Mr. Moderate

I have only come here seeking knowledge,
Things they would not teach me of in college.

Sting, Wrapped Around Your Finger

There is some debate over exactly what St. Thomas Aquinas meant when he wrote: “hominem unius libri timeo” — “I fear the man of a single book”. On the one hand, it is felt that a man of a single book has limited knowledge and limited horizons. “Having read so little he is quite at at the mercy of his one book!” On the other hand, it might also mean “that a man who has thoroughly mastered one good book can be dangerous as an opponent.” Luckily, we need not resolve this matter as both statements are true of the Christian fundamentalist. Such a person “of one book” (The Holy Bible) is both limited in knowledge and horizons and is also a dangerous opponent as they have no way to recognize error or defeat and thus plow onward incessantly, even when all around them ought to recognize the mistake(s) they have made.

When you are forced to do battle against a specimen of homo unius libri, you cannot ever win. Such a specimen is so convinced that their one book is the only conceivable source of authority that nothing can possibly be cited against it. And that is true even in those cases where that single book is cited against itself as a form of contradiction. As a case in point, we have the ongoing battle over the teaching of evolution in the State of Kansas. First, the homo unius libri clique was in. Then they were out. Then they were in again. Now, they are out once again. But, never admitting defeat, they are right this moment plotting their strategy for the next upcoming school board election so that, after it is over, they will be back in control once again. They will never admit defeat and just go with the flow. The homo unius libri knows no other way than to advocate their own personal interpretation of their one single book, and such a specimen cannot be reasoned with.

There is only one possible cure for the homo unius libri and that is to get any such person to read more widely. Since such an individual probably attends Bible Study two or more times per week, get them to read books that “enrich” their studies of the Bible. Through a progressive course of study, expose them to the contradictions and moral atrocities which are the stuff of their single book. As their horizons broaden, you can hopefully begin to work in some basic philosophy teachings. The ultimate goal is to get such a person to recognize that no single human book can ever hope to capture anything resembling “all the truth that is worth knowing” and, to those who proclaim that their book is the “Word of God” it must be pointed out that it is instead the product of human effort which has added, subtracted, edited, and otherwise modified various books and passages as time has gone by.

Even if a person would consent to be so trained, however, there is no good reason to believe that their fundamentalism will be cured. Like any addiction, it takes an act of personal will to separate oneself from a too-great focus on any one particular thing.

But there is no doubt in my mind that the person of one book is indeed a formidable foe when aroused to oppose reason.