Mind the gap

"Another Time, Another Place, Another Man" is a book written by Mark Allison, David Patton and Marilyn Hickey. It's based on the ideas of a controversial Pentecostal preacher, Finis Jennings Dake, whom other Christians have accused of a string of heresies. In this particular book, the "heresy" expounded is the so-called Gap Theory, according to which a pre-Adamite world existed before the creation mentioned in Genesis.

While the Gap Theory itself seems to be a modern invention, similar-sounding ideas have existed before. Thus, Louis Ginzberg mentions an ancient myth in his magnum opus "Legends of the Jews", according to which God had created several worlds before the present one, but destroyed them since they were imperfect. This idea also meets us in the Kabbala, an esoteric Jewish doctrine developed during the Middle Ages. Since the Gap Theory is never explicitly taught in the Bible, however, the supporters of this particular view appeal to the finer points of Hebrew grammar to prove their exegesis (the almost notorious "tohu bohu"). Isaiah's prophecy against the king of Babylon and Ezekiel's ditto against the king of Tyre are two other chief exhibits. In Christian tradition, these verses have long been applied to Satan and his rebellion against God.

The reader must judge for himself whether or not he finds Dake's version of the Gap Theory a persuasive interpretation of the Bible or not. (I find it weird.) The main problem of Gap Theory, however, is its claim to have harmonized modern science with Scripture. Of course, it has done no such thing. There is no scientific evidence for a re-creation of the world 6000 years ago. Nor is their any evidence for Noah's Flood. Our human species (Homo sapiens) is about 150,000 years old, and symbolic culture appeared circa 25,000 years ago. At this time, humans still lived at a Stone Age level. Nor is there any evidence for a single, cataclysmic "Lucifer's Flood". It's also difficult to see how the fossil series can be squared with the Gap Theory, without resorting to the very same argument as the young earth creationists are using concerning Noah's Flood - or deny the fossil series altogether. The authors of "Another Time" attempt both approaches, none of which is considered sound by secular scientists. Thus, there simply cannot be any harmonization between secular science and Dake's Annotated Reference Bible.

When push comes to show, Gap Theory is just another creation myth. The real pre-Adamites were apes.

Despite this, Dake´s book is a relatively good introduction to Gap Theory creationism. As such, it could fill a certain...well, gap.