A question for Christians

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I didn't come up with this question, and I forget where I read it (it may have been in one of Carl Sagan's books), but it is nonetheless interesting.

Mathematics is generally considered the "language" of the universe, since it is a pure expression of logic. Not only are there patterns in mathematics itself, but it forms the foundation of the science we use to uncover the deepest mysteries of the Universe. So, the question is, why is there no mathematics in the Bible?

(Yes, I know this question could be posed to any religious scripture, but I'm most familiar with the Bible so please bear with the bias.)

My stance as an agnostic is generally known, but this is a genuine question with no disrespect intended. I want this to be a real discussion with no flaming from anyone.

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.
Bertrand Russell

There is, but whoever wrote the Bible could not even get the value of Pi beyond the value of 3:

2Chronicles 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.”


Check out these passages. I don't have time right now to do it myself.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Isaiah 29:14
Acts 16:31
Matthew 11:25-26
1 Corinthians 3:19
Luke 10:21
Luke 19:1-10

The Bible is not a scientific text. It does not pretend to be.

No, its writers just pretended to reveal the truth.

You're criticizing Scripture because there aren't enough equations in it? Get a life.

No, I'm criticizing a book because of its inaccuracies.

Biblical inaccuracies? Internal inconsistencies? Yeah, there are a few. That owes to the fact of how the Bible was written.

If it's accuracy and exactness you crave, stick to mathematics and shut up about the Bible.

I meant no offense with the question. My point was, if God wrote the universe in a particular language, why wouldn't this language appear in the book in which he reveals the truth?

Seemingly NOT by an omniscient and infallible being.


2 Peter 1:20-21 “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”

Now, either the apostles were "misrepresenting" the truth when they wrote these verses, or your god is less than perfect. Which is it?

And since it seems that "a few verses" of the Bible itself can be demonstrated to be inaccurate, what about the rest of the Bible? How do us mere mortals determine which parts of the Bible to believe, and which to ignore?

Because human beings speak and communicate using many, many different kinds of languages-- none of them mathematical in nature. I think most of the inaccuracies stem from the Bible's being chopped up, edited, and translated so many times. And that, in, is a reflection of human imperfection. I'll freely admit that man is imperfect, but I'll always insist on the perfection of God.

God is perfect, but the Bible is not.

Fair enough; you'll get no argument from me on those two points.

Isn't the Torah based in math.

I think the Kabbalah is, but I can't vouch for the Torah.

QFT. Anyone who thinks the Bible is a science book simply needs to get a life. The purpose of religion is not the same as the purpose of mathematics. What, did you expect God to send a prophet down from the heavens to bring us calculus? Well, I suppose there was Newton... "Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night- God said 'Let Newton be!' and all was light."

Oh, I don't know ... maybe 2Chronicles 4:2 could have read 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 twenty and two times the seventh portion of the distance from brim to brim did compass it round about.”

Y'see, 22 divided by 7 yields 3.1428571428571428571428571428571...,
whereas Pi is 3.1415926535897932384626433832795... .

Rounding off both values to 3 significant digits yields 3.14, which is an acceptable value for even most modern-day terrestrial calculations in which an error of less than 1% is to be expected.