Belief in an extremely long but unidentified age for the earth. Gap theorists oppose evolution, but believe in an ancient origin of the universe. There are many variations of the gap theory. In the far distant dateless past, God created a perfect heaven and perfect earth. How the World Came to Be, Mount St. Helens .
Scientists have only the present to work with.
To connect the present to the past involves interpretations based on unprovable assumptions. Pember, Earth's Earliest Ages . Fields, Unformed and Unfilled , p. 7. There could not have been any rebellion before this time. So Satan fell some time after day seven.