The meaning of Genesis Chapter 1 Verses 1 and 2

There are to the knowledge of the writer three interpretations of these verses and these are

as follows:-

(1) The so-called gap theory
(2) The first day theory (my name for this)
(3) The summary statement theory (my name for this)

Dealing with these three theories in order we will consider the evidence for them and the difficulties that

arise from them:-

(1) The gap theory

According to this God created the heavens and the earth as stated in verse 1 and then some evil

force that was at work produced the waste and empty condition described in verse 2. The

justification for this view is that Isaiah 45:18 reads:-

"For thus saith Jehovah who created the heavens, God himself who formed the earth and made it, he who established it,- not as waste did he create it: he formed it to be inhabited"

If we therefore take the view that the statement that God created the heavens and the earth in verse 1

means that he created them then before what follows then it appears to the writer difficult, if not

impossible, to justify the statement in Isaiah without conceding that something must have

happened between verses 1 and 2 to explain how the waste condition came to be. Some have

speculated that there was a world between verses 1 and 2 peopled by angels who subsequently

fell. I have heard it called Lucifer's kingdom. The actual evidence for such a kingdom is, as far as I

am aware, nil.

The advantage of the above view has been thought to be the fact that it leaves room for the lengthy

time spans apparently required by geology without regarding the days of creation that follow as ages.

The objections to this theory could well be:-

(1) It effectively makes two creations, an initial one and then a subsequent one as detailed in the remainder

of Genesis 1. To the writer, the second creation looks then more like a resurrected creation. Scripture never

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