Even a confident missionary feared death when facing real Muslims

Evidence

Suddenly confronted by the real possibility of death at the hands of Muslims, he became frightened and did not board a ship leaving for “Saracen lands” and subsequently suffered deep doubt and depression at his failure. He eventually boarded a Genoese ship bound for Tunis where he tried his argumentation on prominent Muslims. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1289

Categorization

• DEFINE: Shows the gap between polemical certainty on paper and actual confrontation with the mission’s target audience.