Dominican missionaries sought to prove Christianity through rival scripture exegesis

Evidence

In the midst of such discouragement, one Dominican missionary sounded an optimistic note—or so he would have his readers believe. Alfonso Buenhombre, a Spanish Dominican who traveled in North Africa and was active in missions to Jews and Muslims, became bishop of Marrakesh in 1343. Educated in Paris, fluent in Arabic, he was the epitome of the Dominican missionary ideal, which sought to prove the superiority of Christianity over Judaism and Islam through rational argumentation and the careful exegesis of the adversaries’ scripture. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1272

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the Dominican missionary ideal: rational argumentation plus careful exegesis of the adversary’s own scripture rather than mere proclamation.