I'm doubtful that Boyle endorsed the "gap" view in any form, as Michael
Roberts has suggested. I say "doubtful", b/c I am open (as always) to being
convinced from specific passages that I am mistaken. But the lengthiest
passage I know of, in which he comments on the earth's age, is in The
Excellency of Theology (1674), where he implies (almost states flat out)
that the earth is no more than 10,000 years old, and where he also states
the following:
"I see no reason to embrace their Opinion, that would so turn the first two
Chapters of Genesis into an Allegory, as to overthrow the Literal and
Historical sense of them." Now I agree that gap advocates often argue for
the literalness of their view, since it preserves the six days as literal
days, but I doubt he had this in mind.
Furthermore, Boyle admired his father's close friend James Ussher, indeed
it was probably Ussher who inspired Boyle to undertake his own study of
biblical languages in order to write critically about the Bible. I have no
reason to doubt that he thought Ussher was pretty near the mark.
Ted Davis
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