your typical atheist argument against the Bible is "the Bible contains errors and therefore it is useless and should be thrown away."
(they also seem to consider allegories to be errors but never mind that)
consider computers.
messages transmitted over long distance wires are prone to errors.
A single error is enough to cause a computer to freeze up.
Therefore any program downloaded over the Internet is useless and should be thrown away.
obviously this is not the case.
The reason it is not the case is because computer scientists have developed not just error detecting but also error-correcting codes.
some of these codes are very sophisticated but one that is particularly simple and easy to understand is the Multidimensional parity-check code.
Assume that the goal is to transmit the four-digit message "1234", using a two-dimensional parity scheme. First the digits of the message are arranged in a rectangular pattern:
12
34
Parity digits are then calculated by summing each column and row separately:
123
347
46
The eight-digit sequence "12334746" is the message that is actually transmitted. If any single error occurs during transmission then this error can not only be detected but can also be corrected as well. Let us suppose that the received message contained an error in the first digit. The receiver rearranges the message into the grid:
923
347
46
The receiver can see that the first row and also the first column add up incorrectly. Using this knowledge and the assumption that only one error occurred, the receiver can correct the error. In order to handle two errors, a 4-dimensional scheme would be required, at the cost of more parity digits.
the Bible may indeed contain errors but who is to say that God didn't allow those errors to occur to teach us something?
(they also seem to consider allegories to be errors but never mind that)
consider computers.
messages transmitted over long distance wires are prone to errors.
A single error is enough to cause a computer to freeze up.
Therefore any program downloaded over the Internet is useless and should be thrown away.
obviously this is not the case.
The reason it is not the case is because computer scientists have developed not just error detecting but also error-correcting codes.
some of these codes are very sophisticated but one that is particularly simple and easy to understand is the Multidimensional parity-check code.
Assume that the goal is to transmit the four-digit message "1234", using a two-dimensional parity scheme. First the digits of the message are arranged in a rectangular pattern:
12
34
Parity digits are then calculated by summing each column and row separately:
123
347
46
The eight-digit sequence "12334746" is the message that is actually transmitted. If any single error occurs during transmission then this error can not only be detected but can also be corrected as well. Let us suppose that the received message contained an error in the first digit. The receiver rearranges the message into the grid:
923
347
46
The receiver can see that the first row and also the first column add up incorrectly. Using this knowledge and the assumption that only one error occurred, the receiver can correct the error. In order to handle two errors, a 4-dimensional scheme would be required, at the cost of more parity digits.
the Bible may indeed contain errors but who is to say that God didn't allow those errors to occur to teach us something?
