Freethought & Rationalism Archive

pob14 · 12-06-2006, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidb

More puzzling is the state that mandated pi = 3, Kansas or Missouri or thereabouts, I think. Did they abandon it when wheels were found to have about 5% of the periphery missing?

David.

Didn't happen.

JamesBannon · 12-06-2006, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malachi151

Well, they didn't live "technologically complicated lives back then" because they didn't have the knowledge that they needed to do so, so giving them that knowledge would have helped them along.

Which is exactly why it IS a good argument. If the Bible were the leading edge of knowledge then it might look more inspired, but since it just contains the same knowledge that people already had, its obviously not.

All part of God's plan for the development of human kind is a fairly standard reply to that.

The Evil One · 12-06-2006, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pharoah

For example, the dimensions in the verse you're referring to were given as 30 cubits by 10 cubits. Why in the world couldn't God inspire the writer to write down 31 cubits instead of 30? That would have been a lot closer to the mark and would have defused this issue.

9.51 = 10 to 2SF / 0DP
9.51 * pi = 29.89
29.89 = 30 to 2SF / 0DP

Malachi151 · 12-06-2006, 12:35 PM

The other thing that gets me is all of the 40 days and 40 nights, and the round numbers used when talking about sizes or armies or number of people killed.

If this is dictation from God, then why didn't God that 38 days and 37 nights, or that there were 2,346 people killed, not just 2,000, etc.

Of course, these are child's questions really....

Boro Nut · 12-06-2006, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.C.Carlson

Why in the world couldn't God inspire the writer to write down 31.41 cubits instead of 31.4? That would have been a lot closer to the mark and would have defused this issue.

ad infinitum

No, not ad infinitum. Just ad close-enough-for-farmworkers that's all, and 3 simply isn't. The reason why they all wore long dresses in those days is because nobody could quite work out how to hold a pair of trousers up when pi = 3.

There's a simple test for any contentious issue. It's called the money test. People come over all 'on the other hand' when money's at stake. How about we divide your bank account by pi and I get to keep everything over 3? Sounds fair to me.

Boro Nut

Coleslaw · 12-06-2006, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pharoah

Wait a minute here, let's put the blame for this right where it belongs, on the fundies who claim that every word of the Bible is God-inspired and inerrant. Without that specious claim this would be a complete non-issue. Once they make that kind of claim however, then they have to defend the veracity of every verse in the Bible, no matter how "silly" it is. For example, the dimensions in the verse you're referring to were given as 30 cubits by 10 cubits. Why in the world couldn't God inspire the writer to write down 31 cubits instead of 30? That would have been a lot closer to the mark and would have defused this issue.

But what if the circumference truly was 30 cubits? That would make the diameter around 9.44, 9.45 cubits, and without the ability to express decimals, I could see someone rounding that up to 10.

Boro Nut · 12-06-2006, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coleslaw

But what if the circumference truly was 30 cubits? That would make the diameter around 9.44, 9.45 cubits, and without the ability to express decimals, I could see someone rounding that up to 10.

Are you seriously suggesting they had no measure less than a cubit? Doesn't sound like Jewdom to me. I bet they could cut a slice of a fag paper if they were sold by the pound.

Boro Nut

Malachi151 · 12-06-2006, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boro Nut

Are you seriously suggesting they had no measure less than a cubit? Doesn't sound like Jewdom to me. I bet they could cut a slice of a fag paper if they were sold by the pound.

Boro Nut

Come on, no reason to bring Jewish stereotypes into this.

pharoah · 12-06-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coleslaw

But what if the circumference truly was 30 cubits? That would make the diameter around 9.44, 9.45 cubits, and without the ability to express decimals, I could see someone rounding that up to 10.

You're missing the point that I was trying to make, or maybe I didn't express it well enough. The issue is not the ancient writers, it's the fundies. This is an issue that would never arise with liberal Christians.

I can completely understand that they didn't have an adequate numerical system for expressing fractions, didn't understand transcendental numbers, etc. That's exactly what I expect from an ancient text. The problem is when the fundies start making claims that this particular ancient text is God-inspired and mistake-free. That's when they need to answer extra questions such as why couldn't God make them understand transcendental numbers, fractions, etc. when he inspired them.

Malachi151 · 12-06-2006, 01:56 PM

Quote:

You're missing the point that I was trying to make, or maybe I didn't express it well enough. The issue is not the ancient writers, it's the fundies. This is an issue that would never arise with liberal Christians.

You fool, when the Bible was written Pi WAS 3!

Pi changed after they crucified Jesus. Geeze, silly atheists!

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12-06-2006, 12:35 PM	#14
Malachi151 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 8,674	The other thing that gets me is all of the 40 days and 40 nights, and the round numbers used when talking about sizes or armies or number of people killed. If this is dictation from God, then why didn't God that 38 days and 37 nights, or that there were 2,346 people killed, not just 2,000, etc. Of course, these are child's questions really....

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