Christian apologists argued the incarnation using Koranic premises Muslims accepted.

Evidence

Peter himself undertook the task of refuting Islam, writing his Contra sectam siue haeresim Saracenorum (Against the sect or heresy of the Saracens) probably in 1155–56. The work as it survives is composed of a long prologue and two books; it may be that Peter wrote more that was subsequently lost or that he left it incomplete at his death on Christmas day, 1156. Both the structure and the strategy of the Contra sectam siue haeresim Saracenorum are quite different from those of the Summa. In the Summa he lambasted Muhammad from a Christian perspective; in the Contra sectam (after a prologue in which he justifies his polemics to Christian readers) he (in book 1) enjoins his Muslim readers to listen impartially to his arguments and tries to convince them that according to the Koran they should accept Christian scripture. In book 2 he tries to prove that Muhammad is not a prophet, by contrasting his life with those of Old Testament prophets. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 849 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

All five of the Mozarabic texts argue for the possibility or plausibility of the incarnation based on analogies to events attested in the Koran (and hence accepted by Muslims). The Koran acknowledges that God spoke directly to Moses through the intermediary of the burning bush. Both the Tathlîth alwahdânîyah and the priest Augustine’s Mashaf al-‘âlam argue that God is present, incarnated, in Jesus in the same way that he was present in the burning bush. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 825 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The tradition of Trinitarian argument is well exemplified in Yahya ibn ‘Adi, who wrote in Arabic in the tenth century, and who in many ways seems to be an oriental Ramon Lull, anxious to prove the Trinity by natural reasons alone; he at least avoided the contrary mistake of citing Scripture to Muslims who consider the canonical text corrupt. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 52 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Christian theologians openly debated Muslim scholars in Abbasid Baghdad’s court; Mozarabic apologists argued for the incarnation using Koranic precedents Muslims already accept — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 825; Christian apologists argued with Muslims within Islamic terms rather than citing Scripture — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 52 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Mozarabic apologists argued for the incarnation using Koranic precedents Muslims already accept #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 825
• Peter the Venerable addressed his anti-Islamic polemic directly to Muslim readers using Koranic logic. #exemplifies (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 849
• Christian apologists argued with Muslims within Islamic terms rather than citing Scripture #qualifies (0.95) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 52
• Christian thinking forced Islam into Christian analogical categories, misrepresenting it #complicates (0.80)
• Granada’s Christian theologians missed the Koranic resonance of the Sacromonte texts #complicates (0.75) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1323