Talk:Gap Creationism
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I reorganized the external links to bundle the "pro" gap theory together and the "other views" together. Also added a couple links and included William Buckland's name up with Thomas Chalmers, since Buckland wrote a treatise on gap theory in 1820. In a sense, that makes him as much a "founder" as Chalmers. --shift6 17:32, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
Explanation of recent minor edits:
- It is probably wrong to say that one version or the other is held by "most" Gap Creationists as I doubt that there is any definitive proof either way and what is factual is that there are varying beliefs and varying numbers of adherents to them, so I replaced "most" with "many" in that context.
- The passages cited by many in both the Testaments as describing the fall of Satan are very controversial as to what they really mean, even within conservative groups, so I have reworded that to state that these passages are viewed by some as describing the fall of Satan.
- I don't think that one can truly be said to be in Dispensationalism, as it is a set of beliefs, not a separate religion or church, so rather than in it one can be a believer in it or an adherent of it or to it.
These are perhaps minor points but come out of a desire to make the article both factually accurate and as NPOV-oriented as possible. Rlquall 15:08, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)
While I agree with your first two points, I believe that your third point is an example of trying to define words too narrowly. Looking up the preposition "in", I have found examples listed that substantiate the use of "someone being in Disipensationalism" as proper. Of course, the alternatives you suggested are also appropriate, so I'm cool with your changes. Woodburn 13:02, Nov 18, 2004 (EST)
As a gap theory believer myself, I have another belief that is not included here. I believe in the gap theory for various reasons, but one of them is not so there would be time to "build up the fossil record". I am not saying that this belief should be removed from this article, but someone should add that just as God created a full grown (mature) man and woman, He could have also created a mature universe and planet, one that would appear to science to have existed for billions of years (for the universe) and a planet with a "full" fossil record.
I believe the Gen. 1:1 and 1:2 gap is uncontrovertably the most prevalent flavor of this belief. The New Testament genealogy of Jesus in Luke doesn't really admit of a post-Adamic gap, the "one approach" previously emphasized in this article. I have revised the second paragraph of the "Rationale" section to reflect the "pre-re-creation" gap as the highlighted "one approach" since doctrinal consistency would require adherents to assert the belief that human history must have started with Adam. Otherwise, they would be trading a belief in the accuracy of Genesis for a belief in the accuracy of the gospel of Luke, which certainly isn't very likely for the dispensationalist Christians who are the primary advocates of "gap creationism".
Not sure if this is technically Gap creationism, but it is related. There is a theory/opinion that the genealogies in Genesis contain an incorrect translation. Specifically, followers of this theory claim the hebrew word translated as fathered, or was the father of, can be translated just as accurately as "was the ancestor of". They use this difference to explain the gap between the Old Earth, and yet small totals of years. I will see if I can find a documented version of this to link to.Christonjp 21:48, 1 February 2007 (UTC)