Gap theory
Definition
The gap theory (also called the restitution theory) is the claim that an indefinite span of time, encompassing the geological ages, separates the original creation of Genesis 1:1 from the six-day work that begins in Genesis 1:3. On this reading, “without form and void” (Gen. 1:2) does not describe the earth’s original, unformed state but the ruin left by a catastrophic judgment, often tied to the fall of Satan, so that the six days that follow are a restoration rather than a first creative act.1
Historical Origin
The theory was held by the Remonstrant (Arminian) theologians Simon Episcopius and Philip van Limborch, who located the fall of the angels in the gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, and it was revived in the nineteenth century by figures such as Friedrich Schelling, Paul Keerl, and Franz Delitzsch.1
Confessional and Theological Assessment
No confession addresses the gap theory by name, since none of the Reformed confessions makes a fixed pronouncement on the interpretation of Genesis 1 at all; Bavinck notes that “church confessions do not make fixed pronouncements about Genesis 1” and that “Christian theology permits a variety of interpretations to exist side by side.”1
Bavinck’s own assessment distinguishes a plain temporal gap from the gap theory’s specific catastrophe reading. He grants that “the creation of heaven and earth in Genesis 1:1 preceded the work of the six days in verses 3ff. by a shorter or longer period,” so a gap of some kind may be real. But he does not accept the restitution reading of what filled it: “this is not to support the restitution theory since the text does not say that the earth became waste and void, but that it was so and was so created.”1 On this reading, Genesis 1:2 describes the earth’s original, unformed condition before God’s ordering work, not the aftermath of a judgment on a prior creation.