SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 148A
November
29, 2003
A Brief History of the Gap Theory of Creation
In the circle of Christian beliefs, concerning the
creation of the earth and the universe, there are several different
teachings. All agree God created the
earth, but beliefs of how and when differ considerably. There are three primary views concerning the
age of the earth. Most believe it is a
very young planet, and that God created it mature (old) as he created man
(Adam) mature. This group has the earth
varying in age from 6000 to perhaps 12000 years. Then there is a group that believes a very
long indefinite period of time passed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:3, varying from
millions to billions of years, and that the creation account following Genesis
1:2 is a recreation, or reshaping, of what was made void and without form by
Satan’s fall in Genesis 1:2. The third
group believes in theistic evolution, saying God created things over a long
period of time, with the Hebrew word “yom” for “day” being used to denote long
epochs of time during the six days of Genesis
creation. Now, having very briefly
presented these different beliefs, PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY WHAT I AM ABOUT
TO SAY NEXT!
HERE IS PRECISELY AND EXACTINGLY WHAT I BELIEVE –
AND I BELIEVE IT EXACTLY AS IT IS WRITTEN:
GENESIS 1:1 – IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE
HEAVEN AND THE EARTH.
I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT THE
HOW AND THE WHEN. I AM ONLY CONCERNED
ABOUT YOU IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE HE CREATED IT.
I HAVE BIGGER FISH TO FRY THAN BECOMING ENTANGLED IN DEBATES ABOUT WHICH
ONE IS CORRECT. SO PLEASE DON’T SEND ME
ANY OFFERS TO DEBATE. THIS IS SIMPLY A
HISTORY OF ONE OF THE BASIC BELIEFS KNOWN AS “THE GAP THEORY.”
In this Update I intend to present a brief history
of what is known as “the gap theory.” It
is not the intent and purpose of this report to elaborate on the various
Scriptures and inductive reasoning processes put forward by many learned men in
support of the basic hypothesis. It is
primarily the purpose of this article to render a brief history of the gap
theory from its inception into the ranks of Missionary Baptists. However, at least a very basic description of
the proposition should be outlined before going into details about its history,
and a short summary of the theory will be presented by Gaebelein from his
Annotated Bible, where he states the following on pages 16 and 17 (BEGIN QUOTE
BY GAEBELEIN):
“It is of the greatest importance to understand that
the condition in which the earth (not the heavens) is described in the second
verse is not how God created it in the beginning. Scripture itself tells us this. Read Isaiah 45:18. The Hebrew word for ‘without form’ is TOHU,
which means ‘waste.’ ‘The earth was
waste and void.’ But in the passage of
Isaiah 45:18 we read, ‘He created it not a waste.’ The original earth passed through a great
upheaval, a judgment swept over it, which in all probability must have occurred
on account of the fall of that mighty one Lucifer, who fell by pride and became
the Devil. The original earth, no doubt,
was his habitation, and he had authority over it, which he still claims as the
“prince of this world.” Luke 4:5,6 shows us this. The
earth had become waste and void; chaos and darkness reigned. What that original earth was like we do not
know, but we know that animal and vegetable life were in existence long before
God began to restore the earth. The
immense fossil beds prove this. But they
likewise prove that man was not then on the earth. Between the first and second verses of the
Bible there is that unknown time of millions of years which geology gets a
glimpse of in studying the crust of the Earth.”
(END QUOTE BY GAEBELEIN).
In order to present a truly representative history
of the gap theory, it is first necessary to examine the soil of the times from
when it first burst forth its blooms into the light of the nineteenth
century. A bit of what we might call a
“pre-bloom” time of say, 100 years, would present a picture of mankind
beginning to unearth extensive “finds” of various kinds of fossil life. Graphic pictures of pre-historic creatures
and plants began to be noticed in exposed rock surfaces, and even more
startling were the underground finds of huge dinosaur forms that had once
roamed the vast plains of earth. It was
a time of great unrest in the minds of learned men who sought an answer to the
apparent conflictions of these discoveries with a long accepted belief in a
very young earth of some 6000 years.
Into this time of apparent contradiction with the
long conceived idea of a young, God-created earth, stepped a brilliant
Christian man of that day, the scientist, Georges Cuvier. Morris and Whitcomb, in their publication of
“The Genesis Flood,” give the following statement concerning Cuvier: (BEGIN
QUOTE).
“The man to whom we refer was Georges Cuvier
(1769-1832), professor of comparative anatomy in the museum of natural history
at Paris, and the founder of modern vertebrate
paleontology – a man of immense learning and reputation. Cuvier’s opposition to flood geology was
subtle, because he insisted the earth had been laid down by the flood. He also taught that the major fossil strata
of the earth had been laid down by a series of great floods, separated by
immense periods of time, and long before the creation of man.” (END QUOTE).
As in most theories, there were certain portions of
Cuvier’s hypothesis that needed, over a period of time, to be modified to agree
with later discoveries of climate and geological shifts of both life forms and
the earth’s crust. Kruten, in his book,
“The Age of the Dinosaurs,” as it pertains to the discovery of dinosaur remains
in the Paris Basin, says of Cuvier:
(BEGIN QUOTE).
“Georges Cuvier, working out the sequence in the
Paris Basin, taught that the successive periods in the history of the world
were invariably caused by a great catastrophe, wiping out most of the living
beings when it occurred, whereupon new forms of life were created or migrated
from other regions. The antithesis of catastropism
is the principle of actualism or uniformitarianism.” (END QUOTE).
It was during Cuvier’s lifetime that the conflict
between the theories of Pre-Adamic “Catastrophism” and “Uniformitarianism”
spread across the civilized world. There
were many theologians who lifted the flag in support of Curvier’s hypothesis of
a long period of chaos and catastrophe before the first appearance of man. Some of these theologians were portrayed by
Surburg in the book “Darwin, Evolution, and Creation,” where he wrote the
following: (BEGIN QUOTE).
“In the nineteenth century George H. Pember, in his
book, ‘Earth’s Earliest Ages,’ set forth the interpretation that a long period
or ‘gap’ was to be reckoned with after Genesis 1:1. Pember is thus sometimes credited with the
formulation of the ‘gap’ or ‘restitution’ theory. The possibility of a gap or long period of
time after Genesis 1:1 has been held by a number of nineteenth century
theologians, among then Hengstenberg
(1802-69), famous Lutheran theologian at the University of Berlin; Franz
Delitzsch (1813-90), professor of Old Testament at Erlangen, and by Boehme,
Oetinger, F. Von Meyer, Stier, Keerl, Kurtz, and others.” (END QUOTE).
I shall have something to say about Surburg’s
suggestion that Pember is the originator of the gap theory at a later time, but
for now I would like to present as clear a picture as possible on the
catastrophism theory advanced by Cuvier.
To close our analysis of Curier’s idea, I will provide a quote from
Wendt in his book, “Before the Deluge,” where he speaks of Cuvier’s theory as
follows: (BEGIN QUOTE).
“According to Cuvier, the earth was shaken many
times in its history by upheavals and cataclysms. Some of these were local events; in such
cases they only annihilated life in the affected regions, so the new living beings
drifted in from other regions and repopulated the devastated areas. In his principle work on paleontology,
‘Recherches Sur Les Ossements Fossiles,’ Curier stated: ‘Life on earth has been
frequently interrupted by frightful events.
Innumerable organisms have become the victims of such catastrophes. Invading waters have swallowed up the
inhabitants of dry land; the sudden rise of the sea bottom has deposited
aquatic animals on land. Their species
have vanished forever; they have left behind only sparse remains, which the
naturalist is currently striving to interpret.’
Cuvier did not exactly state that life on earth had been extinguished to
finality, and then recreated by God in superior form; that theory was to be
advanced by his successors.” (END
QUOTE).
Concerning Cuvier’s belief concerning the existence
of man during the time of the earth’s great catastrophes, Wendt flatly states:
“Cuvier did not believe in the existence of man in primordial times.”
While I agree with Dr. Surburg’s statement that G.H.
Pember is often credited with the formulation of the original gap theory, this
has caused many who do not believe the gap theory to say it was only an answer
to Charles Darwin’s famous book, The Origin of Species, published in 1859. However, this is completely false.
The weight of my research credits the original
formulation of the gap theory to have originated from the lips of Dr. Thomas
Chalmers, a noted gentleman of some renown, some 45 years before Darwin’s book
was published. Whitcomb and Morris, in
their book, “The Genesis Flood,” are correct in their assessment of the
“earliest” appearance of the gap theory, of which they state as follows: (BEGIN QUOTE).
“As early as 1814, Cuvier’s views were being
pronounced in England by Dr. Thomas Chalmers, who found room between Genesis
1:1 and 1:2 for this succession of pre-Adamic catastrophes and thus became the
great popularizer of the now famous ‘Gap Theory.’ Many of the greatest geologists of this
period, such as Adam Sedgwick, Rodgerick Murchison, and William Buckland,
approved Cuvier’s theory because it seemed to offer an easy explanation of the
fossil strata.” (END QUOTE).
It would seem reasonable that the 1810 pre-Adamic
catastrophe theory of Cuvier would prompt an almost immediate searching of the
Scriptures by diligent born-again believers in an attempt to find God’s
linguistic answer to a scientific problem.
I have always held that God’s word has the answers for the problems
mankind faces in the interpretation of what it teaches. It seems quite reasonable to me that his word
was used at that time to present a linguistic solution to a scientific
dilemma. I believe the born-again
believer who first discovered this linguistic revelation in Genesis was Dr.
Thomas Chalmers, who began to expound it publicly “as early as 1814.” The character of this man reveals an inner
nature that held the Bible inspired to the point of defending his beliefs
openly. The following information concerning
Dr. Chalmers, taken from The New International Dictionary of the Christian
Church, is quoted as follows. (BEGIN
QUOTE).
“Chalmers, Thomas (1780-1847). Scottish minister. Born in Anstruther and educated at St.
Andrews University, he was inducted to Kilmany Parish in 1803, and lectured
part time at his University. He experienced
evangelical conversion in 1811, and his ministerial and emphasis and activity
were completely changed. He began to
write for ‘The Christian Instructor,’ publication of which marked the turning
of the tide in the moderate-evangelical encounter. In 1815 he was inducted to the Tron Church,
Glasgow, and was heard by crowded congregations twice every Sunday. Glasgow reeled in shock when Chalmers left in
1823 to teach moral philosophy at St. Andrews’s University, but when he moved
on to Edinburgh to teach philosophy, his friends were sure he had found his
sphere. He became Moderator of the
Evangelical Party in 1832, and thereafter the leader and symbol of the
movement. During the next decade he
championed the cause of church extension, building in six years some 216
churches, and raising 290,000 pounds, a fantastic amount for that day and
time. After “The Disruption,” Chalmers
became the Moderator of the Free Church Assembly, and professor of Theology in
New College. His “Institutes of
Theology” was published posthumously in 1849.” (END QUOTE).
The “Free Church Assembly” of which Chalmers became
Moderator, was an Association of local free churches that made up what was
known as The Free Church of Scotland. In
order to understand Chalmer’s connection with the Association, the following
quote from The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church is
offered: (BEGIN QUOTE).
“Free Church of Scotland. Popularly known as ‘The Wee Free Church of
Scotland.’ It represents the minority of
the former Free Church of Scotland who refused to enter the union with the
United Presbyterian Church to form the United Free Church of Scotland. The original Free Church was constituted in
1843 after “The Disruption,” when about one-third of the ministers and members
seceded from the Church of Scotland rather than submit to what they considered
to be state control of the local churches.
Their leader, Dr. Thomas Chalmers, declared: ‘We quit a vitiated
establishment and would rejoice in returning to a pure one.’” (END QUOTE).
Thomas
Chalmers was certainly more than qualified to advance such a premise as the gap
theory in the Genesis account of creation, possessing Doctors degrees in three
disciplines, Bible Languages, the Sciences, and Divinity. Certain domestic calamities, and a severe
illness of his own, opened up the fountains of his soul, and drew him closer to
the Lord. So, when he was asked after
this to prepare an article for an Encyclopedia in Edinburgh by Brewer, he commenced
an extensive study of the evidences that Christianity was genuine, during which
he became absolutely certain of Christ as Savior, and that the Bible was the
veritable “Word of God.” After this,
according to the Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, “He grew earnest, fervent,
devout, and faithful to his pastoral duties.”
This reference bears testimony to a man who was an
objective scientist that recognized the Bible as the “Word of God,” from which
a linguistic answer could be provided to a scientific question. In a future Update, Lord willing, I will give
a thorough exposition of the “Gap Theory” by Dr. Thomas Chalmers. But the purpose of this lengthy Update has
been to present the history surrounding its origin, and to carry that history
to the time when it first entered the ranks of Missionary Baptist
churches. As outlined previously, it was
not long before theological ideas began to form around the periphery of
Culvier’s hypothesis on what is known as catastrophism. Some simply rejected it, some tried to adjust
it, and still others linguistically interpreted Genesis 1:1,2 to provide a
theological answer to a scientific hypothesis.
The pattern is much the same today.
Unbelieving scientists are providing scientific answers to
creation. Some believing scientists are
offering scientific answers to the creation.
And theologians are arguing over interpretations as to how to interpret
inspired Biblical words. As for myself,
I believe Genesis 1:1, and I could care less how or when God created the
heavens and the earth, I just know he did it.
However, I will give you my opinion on the Genesis account of creation
in a future Update, Lord willing.
So how did the Gap Theory get into Missionary
Baptist work? A Dr. Henry Drummond, like
Chalmers, was an evangelical minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was born four years after Chalmers
died. The parallelism in their lives,
induced by almost being contemporaries, and Drummond’s following the doctrinal
path of Chalmers, is quite evident in the following quote taken from the New
International Dictionary of the Christian Church: (BEGIN QUOTE).
“Drummond, Henry (1551-1897). Scottish writer and evangelist. Born at Stirling, and educated at Edinburgh
University, he was persuaded by D.L. Moody to suspend his theological course
and to work with him in evangelistic campaigns during Moody’s first visit to
Britain. After 1866 he taught Natural
Science at the Free Church College in Glasgow, and in 1883 published the best
seller, ‘Natural Law in the Spirit World.’
In 1884 he was ordained and became Professor of Theology in the
college. He influenced many generations
of students through his evangelistic work, visiting Australia in 1887 and the
United States in 1890. His lectures at
Boston were published as ‘The Ascent of Man’ in 1890. But his best known work was ‘The Greatest
Thing in the World,’ which was a
meditation on I Corinthians 13:13.”
(END QUOTE).
Dr. Drummond has been mentioned because he is
referenced by the man most responsible for the introduction of the Gap Theory
into Missionary Baptist ranks, Dr. J. Louis Guthrie, who was one of the three
founders of the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Guthrie, speaking of him in his book,
“Christ in Creation,” says: “Drummond has written the nearest to a spiritual
science, and consideration of all phases of life, in his ‘Natural Law in the
Spiritual World,’ but his work is mostly from analogy.” Again, Dr. Guthrie speaks of Drummond in
regard to his views on the doctrine of trichotomy, as he comments: “I am
indebted to Drummond, Sabatier, Dr. Giorgio Bartoli and others for some help I
have had in this trend of thought. They
have given valuable suggestions to which I have fastened quite a train of
thought.”
But it is not Drummond that gave us the gap theory,
but a man whose ideas conflicted with Drummond on the theory of catastrophism
before Adam, Dr. Giorgio Bartoli. After
having researched many names quoted by Dr. Guthrie in his works, it appears
evident to me that Dr. Guthrie was familiar with the viewpoints of both Drummond
and Bartoli. And from the writings of
Dr. Guthrie it is readily apparent he accepted and expounded the viewpoint of
Dr. Bartoli. Dr. Guthrie speaks of him
in his book, “Christ in Creation,” where he gives the following testimony of
Bartoli: (BEGIN QUOTE).
“Dr. Bartoli in his little book, ‘The Biblical Story
of Creation,’ makes this observation in the amazing statement, ‘even now, after
the millenniums that our earth has existed, no simple bodies exist, only
composite ones. The element is is an artificial
product of man, which he extracts from the chemical combination of which it is
part and parcel. It is not physical
progress that prevails in the world, but degeneracy. Our creation is getting gradually older,
poorer, and uglier; the earth moreover, is drying up constantly, becoming less
habitable, and by degrees becoming a desert.
The progressive decay and degeneration of the earth and man is a fact,
beyond the possibility of a doubt. Not
evolution, but involution, is the great law of the universe. Involution means the imperfect from the
perfect, the simple from the composite, the immoral from the moral, ugliness
from beauty, crime and vice from innocence, disorder from order, and death from
life.’ This is the pronouncement of a
man who is chemist and physicist, who has taught these sciences along with
geology and biological science in many universities of Europe and Asia. He has lectured extensively in nearly all
countries in Europe and the Americas, and knows language, philosophy, science,
and theology in their practical phases.
He writes in nearly every modern Occidental language. He is now Superintendent of Mines in
Sardinia. His varied experiences have
qualified him to speak with authority.
His knowledge of literature, the sciences, theology, and philosophy can
hardly be questioned.” (END QUOTE).
Dr. Bartoli, a contemporary of Drummond, picked up
the standard left behind by Dr. Chalmers and spread its influence across the
American and European continents. An
excellent presentation of Dr. Bartoli’s concept of the pre-Adamic world
catastrophe is given in his book, “The Biblical Story of Creation.”
Dr. L.D. Foreman, in his book, “The Bible in Eight
Ages,” gives a lengthy quote from Dr. Bartoli’s book on pages 102 to 105. Speaking of the pre-Adamic fallen angels, Dr.
Bartali writes as follows: (BEGIN
QUOTE).
“Since they could accomplish nothing against God,
these miserable creatures vented their malice upon the earth, where they fell
in millions. That disastrous fall
produced a world cataclysm. Our solar
system was convulsed, disemboweled and reduced to chaos – confusion, darkness,
and complete disorder prevailed.” (END
QUOTE).
So, in summary, the thread of continuity that
stretches from Missionary Baptists back to the birth of the Gap Theory in about
1814, began with a first stitch by Dr. Thomas Chalmers, rippled across the
Atlantic on the wings of Dr. Giorgio Bartoli, and entered our ranks largely
through the brilliant, fertile mind of Dr. J. Louis Guthrie.
I dedicated my third book, “The Key to the
Bottomless Pit,” to Dr. Fred G. Stevenson, a rare man of God, who made this
dullard think. Dr. Fred was, during his
many years of teaching at the Little Rock Missionary Baptist Seminary, the best
Hebrew teacher of his era among Missionary Baptist Seminary teachers of Hebrew
in our ranks. Dr. J. Louis Guthrie
suffered an early demise as a teacher at Little Rock, but Dr. Stevenson had
tremendous influence on the many students he taught during his long tenure at
the school. The only other Missionary
Baptist preacher I ever knew that could speak slower than Fred was “Buddy”
Pennington, a dear brother who, like Fred, has gone on to be with the
Lord. Most of the graduates of the
school during the fifties, sixties, and seventies, were avid proponents of the
Gap Theory. Since that time a growing
number of its graduates have advocated the “young earth” theory, held by the
teachers who have followed the precepts advanced by the school of creation.