It is not my "error" margin, it is the reporting margin chosen by the reporter, in this case the writer of I Kings. Allegation of error based on an arbitrary preference of rounding point is as fallacious and absurd as me alleging that your value of pi is incorrect because you only report to 5 decimal places. Any diameter from 9.5 cubits to 10.5 cubits would round to 10 cubits.
And the point is that Deutsch (the guy I was talking to) was saying that EVERY word in the Bible was LITERALLY true and completely without error of any kind.
When someone makes a claim like that, ANY counter-example proves him wrong.
Use of the word "literal" in Biblical hermeneutics generally means taking the words in their proper grammatical, historical, contextual sense, sort of like "original intent" in reference to the Constitution. When the words of I Kings are interpreted according to the plain grammatical, historical context, it is ludicrous to assert error. If the passage in question were explicitly stating a calculation or value for pi, then you would have a point. But it doesn't. It's just an accurate, general representation of a circular bathtub.
Cordially,
Second, regarding your argument re: "literalist" interpretation: does that mean that young-earth creationists COULD be engaging in an overly literal interpretation of the first few chapters of Genesis?
I ask this because I have been condemned to eternal Hellfire for being a theistic evolutionist (i.e., God created the Universe over billions of years, using natural laws that He shaped, for His ends, and that that process of creation is ongoing, guided by His hand). In short, because I accept the evidence of my God-given senses and my God-given faculties of reason, I'm going to Hell for not believing that the Universe was created less than 10,000 years ago and in only six 24-hour days.
Ho ho ho. If you have to use a vast base of knowledge to interpret the grammer, history and context of the Biblical passages -- you are well beyond anything "literal."
To the fundamentalist, "literal" means he can lock himself in the bedroom and gain total insight from the Bible alone.
Hermeneutics means expanding outside the Bible and consulting a vast array of writings by historical authors.
There is a huge friction between the Catholic church which teaches based upon a organized hermeneutic approach and the fundamentalist individual with his personal Bible.
There is no basis for the individual Bible reader to question Genesis as a literal description of the creation of the universe as well as man. But if you take the Catholic church approach, they have already factored in the possibility of natural evolution giving rise to species including mankind.
Equating "literal" with the hermenuetic approach is a Clintonian exercize in obfuscation of the plain spoken word.