THE EXISTENCE ON EARTH OF A PREVIOUS CREATION IS ABSURD
To understand the Bible you can be a child, to complicate it you must be a theologian.
"25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." ( Mat 11:25-26 )
There are those that maintain the hypothesis that between verses 1 and 2 of the first chapter of Genesis, there is a span of time that could be as large as millions of years. According to them, during those millions of years there existed a creation previous to our own, which reached a civilization of high technological achievement, and which self destructed due to atomic power. ¿How do they know this? ¿How do they prove this? They simply declare it as dogma, and you better believe it: "... because we say it and we know more than you" .
"1 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth.-------- 2 And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." ( Gen 1:1-2 )
It is illogical to believe this, since according to the verses where they claim to derive such absurdity, the light, the atmosphere or sky and the dry land, were created after such a period. It is not logical to think that a civilization developed without light, without atmosphere and without dry ground. Verses 3, 8 and 9.
"3 And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." ( Gen 1: 3-10 )
Besides all this, which should be enough refutation, there are those verses which say that God created the heavens and earth in six days. If the heavens and earth were created in six days, there is not enough time on that Earth, that is to say, on this planet, for a previous creation and also that supposed technological "civilization" which some delirious dreamers imagine. To see that the heavens and the Earth were created in only six days, it is enough to read Gen 2: 1-2, Ex 20: 11, y 31: 17.
"1 Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." ( Gen 2: 1-2 )
"11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." ( Ex 20: 11 )
"17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever, for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." ( Ex 31: 17 )
One of the arguments forwarded by the creators of this erroneous hypothesis is the phrase: "... and the Earth was formless and void". According to them God would not create the Earth to be in this state. But it happens that in Jer 4:23 an equivalent phrase is used, and this would not be reason enough to conclude that God had created the Earth so that it be without form and void. In the King James English translation the exact same phrase is used in both verses.
"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light." ( Jer 4: 23 )
In addition, if we admit that what is spoken of in Nahum 1:9 means that sin and affliction will not arise twice, it would refute this hypothesis, since it affirms that sin, and specially affliction would have already risen twice.
"What do ye imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end; affliction shall not rise up the second time." ( Nahum 1: 9 )
To summarize, there is no lapse of millions of years between Gn 1:1 and Gn 1:2, and thus, the so-called "Gap theory" is absurd.
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." ( Acts 20:29-30 )
There are those that for the purpose of drawing disciples behind them are capable of making up any fable. Absurd fables that unfortunately are swallowed by many good brothers, who go out and spread them, without realizing the damage they cause. If this were not such a serious issue, it would be such that, once they explained their absurd hypothesis, we would say to them: "Now tell us about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, or how about Little Red Riding Hood".
This is easy enough for a child to understand, but ... who can explain it to a theologian?