Is there a gap in Genesis 1:2?
Dr. Bill Barrick answers this question on his blog : [1] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] (The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was upon the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water.) Some expositors propose that verse 2 represents a gap in the record of creation events. Normally, those who hold to the so-called “Gap Theory” interpret “formless and empty” as some form of chaotic result coming on the heels of God’s judgment of Satan. They suggest that the original creation was destroyed or terribly marred by God’s casting Satan out of Heaven and down to Earth. Many theologians use this “gap” to account for a very old earth, allowing millions, if not billions, of years to pass with Earth in this condition. Some even attempt to place all fossilization (of animals and man) within this gap—which creates a greater theological problem with having death (even of man) existing prior to the fall. A number of...