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The Bible and the Value of Pi [/b]
by Tim Chaffey Critics and skeptics often claim that the Bible is in error because it says that the value of pi is 3 rather than 3.14159… Many Christians have been stumped by this claim which is based off a pair of passages found in
1 Kings 7: 23 – 26 and
2 Chronicles 4: 2 – 5. These passages describe the construction and specifications of the Bronze Sea in the temple.
1 Kings 7: 23 – 26 states:
23And 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.
24And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
25It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
26And it was
an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths. Since the circumference of any circle can be found by multiplying its diameter by pi, the sea’s circumference should be 31.4 cubits. The Bible says “a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about” (measured its circumference). Is this a verifiable error in the Bible as so many critics claim? Not at all. Once again, careful examination verifies the biblical account and the critic is left with egg on his face. First of all, most apologists would say that the Bible is simply using round numbers – which of course is allowable. I'm sure when the Bible said that the Angel of the Lord
killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night it was using a round number (2 Kings 19: 35). The popular evangelical apologist Norman Geisler wrote:This is not an error. The biblical record of the various measurements of the different parts of the temple are not necessarily designed to provide precise scientific or mathematical calculations. Rather, the Scripture simply provides a reasonable approximation. The rounding of numbers or the reporting of approximate values or measurements was a common practice in ancient times when exact scientific calculations were not used.
[1] While this is a perfectly acceptable explanation, I believe there is a better one. I do not believe the Bible is using a round number nor do I deny the plain meaning of this verse. Yes, the Bronze Sea was 10 cubits wide and five cubits high and was a hemisphere (half of a sphere) so naturally the circumference should be 31.4 cubits, right? Well, let's take a look. As is often the case, the critics forget to read “the rest of the story.” If you read a little bit further in the text you will discover that both passages say that the Bronze Sea was a "handbreadth" thick. Any horse lover will tell you that a handbreadth is equal to four inches. So let's do some math, shall we?
1) 10 cubits = 180 inches
[2]2) Subtract 8 inches (2 handbreadths - one on each side) to determine the diameter of the inside of the bowl. This equals 172 inches.
3) When you multiply 172 x pi you get 540.08 inches, which equals 30.004 cubits, which is within 4/1000 of what the Bible says. That’s pretty precise. “Wait a minute!” the skeptic cries, "you can't do that because the Bible is talking about the outer circumference!" How does he know that? First of all, it gives us two important figures. The first is the diameter (10 cubits). The Israelites
would need to know this figure if they wanted to move this huge bowl through an opening, such as a doorway. Second, it gives us the inner circumference so that we can figure out the volume. To find the volume of a sphere
it is 4/3 x pi x r3. In this case, since it is a hemisphere, you would only need to use 2/3 instead of 4/3.This is a perfectly legitimate explanation for this account and it also shows how precise the Bible is in giving details. Once again, the Bible stands up to the critics’ attack.