Byzantine churchmen preferred claims of Muslim idolatry over shared monotheism

Evidence

From Manuel’s standpoint, it seems, Muslim converts should be asked only to renounce the errors of Muhammad, not the true, eternal God, who was after all the same as the Christian God. Manuel succeeded in having the formula altered, but only in the face of strong resistance by conservative church members offended at the suggestion that the Muslim god was the same as their own. These Byzantine church leaders need to affirm the religious alterity of Islam in order to keep the boundaries clear between religious truth and error: better to associate Islam with pagan idolatry than to suggest that it venerates the eternal God. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 684

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s note on ‘religious alterity’ — parallels with Othering dynamics in Home Boy and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. — connects to: Christians and Muslims could ally against pagans over shared monotheism.
• DEEPTHINKING: A reverse-counterintuitive logic: institutional actors deliberately chose a false belief over a true one because the true one blurred a needed boundary. The defensive function of error is shown in operation.