The Gap Theory

As for your first paragraph, the Gap Theory is not modern. It can be traced back as far as the 1600's to the Dutch theologian Simon Episcopius, if not farther. As or the early Christians and Jews, you speak for all of them, as if you know what ALL of them thought. As for the need for the Gap Theory, it is not a question of need but of proper interpretation of scripture. In the second paragraph you argue that even if the passages are referring to Satan's fall, which they are, it does not prove the gap. You the site how Satan is allowed in heaven in the book of Job that this proves that Satan's fall had not yet occurred. According to the Bible the account in Job happened after the fall of Adam and Eve. This would necessarily place the time in the book of Job after the fall of Satan. Because, God will not send one of his servants to tempt someone. "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one." -James 1:13. As for how the scriptures pertaining to Satan's fall relate, I go back to one of my arguments in the second round. "Without form and void" this is translated from the Hebrew "tohu wabohu". This phrase refers to something that was once good but is now destroyed. It is used this way in other parts of scripture as we see in Isaiah 45:18 ("God created the earth not in vain""tohu; same word translated "without form" in Genesis 1:2) Therefore the world was not originally created "tohu wabohu" but the world became that way. This means there was some sort of cataclysmic event. If the world was not created "tohu" then why was it "tohu" in Genesis 1:2? I have an explanation and you fail to explain this. Satan's fall would have been and adequate solution to this problem of reconciling the scriptures. The desolate world in paragraph 3 is attributed to the earth not quite being 6,000 years old. Even the most modest estimates of the earths age place it a little over 6,000 years. Look at this site http://www.answersingenesis.org.... If the earth is a little over 6,000 years we should be in the 1,000 years of desolation but, we are not. This goes for the fourth paragraph too. As for the argument about Origen, ok, so he was arguing against Platonism. Also, yes, some early Christians refuted the idea of an old earth. I still see nowhere in the scriptures where any of the apostle's even approached this subject. To you final argument I would say again what I said before. As for what Jesus said, He was obviously referring to the beginning of time of time for humans. Because, humans were not created until the 6th day so they were not created at the beginning anyway. This is to say Jesus was referring to the beginning of the human race not the beginning of time. This would be the proper meaning with-in the context of the passage. I have proved that my argument can be defended Biblically. Also, it cannot be refuted Biblically. Unless, you take a passage out of context as my opponent is doing. This is the main reason I must hold to the Gap Theory. I would like to add that my interpretation also helps to correlate science and the scriptures. I believe that God would want us to be able to further the cause of science with scripture. As it says in Luke 10:27 "And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'" One of the key words there being mind.