Christians, do you know the bible gives the wrong value for pi?
919814
God makes no mistakes, mathematical or otherwise. The Scriptures do not contain error.  By the way, Solomon built this sea in 1000 B.C., long before the Greeks rediscovered Pi (p).  We may not understand some things at first glance, but the problem is with us, not with the Bible. \n\nAncient standards of measure vary widely, a cubit is generally taken to be about 18 inches, although there are different types of cubits ("common" and "royal", varying from 17 to 22 inches). A handbreadth is taken to be about 3 inches, sometimes being defined as one-sixth of a cubit.\n\nThe Bible and the Value of "PI" \n\nDoes the Bible contain a mathematical error?  Not at all! \n\n  Biblical Value of Pi \n\n1.0471698, which multiplied by 3 is pi.  "1047" in the Old Testament lexicon can be transliterated as "pi."  Hence, "house of pi."  Indeed, truth is stranger than fiction. \n\nSolomon and the Molten Sea\n\n\n\nIn describing the temple that King Solomon built for the King of Kings, several articles of furniture are described.  One of these pieces is “a molten sea.”   II Chronicles 4:2 reads thus, “Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.”  A supposed discrepancy has arisen from this passage concerning the mathematical accuracy of the Bible.  The value of π (pi) is known to be equal to the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter,  \n\nThe aforementioned scripture states that the molten sea was “ten cubits from brim to brim” and “a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about;” thus, its diameter was 10 cubits, and its circumference 30 cubits.  Dividing this circumference of 30 by a diameter of 10 gives a value of exactly 3.  This is where the questions arise.   It is commonly known that the value of π is approximately 3.14159265358979. In fact, this value has been proven so exactly, that its value is known to hundreds of thousands of digits.  \n\nWhy then does the Bible appear to give the value of π to be 3?  A diameter of 10 cubits should yield a circle having a circumference of more that 31.4 cubits--not 30 cubits.  Is the Bible just rounding things off?  Are the Biblical values just approximate and not really exact?  If we see here that the scripture is not exact, what other passages also contain words that cannot be received with complete accuracy?  \n\n1 Kings 7:26 It [the above mentioned metal pool] was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths. \n\n\nIf the diameter of this bowl was 10 cubits, then the circumference should have been 31.415926 cubits, and not just 30 cubits!  Any math student will tell you that the circumference of a circle is found by taking the diameter times Pi (3.14159265358979...), is commonly approximated by 22/7 if great accuracy is not needed.   Is this an error?  Think again. The answer is so simple!\n\nThe diameter of 10 cubits is from outer rim to outer rim, the way anyone would measure a circular object.  The circumference of 30 cubits, however, was of the inner circle, after subtracting the thickness of the brass (two handbreadths—one for each side) from which the bowl was made.  This would be the number needed to calculate the volume of water.\n\n      \nline of thirty cubits did compass it round about\n\ncalculation of pi = \n\n(30 x 18) / [(10 x 18) - (2 x 4.05)] = 540 / (180 - 8.10) = 3.1413613 = 3.1414\n\nLet's compare our calculated value of 3.1414 to the real value of "pi", which is 3.1415927. Actually, the parameters given in 1 Kings 7:23-26 gives a direct value for "pi" that is within 2 parts in 10,000, which is fairly accurate. Since the outside diameter of the sea is 10 cubits, what is the inside diameter?\n\ninside diameter = circumference / pi = 30 / 3.1415927 = 9.5493 cubits\n\nAnd
214544
God does place value on children. \n\nMatthew 18:6 is so clear that we should need nothing else:\nBut whoso shall offend one of these little ones which blieve in me it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
1016196
"The Bible Code," as described in Michael Drosnin's bestselling book, is a supposed "hidden message" in the Bible.  By taking the Old Testament in the original Hebrew and looking at every third letter, every tenth letter, or every 208th letter, supposedly one can find hidden messages.  Mr. Drosnin doesn't believe in God, but believes that some 'higher power' put those messages in there.\n\nSpeaking as one who has knowledge of both the Bible and mathematics, Mr. Drosnin's entire assumption is garbage.\n\nThe Hebrew language has no vowels; therefore, nearly any three-letter grouping would make a word.  With thousands of letters making hundreds of thousands of combinations (by taking different 'skip' sizes), sooner or later, simply by random chance, some meaning could be found.\n\nCritics of Mr. Drosnin have taken works like "Moby Dick" and found similar clusters of "prophetic words."  Mr. Drosnin counters by saying that they are there, but they aren't the same combinations as in the Bible.\n\nPeople like Mr. Drosnin need to spend less time searching for the hidden messages in the Bible, and need to spend more time reading the revealed message of the Bible.
1130542
I'm daring.....\n\nThe Bible is bound to contradict itself, IT WAS NOT WRITTEN BY GOD but by men!\n\nGod's inspiration cannot contradict itself
497036
Your concept of the books of the bible are totally wrong.\nThe bible writers were chosen by God and their writings weren't just added together.\nThe library as we know it, now bound together was written over nearly 6 thousand years.\nYou cannot make a holy man of yourself. If not inspired of God, nothing will happen. You would be looked on today as a KOOK and ignored
166362
The number that you have here is only a good approximation to the actual value of PI. Others exist that are even better. Their common feature is that unlike PI itself, they are all rational, which is why each has an easy pattern, like the one you noticed just now, for this particular approximation. No easy pattern can be found for PI however, because, as has been said in so many answers, PI is irrational That is not enough though, sqrt(2) is also irrational and yet it has a clearly noticeable pattern, through continued fractions. To add to PI's misery however, it is also transcedental(sp?) and that probably explains why it is so hard to deal with PI, or with E, for that matter. Both are irrational and transcendents and in that respect are different from many other irrational numbers.\nHope that helps.
854899
I read a link once that had counted every murder by god and satan in the bible.  The final count was smething close to God- 1 000 000 and Satan-10.   Speaks for itself I guess.
495734
Here's my list of some more "inconsistencies":\n\nhttp://www.ethicalatheist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=104
682660
The bible really doesn't touch upon that, interesting question.\n\nWhile i'm personally an atheist, i've spent most of my life as a christian, and the thing to remember is that you shouldn't take it literally, you should take it figuratively. While i don't agree with it as a source of knowledge, if interpreted as a behavioural code, it's mostly alright.
21211
88.3% of statistics are made up on the spot, including yours.\n\nThe NT is nowhere near accurate. The differences are enormous and range from mistranslations to complete fabrications.\n\nTry taking another look...\n\nPaul vs. Jesus: http://www.wordwiz72.com/paul.html\nFabricated proof texts: http://www.karaites-usa.org/Responding_To_Missionaries/refuting_christian_proof_texts.htm\nPaul's invention of Christianity:\nhttp://wadee3.5u.com/Paul.htm\n\nThe list goes on...\n\nEven if it were accurate, there's nothing unique about a  half-man half-god born-of-a-virgin "saviour", there were several walking around during that period of history, e.g. Romulus and Remus, Perseus, Zoroaster, Mithras, Osiris-Aion, Agdistis, Attis, Tammuz, Adonis, Korybas, and Dionysus.\n\nThere were also plenty of Jewish Messiahs at that time, many of whom found themselves in opposition to Rome and on a cross as a result.\n\nDoes any of this sound familiar?\n\nYou could also say 99.5% of The Lord of the Rings is accurate, but it's still a fiction. Seems to me you're looking in all the wrong places for all the wrong reasons.\n\nAlso have you considered that maybe it's only .5% of your brain that is rational, the other 99.5% lives in fantasyland?  I think that's just as likely, dont you?
969380
What have I found in holey book - oops, holy books?  Ammunition to tear holes in idiotic religious arguments.\n\nThe bile - oops, bible - says Pi is 3, it says the Earth is flat, and it says the sun goes around the Earth.  (If the Earth is flat, going around means we'd see the sun 24 hours per day....)  \n\n\n"Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived."\n- Isaac Asimov \n\n\n.
1060241
The value of pi was not very well calculated during that time period. In fact, Archimedes (about 200 BC) was able to say that it is between 3 10/71 and 3 1/7. This is only a 2 decimal place accuracy. However, he did give a method involving polygons to obtain better approximations.\n\nThe Egyptians had a rather unusual system for fractions which was rather cumbersome to work with. They did multiplication and division by doubling, halving, and addition.\n\nThe intellectual Greeks and Romans tended to use the Babylonian system which was a base 60 system. The methods were fairly similar to our system. For things like square roots, they did successive approximations. The specific approximations used depend on the time period.
624296
YES!!! "Biblical Mathematics"!!! \nAWESOME AND STAYS AWAY FROM NUMEROLOGY!!\n\nI had it but gave it to a minister who teaches College Physics. He was ecstatic! \n\nMine also came with a cassette so you could listen to it as well! \n\nHow awesome! God just brought that book to my mind today, making me feel as though I should get another one and read it again...and now you ask this? Hmmmmm
615044
Sorry, I don't believe the bible version nor that one.
1148729
No. god decided to contradict himself by taking away free will for a bit, so he could get the humans to write his book for him.\nAnd of course, that's ignoring all the inconsistancies in the new testament, like made up prophesies and the evidence to support that the old testament was actually copied from ancient Sumerian stone tablets...\n\n:)\n\nTY, shawny  :D
228091
I would say people misinterpret the bible many times. They do not take things into context of the time it was set the situation at that time and many other factors. For example it makes it easier to understand Shakespeare if you understand those times. When we understand these factors we can at best interpret what the bible is trying to say and allow God to translate it for us in our heads. Are you talking in the bible or interpretations of the bible? And why couldn't moses have been 900? Just because we can't live to 900 doesn't mean he couldn't. The world had changed so much since then, the diversity of bacteria, diseases, animals has risen so just based on this the life expectancy of humans should have drastically decreased. Also pollution, nutrition and other important factors need to be taken into consideration.
338755
that is fine except for the tiny fact it contradicts everything written before it. Before Jesus you will find no place in the bible that says that the Law is ever to be fulfilled.