. Genesis 2 pretty much focuses in on Day 6 in the Garden.

One of the arguments Theistic Evolutionists will use for a Creation and a Re-Creation is that God changes His name. Genesis 1 consistently uses “Elohim.” God did this, said this, made this. Then, in Genesis 2:4, now He changes His name and uses “Yahweh Elohim,” meaning “Lord God.” And so they say, “Ah, there has to be two biblical authors and therefore two Creation accounts.”

Well, why would God change His name after being so consistent? The answer — different purposes. Okay, in Genesis 1, God creates the universe with the climax the creation of man. In Genesis 2, God takes man into marriage. Okay, “Yahweh Elohim, the Lord God, the covenant keeping God” — He changes His name to that in Genesis 2. The covenant keeping God is going to take man into his covenant keeping relationship. And so, there is a different purpose in the use of the different names.

But, no, there are not two different Creation accounts. There is merely an amplification of Day 6 concerning what goes on in the Garden in Genesis 2.

Resources

The Evolution of a CreationistThe Evolution of a Creationist Book by Dr. Jobe Martin:
This fascinating book describes Dr. Jobe Martin’s personal journey from an evolution-trained scientist to a Bible-believing creationist. Dr. Martin examines many of the claims and theories of prominent evolutionists, comparing their often incredible, inconsistent, pseudo-scientific explanations of origins to the clear and simple description of the Creation as depicted in the Bible.
Creation ProclaimsCreation Proclaims Video by Dr. Jobe Martin:
Come face-to-face with some of the world’s most fascinating creatures! You’ll discover how Creation proclaims the character, majesty, power and, glory of our Creator God. In each creature feature, you’ll learn how God is reaching out to mankind by making Himself known in unmistakable ways.
God of WondersGod of Wonders Video by Eternal Productions:
A feature-length Discovery-quality documentary without the evolutionary bias. Stunning nature footage, scientific insights and Scriptures combine to reveal the wonders of our Creator as observed throughout His creation.
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ABOUT AUTHOR View all posts Author Website

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

13 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • the book of genesis is prophetic in content. also, the evolution of civilization is hidden in those words. unless you're a "daniel in the days of babylon" , you won't be able to see the message in those words.

    that's the reason why perfectly rational people take issues with the book of genesis basically because it cannot be understood through literal interpretation and they are right to be baffled – by the christians

    even the christians have no clue to what the book of genesis is all about.

  • there are variations of the gap theory, some believe God created the earth then let evolution take over "theistic evolution" which i reject, another is there was the 1st day, a gap, the 2nd day, a gap… also i reject, anothe God created the heavens and earth, a gap, the earth became void do to a pre=adamic race

  • finally, god created the heavens and the earth, NO HUMANS OR ANIMALS AT THIS TIME, Only angels inhabited the earth, the fall of satan took place thus a massive cataclysmic event took place, the earth became void (as suppodely the hebrew word says) God created (prepared) the earth then made the light the 1st day. . .

  • Actually, Gen. 3 is very prophetic of where the 'earth-dwellers' [the lost] & a lot of Christians are still stuck…'The First Slanderous Lie'. "Did God really pull that line on you…and you fell for it? Dude, He's got ulterior motives! He's holding out on you 'cause He doesn't you to find out that you can to where He is on your own, without Him!"
    I think I'll stick with "And God said…" exactly the way He said it, and without the 'creative rethinking'. DrNofog

  • after finally watching the christ in prohecy show (i have to go to the library to watch it) the young earth makes more sense. i never really had a position but i knew he created the earth in 6 literal days. i just was never sure about a gap or not. i dont think there is one now.

  • doesnt sound right. he may believe in the gap theory but that doesnt make one a theistic evolutionist. i dont think thats true. he is very dogmatic about some issues tho.

  • >son of thunder said…"I think I read somewhere that John Hagee is a theistic evolutionist. Anyone know anything about that?"

    I don't think so; but I know anytime he rants about any Israeli issues, I have to kick a leg out & maybe raise a hand or two…

    >hartdawg said…"he is very dogmatic about some issues tho."

    No problem here!!!…When ever I read the Bible, I get the distinct impression that God is "very dogmatic about some issues"…!

  • There is a gap theory that could be true, has no impact on what we know of the age of the Earth, and doesn't postulate humans or any other creatures in the gap. Between Gene 1:2 and 1:2 could be where Satan fell (I think this is what hartdawg was trying to say).

    There's no evidence either way, so I don't think we need to be dogmatic about this particular gap theory–unlike ones that assume there are humans and other animals on the Earth in the gap.

  • I never thought about when the fall of Lucifer happened… i just knew it did… Of course even though that makes sense, it seems like there are a lot of other options as to when that could have happened, at least I think so… Could it have happened while He was creating the earth? I mean, God is omnipotent, right? He's everywhere? Or maybe it happened at night? There was morning and evening, and during the night, Satan started brooding? Lots of bad things seem to happen at night… I wonder if the Bible ever states when Lucifer turned away from God…

  • I have just discovered where the Gap Theory may have originated.

    In Norse mythology, there is a battle called Ragnarock: a Viking armaggedon.

    In the battle, the gods battle the titans and all die, man and god.

    Except for two people, a man and woman, who are to repopulate the earth. The Catholic armies took this legend and placed it between Genesis 1:1 and verse 2, to Christianize the pagan Norsemen and to harmonize their legends with Christianity.

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