OneYearBibleOnline Discussion

Hello Gentle Reader,

I would appreciate some help on something called the doctrine of "Three Earth Ages". In my small group that I teach this idea came up for discussion and some websites with details. It sounds very off the wall to me, but I would like to hear a scholarly examination of what is presented so I can give a bible based answer.

The premise is that there are three earth ages...that there was an ancient earth age (millions of years long) filled with much more animal variety than we have today (dinosaurs)....that was completely destroyed by flood (not Noahs flood, but another one).
Then a 2nd earth age that began some 6000-7000 yrs ago (Genisis)....that we live in today. And that a 3rd earth age is yet to come.

This seems to be hinted at in scripture with Satan's rise and fall and the earth being formless and void. Here are a couple of links that present the material:

http://www.biblestudysite.com/begin.htm

http://www.biblestudygames.com/biblestudies/threeworldages.htm

http://stargods.org/Creation.html

The Bible doesn't say a whole lot about the timing of the fall. As such, it leaves a lot of blanks that possibly people fill with all kinds of speculation. I've even heard that the "angels" fell on the second day as indicated by the fact that it is the only day in which God *didn't* say "it is good". Tell me what you think.

A Pilgrim in Progress,

Lance Muller

This is a very interesting topic. I have an old Scofield study bible that brings this to light, I'll dig into it some and see what I can find.

What I have been studying is called the "Gap Theory".

There appears to be, not only biblical truths to refer to, but also scientific facts to support it.

A good book including the subject is, "Earth's Earliest Ages" by G. H. Pember. There are many other famous and well thought of theologians who also lean towards this "theory".

However what I have found is that traditionalist Christians can be very offended by this new revelation and are adamant that everything that God could ever think of and/or create happened in 6 actual days!!! Hellooooo. No wonder we can't win many many more souls to the Lord than we have.

Yes, there is (in my opinion) reason to take this seriously. This theory is not exactly new as it is covered in an old Scofield study bible of mine from the year 1909.
I have not yet had time to search into the subject much, but it is very interesting !
Danny

www.ichthys.com/sr2-copy.htm

Check out this web site. Much info on the gap theory.

Here is yet another: www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evolution%20Hoax...eorists_defended.htm

I am in agreement with the author(s) in that as Christians we all have the same basic truths and that the other minor doctrines (I call them) we should not be divided over. (See Romans 14 - "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.")

However, I can see, over the years as the gap theory has and is still coming to light, God's enemy is trying to confuse that issue also.

This is why true born again Christians need to be in God's word and read it diligently and carefully.

Hey Guys,

I read somewhere that the problem with the Gap Theory is that it makes God responsible for the creation of evil. It says that this theory would entail God using the methods of death and decay on a global scale for billions of years in order to accomplish some unknown purposes in this primeval world. Maybe to kill off the Dinosaurs? How would you handle that issue of evil?

Thanks! Great stuff here...

Paul

I believe that question is addressed on the site that I posted the link to. It deals with Defending the Gap theory as it has brought some criticism from certain groups. It's not really a Salvation issue so therefore not something worth dividing over.