The Importance of the Principle of Charity

One major problem with atheists, theists and people of all persuasions on the internet is that they often ignore the principle of charity. Essentially the principle of charity involves approaching a piece of literature with the base assumption that they are rational and competent. This approach involves being suspicious of irrational interpretations of literature and outright rejecting those when a rational interpretation is available. Many atheists do not employ this approach to the Bible at all but rather seem to assume that the authors of the Bible were delusional psychopaths hallucinating and worshiping a sadistic deity. This approach is a poor one because it precludes the conclusion that the authors of the Bible were stupid and or insane by assuming it from the outset.

An example of this error can be seen in Proverbs 26:4-5 which states, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Sites like this; http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/pr/26.html readily claim that this verse is an absurdity and that because of verses like this the Bible should be thrown out as a stupid book. Unfortunately, any sort of literary criticism from philosophers reviewing the works of ancient thinkers to modern school teachers grading papers of students could not function given this approach. Imagine if you turned a paper in and your teacher gave you an F because he assumed that you erred in your essay when he simply misunderstood what you were saying.

In the case of Proverbs 26:4-5 the apparent  contradiction can readily be explained when the passage is interpreted as a dilemma. The author is simply pointing out that getting in a heated discussion with a fool is a lose lose situation, if you answer the fool you look like an idiot, if you don’t answer the fool, the fool looks wise. If the irrational interpretation of this passage is to be favored reasons must be given as to why such an interpretation should be preferred.