One of the primary challenges of the Christian apologist is attempting to refute the claims of the skeptic pertaining to the inerrancy of the Bible.
As a Christian, I believe that it is perfect in form and function, just as God says it is. Historical and archeological findings have only bolstered this belief, as they consistently corroborate the information provided in the Bible. It is simply a matter of education (or lack thereof) that prevents a reader from understanding it's infallability.
Because of this belief, I have decided to refute a common claim; the Bible incorrectly calculates the value of Pi in 1 Kings 7:23.
That said, on with the show.
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1 Kings 7:23-26 - "He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it — ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths."
From the Jewish Bible:
"He made the cast metal "Sea" circular, seventeen-and-a-half feet from rim to rim, eight-and-three quarter feet high and fifty-two-and-a-half feet in circumference."
***
(52.5/17.5) still = 3***
"Under its rim, three hundred gourds encircled it in two rows; they were cast when the Sea was cast.
It rested on twelve oxen, three looking north, three looking west, three looking south, and three looking east, all with their hindquarters toward the center. The Sea was set on top of them.
It was a handbreadth thick, its rim was made like the rim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; and its capacity was 11,000 gallons."
According to my Strong's Concordance, the following units of measurement in Hebrew are:
- 1 Handbreadth = 3 inches
- 1 Cubit = 1.5 feet
- 1 Bath = 6 gallons
This means that the bath was 15 feet from rim to rim, 45 feet in circumference, and 7.5 feet tall.
When plotted, this does not make a perfect circle.
Quote:
quote:
For any circle, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter is pi, meaning:
c / d = pi
In this circle:
c = 45
d = 15
meaning,
45 / 15 = 3
3 /= pi
Therefore this cannot be a circle.
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The author of the scripture described it as "circular", not "a perfect circle."
This exposes a flaw in the logic on the part of the skeptic, since they have falsely assumed that the scripture gives information that it clearly does not.
The author of 1 Kings (whom Jews believe to be Jeremiah) was not trying to prove that Pi was
anything, let alone 3. Nor was it implied that the term "circular" represented a perfect circle, which you'd have to assume if you're going to claim that this scripture contains a mathematical flaw, thus disproving Biblical inerrancy.
The burden of proof is on the skeptic. Claims of factual inaccuracy are dubious at best, since I did a simple internet search and found an explanation of the mathematics of the scripture in 1 Kings easily.
[This message has been edited by Digital_Savior (edited 03-20-2006).]
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