Most of what you say is based on fundamental ignorance. The Jews, who wrote the Bible, do not count time from the creation of the universe. They count it from the creation of the Neshama, the soul of human life, or the creation of the soul of Adam. On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, Jews blow the Shofar three times during the Musaf service, and proclaim, “Hayom Harat Olam - today is the birthday of the world.”
Nor does the Bible say that Pi is equal to 3. The text reads, “And he [Hiram] made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one rim to the other it was round all about, and...a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about....And it was an hand breadth thick....” — First Kings, chapter 7, verses 23 and 26
Using eighteen inches as one cubit, that gives an outer diameter of 180 inches and an outer radius of 90 inches. The bowl was a hand breadth thick, or 4 inches, so the inner radius is 86 inches and the inner circumference is 540 inches. The circumference formula is C = 2(pi)r, which gives us:
540 = 2(pi)(86)
540 = 172(pi)
Solving, we get pi = 540/172 = 135/43 = 3.1395348837, or about 3.14.
How close did the Jews need to be?
“
Most of what you say is based on fundamental ignorance. The Jews, who wrote the Bible, do not count time from the creation of the universe. They count it from the creation of the Neshama, the soul of human life, or the creation of the soul of Adam. On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, Jews blow the Shofar three times during the Musaf service, and proclaim, “Hayom Harat Olam - today is the birthday of the world.”” ~ Hootowl
Exactly.
http://aboulet.wordpress.com/2007/07/06/ancient-near-eastern-thought-and-the-old-testament/
Ancient near eastern thought and the old testament
John Walton (Ph.D., Hebrew Union College) is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. His new book, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament is a fascinating study into the background of the cognitive environment of the world of the Old Testament authors. His purpose is to use the literature and cultural artifacts of the ancient Near East in such a way that is sheds light on the world in which the Old Testament authors lived. His logic is as follows:
If someone outside the language/culture matrix wants to take advantage of information that is communicated within the language/culture matrix, cultural education is required–the individual has to adapt to the unfamiliar language/culture matrix (20).
[snip]
Comments:
jason Says:
7 July 2007 at 3.07 pm
If you have time, I’m curious how he argues that “ontology in the ancient world was more connected to function than to substance. In other words, something exists when it has a function, not when it takes up space or is a substance characterized by material properties.” What evidence does he provide for that point?
aboulet Says:
10 July 2007 at 12.46 pm
Jason: Walton beings this point in his fourth chapter (”The Gods”) where he shows that the origins of the gods in the ANE (in Egyptian literature and in epics like Atrahasis Epic and Enuma Elish) are always connected with (1) being separated from other matter, (2) being given a name, and (3) being given a function or jurisdiction in some area (defined by the destinies decreed for them). Since the ontology of the gods was function oriented (i.e. a god would not exist unless he has a jurisdiction over something and a function to perform), a god who does not function or act fades into nonexistence. In chapter seven (”Cosmic Geography”) he makes the point that according to ANE literature, this “function oriented” ontology applies not only to the gods, but to everything in the cosmos. He cites Egyptian literature and Mesopotamian iconography. The application he makes is in the creation of man and woman. In the second creation narrative, Adam is created to care after the garden. In the creation of Adam: you see dust being separated from other matter and becoming man and man being given a function. In the creation of Eve you see the rib becoming separate from other matter and becoming woman and her being given a function (to be man’s partner). This is right in line with other creation narrative in the ANE as function is always part of the creation. Of course, Walton says it much better than I just did.
No. You get:
3.13953588372093023255811395348837...
And it is STILL NOT PI.
How close did the Jews need to be?
No. How accurate does the Bible have to be?
Closer than 3, which is what a literal reading of what you are trying to math your way around would give us.
OTOH, if you say “Okay, close enough, it’s not meant to be literal,” well, welcome to the real world.