Gap Theory. The view by some commentators that there is an enormous gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. According to the theory, God created an original earth perhaps billions of years ago, but some great Divine cataclysm left the earth dark and covered with water. This was a judgment brought by God on the original earth because Satan and other angels fell and ruined the earth. Some proponents of the Gap Theory hold that a pre-Adamic race of humans existed on this initial earth. The earth's strata, the so-called "geologic ages," and the fossil record can be attributed to this gap. Thomas Chalmers, a Scottish theologian, revived this unfortunate theory in the early nineteenth century. Since he promoted it in 1814 and Darwin's Origin of Species first appeared in 1859, his purpose was to harmonize Scripture. The original Scofield Reference Bible, edited by C. I. Scofield, and published initially in 1909, and revised in 1917, however, unquestionably was trying to harmonize the Bible with the dogma of evolutionary science. Sadly, the Scofield Bible widely popularized this theory. Referring to the word "created" in Genesis 1:1, Note 2 in The Scofield Bible (1945 edition) states, "The first creative act refers to the dateless past, and gives scope for all the geologic ages." Commenting on the phrase "without form" in Genesis 1:2, Note 3 reads in its entirety as follows: 

Jer. 4:23-26, Isa. 24:1 and 45:18 clearly indicate that the earth had undergone a cataclysmic change as the result of a divine judgment. The face of the earth bears everywhere the marks of such a catastrophe. There are not wanting intimations which connect it with a previous testing and fall of angels. See Ezek. 28:12-15 and Isa. 14:9-14, which certainly go beyond the kings of Tyre and Babylon.

Commenting on the phrase, "Let the earth bring forth grass" in Genesis 1:11, the Scofield Reference Bible Note 3 reads as follows:

It is by no means necessary to suppose that the life-germ of seeds perished in the catastrophic judgment which overthrew the primitive order. With the restoration of dry land and light the earth would "bring forth" as described. It was animal life which perished, the traces of which remain as fossils. Relegate fossils to the primitive crreation, and no conflict of science with the Genesis cosmogony remains.

The New Scofield Reference Bible (copyright 1967) toned down the blatant accommodations with twentieth century evolution, but the seeds of the Gap Theory still exist in the notes. But the damage had already been done. Many otherwise sound Bible Colleges had spread the doctrine as truth.

Evaluation of the Gap Theory:

The Gap Theory demands that the Hebrew word "was" (hayata) in Gen. 1:2 be translated "became." This is lexically permissible, but not grammatically preferable in this context because the initial clause of verse 2 begins in Hebrew with a waw disjunctive, not a waw consecutive (Constable, p. 12). 

There is no explicit information anywhere in Scripture that a pre-Adamic original creation of the earth in the dateless past ever existed. This is merely a theory which lacks solid evidence.

How can a world which has been ruined by Satan, filled with fossils of animals and man in any sense be called good? (See Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).

The Scriptures explicitly state that  by one man, not  by one angel, sin entered the world and death by sin. That one man is Adam (Romans 5:12).

The doctrine of evolution is merely a theory, not an established fact. Evolution is an interpretation of the facts of science. The facts of science support special creation by the Creator, not a mindless, purposeless, accidental combination of molecules precipitated by a cosmic explosion. Explosions destroy. They never create. For more information about an accurate, Creationist view of origins, see How did our universe get here?

Glorification.  The state of sinless immortality promised to all those who place their faith in Jesus Christ.  Believers in Jesus are promised forgiveness of sin and eternal life.  They are promised a resurrection from the dead with a body, soul, and spirit utterly devoid of sin and its degenerating effect of death.  Glorified bodies will be immortal, no longer able to sin or subject to decay.  God will wipe all tears away, and glorified mankind will exist eternally on the New Earth with access to New Jerusalem and eternal fellowship with God and Christ.

God the Father.  The First Person of the Divine Trinity, or Tri-Unity.  God is the most complex being in the entire universe, He having created the universe and everything in it.  The Scriptures reveal that God is One; yet He exists in three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The Son of God has eternally existed as the Divine Logos, or Word of God (John 1:1-3).  God the Father had no wife or consort, and there was never a time when the Triune God did not exist as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, nor will there ever.  Jesus repeatedly called God His Father.  In the Jewish understanding, a son partakes of the same essence as his father.  So Jesus partakes of the same essence as His Father.  Just as God the Father is totally God, so His Son is totally God.  There is emphatically only ONE GOD (Deut. 6:4).  Yet that God, complex as He is, eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; Luke 3:21-22; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:2). See an index to a  more extensive discussion of God. See a more extensive discussion of the Trinity.

Godhead.  Another way of expressing the truth of the Triune God.  See Theology, and see Trinity.

Gospel.  Good news.  Specifically the good news of the Bible is that God has purchased man’s redemption from slavery to sin and death by means of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus the Messiah.  Forgiveness and eternal life are offered to all, but accessed only by faith in Jesus.  The Greek word of gospel is euanggelion. The English word evangelize comes across untranslated from Greek, and means “to announce the good news" about Jesus to others.  The  content of the gospel is spelled out in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

Gospels.  The four books of the New Testament that describe the Good News about Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  These books are not really biographies, since they omit so many details of Jesus’ life.  As a group, they focus on the birth, the ministry, and the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Grace.  Unmerited favor.  Grace is the extension of favor and blessing upon those who do not deserve it.  A central passage on God’s grace is  Ephesians 2:8-10.  God extended His grace to all mankind by sending His righteous Son to become man, live a sinless life, and die a substitutionary, sacrificial death for the sins of all mankind.  God was not obligated to do so.  His magnanimous effort was motivated by His great love.  God has further extended His grace to all mankind by offering to pardon them for their sins if they will but place their confidence and trust in His Son.  The decision is left to each person as to whether he will accept this extension of God’s grace.  The default position of each person is rejection.  That is, if one does not positively accept God’s grace, by default he has rejected it (John 3:18).   It is my urgent plea to each human being to accept God’s grace.  There is no other means of salvation from God’s awful wrath against man’s sinful rebellion against Himself and His standards (Acts 4:12).

Great White Throne Judgment.  The place of final judgment for the wicked dead of all ages.  The Great White Throne Judgment is reserved for all those who take part in the second resurrection, a resurrection to eternal, conscious death and damnation.  This judgment will take place after the destruction of the existing heavens and earth.  All the wicked dead will be resurrected to appear at this judgment.  The judge is none other than Jesus Christ, the Judge of all men.  The dead will be judged according to their works.  Those whose works are more evil will evidently be sentenced to more severe punishment.  Those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life, apparently all of them, will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  There they will suffer eternal torment apart from the presence of God and all that is good (Rev. 20:11-15). See a more extensive discussion of the Great White Throne Judgment.

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