The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea is a delightful fairy tale collected by Hans Christian Andersen. A prince wanted to marry a true princess. When one would claim to be a true princess, she would spend the night in the guest room on top of 20 mattresses and then 20 feather beds. If she woke up and said she had a great night, the prince knew she was false. One morning after a visit, an alleged princess, when asked about her night, moaned and groaned how uncomfortable she was. The bed had a lump in it, and her back was now black-and-blue. Oh, joy, joy, joy, the princess had been found. For a pea had been placed under the 40 mattresses, and only a true princess would notice such discomfort!

Why do I use this fairy tale? The absurdity of little things that are supposed to be “oh-so-important.” Of course, I have something particular in mind. What is it? The manner in which unbelievably inconsequential, unimportant, and totally trivial criticisms are directed toward the Bible as proof that it is not the word of God.

There are skeptics who will go out of their way to attack the Bible, seemingly creating every conceivable problem possible simply to build the case. I’m not impressed when a skeptic moans about the horrible mental night he had with that terrible pea under his mattresses. My thought is always the same, “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

Let me give an illustration. This is a serious argument against the Bible being the word of God. Ready for this? The details in 1 Kings 7:23 read, literally teach that π is equal to 3.0! This is stated to be a scientific error that proves that the Bible cannot be the word of God. I have read this online and heard it in debates.

Honestly, I cannot conceive of anyone but a novice using this argument. It is such a pea compared to the boulders that could be used. Well, a hammer isn’t needed against this argument. A puff of wind will take care of this.

Ask anyone what the value of π is? If the reply is, “3.14,” say, “Wrong!”

“3.1415?”

“Wrong!”

“3.14159265?”

“Wrong!”

What is the value of π? It can only be known by approximatization. First, the number is infinite and non-repeating. That is, the decimal never comes to a point that it then begins to repeat itself. The number has been calculated by computer to more than one trillion places. Regardless of the number given, it is never correct.

Certainly, from a practical perspective, what are the differences between 3 inches or 3.1 inches or 3.14 or 3.1415 inches? A laser would be needed to detect the difference. For years when calculating circumference as a quick number … guess what I used? That’s right—3! It simply depends on the accuracy needed.

What is ludicrous about this argument is that the person who says the Bible is scientifically wrong is scientifically wrong himself! WHATEVER value is used, it is wrong because it is only approximate. If the ancient writers were able to write decimals (I’ve never checked this out), whatever they would have written could still be criticized.

Any demand that π should be this value and not this one is no more than a practical preference. The π argument against the Bible being the world of God is merely a new version of “The πrincess and the πea.”