“The Gap Theory” is the belief that something happened between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. What is the reason some believe this? Because first part of the second verse says, “The earth was formless and void.” The assumption is that since God made the earth without form and void, there must have been a world that existed prior. He destroyed it, thereby leaving it without form and void. They believe that God then re-created the earth in the Genesis account. They attempt to justify the existence of an earth before the creation of Adam and Eve. One reason this theory lacks biblical support is because it places death before sin, yet the Bible states that death was a consequence of sin. This thinking is rooted in what’s called old-earth belief. It creates a way to make the Bible more acceptable to those who believe in evolution; however, the Bible unequivocally supports a young earth.
In the book, Defending the Faith, Dr. Henry Morris writes on pages 71 and 73, “The gap theory was developed mainly for the purpose of accommodating the great ages demanded by evolutionary geologists.”
If you reject the six literal days of creation and a biblical young earth, then you will most assuredly begin to question other important issues such as: Was there a worldwide flood? Was Jonah swallowed by a great fish? Did God part the Red Sea? Was there a virgin birth? Did the sun stay up for almost a 24-hour period as Joshua asked?
Is there a literal, burning, eternal hell as Jesus described?
You travel down a slippery slope when you question or allegorize things in the Bible that should be taken literally. It hinders one’s faith, compromises the Word of God and creates damaging doubt because you no longer consider all of the Bible to be God-inspired and therefore true.
In spite of the eagerness of the evolutionists to perpetuate this Gap Theory as truth, there is not even one verse to support a previous earth. Yet there is one, very powerful verse in this argument to indicate that we are now and still living on the first, young earth.
Revelation 21:1 states, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth.’ For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea.”
This verse clearly refers to the time period at Judgment Day, and not the time period of creation week. This verse refers to the end of times. There was no prior earth. We are, right now, living on the God-created earth of which the Bible speaks.
Listen to this episode of 23 Minutes in Hell on Charisma Podcast Network as Bill and Annette Wiese delve further into The Gap Theory and the truth of God’s Word.{eoa}
Bill Wiese is the author of New York Times bestselling book, 23 Minutes in Hell, the story of his life-changing visit to hell in 1998. Bill has since authored six additional book titles and continues to share his experience around the world. He and his wife, Annette, founded Soul Choice Ministries in late 2006 and have dedicated their lives to reaching the unsaved. For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries please visit us at soulchoiceministries.org. You can find more of Bill’s teachings on YouTube here.
Bill Wiese 
Paul McGuire 
Abby Trivett 
