From: 910773f@axe.acadiau.ca (HEATHER LEE FYFFE)
Subject: Re: Quotes from the Bible.
Organization: Acadia University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 21:00:47 GMT

In article <BzCy0o.1v8@apollo.hp.com> stave@apollo.hp.com (Joel H. Stave) writes:
>(quotes are from my online version of the bible)
>  1st Kings, 7:23
>  "And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other:
>  it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line
>  of thirty cubits did compass it round about."
>
>  If its 10 cubits wide and 30 cubits around then pi = 3.
>
>  BUT - later it says:
>
>  1st Kings, 7:26
>  "And it was a hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought
>  like the brim of a cup...(blah blah blah)"
>
>  The argument that fundimental believers use is that the "10 cubits
>  from one brim to the other" is the distance from the *outside* edge
>  of the brim, while the "line of 30 cubits" is the *inside*
>  circumfrence.  A cubit is 18 inches and a "hand breadth" could be
>  considered 4 inches, so if you do the math using this twisted
>  interpretation, pi comes out to just under 3.14 - any diffence can
>  be explained away as inconsisancies in "hand breadth".
>  Its silly, I know, but this is the argument used.


I agree, that may be stretching it.
_But_, you must remember that handsbreaths and cubits were very subjective 
measurements.  Is it possible that the description given is only meant to 
give an idea of the size of the thing, and not to provide blueprints of how 
to build yourself another one?  Isn't this known as significant figures?
Would you rather 31.415926etc cubits?  The Bible is the word of God, but it 
was written by men, who at that time simply didn't have such precise 
measurement equipment, and even today that kind of appoximation is common 
in all but scientific and architectural texts.  Just because somebody 
rounded off when they described a circumference does NOT imply that God 
thinks pi=3.


  >>|> The sun revolves around the earth
>Somewhere it mentions that God stops the sun in the sky.  It didn't
>say that the sun *seemed* to stop moving in the sky, so it must be
>literally moving, so it must go around the earth, rather than the
>earth move around a stationary sun.


Yeah, that's what it says, in Joshua (I don't know offhand exactly where).
Once again though, remember that this was written by a man (Joshua himself I 
believe, though I may be wrong), and for all the evidence he saw, the sun 
stopped moving.  I'm sure we all, as children, thought the sun moved until 
someone explained to us how WE are the ones moving... Well, noone had 
explained it to Joshua, as noone had figured it out yet.  This statement by 
a man is again no reason to conclude that God thinks the sun revolves around 
the Earth.  


>
>One thing to note.  In the various arguments that I have had with
>people who believe the bible word for word, they invariably interperet
>what it says and twist the meanings to fit the facts.  In *no* case
>have I ever been able to get them to admit that they are twisting the
>words and not taking it literally any more.  The above interpretation
>of the pi = 3 problem is a perfect example.


You're exactly right.  People will often twist the words to suit their own 
meaning,  However, this is not necessary.  Taken in historical context, most 
seeming questions explain themselves away.


Buzzard
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