Pantera

Did the Hebrews use a base 10 number system? If not, the question of significant figures is meaningless is't it?

Toto

But it does make for some fun to twit the creationists:

Responding to pressure from religious groups, Alabama's state legislature redefined the value of pi from 3.14159 to 3 in order to bring it in line with Biblical precepts.

See also FLAT

Also see the lengths some people will go to for Biblical inerrancy (also the Rabbinical exegisis.)

Joe Nobody

Could its thickness being a handbreath (3 inches)have any bearing on this?

Joe Nobody

Oolon Colluphid

I disagree, it�s not that weak. In the YLT:

23: And he maketh the molten sea, ten by the cubit from its edge unto its edge; [it is] round all about, and five by the cubit [is] its height, and a line of thirty by the cubit doth compass it round about;

It�s only talking roughly, implies you. However:

24: and knops beneath its brim round about are compassing it, ten by the cubit, going round the sea round about; in two rows [are] the knops, cast in its being cast.

Now I neither know not particularly care what a knop is, but whoever was doing the casting of them would have quickly noticed that they were short of knops. According to verse 23, the circumference is 30 cubits, so there should be 300 knops. They would either need an extra 14 of them, or the diameter was only 9.5 cubits. Verse 24 specifically says they were ten per cubit. It just doesn�t work. You can�t put ten per cubit round the outside and have it be precisely 300. The only reason the circumference needs mentioning (just saying it was 10 wide would tell the reader the size) is to then describe the knops round it.

The point is that they could easily have got it right and given the right number, or said �about so-and-so size�. If it�s just figurative, why give the measurements exactly? Looks like they only knew it roughly to me.

We can mentally insert �approximately�, and it�s fine. But literalists won�t tamper with the bible by interpreting it. Hence, under their terms, the bible is wrong.

Oolon

SmashingIdols

I have been waiting until the conversation reached a lull to ask if anybody paid attention to what the purpose of this "sea" was?

Does everybody here know exactly what they were about to fill it with? Just interjecting something that may be off topic, but pretty ironic.

You are measuring a bloodbath.

General Septem

You people really need to get a life.

Edited to remove link

show_no_mercy

I suppose your richly fulfulled life includes digging up posts that are over 3 years old?

General Septem

I found it on Google. :\

Diogenes the Cynic

And you say we need a life? Did you even read the thread? Most everyone in it agreed that the Pi=3 thing is a weak example of "errancy" (I have no idea why it's particularly "anti-Catholic, though. I Kings is a Jewish book, after all).

General Septem

It's anti-Catholic because it is a part of the Catholic Bible as well. I did actually read the thread, and I didn't get the same impression that everyone thought the argument was weak. But anyway, I digress.