Irenic medieval dialogues still presupposed exclusive salvation through one religion
Evidence
Yet the serene tone and apparent evenhandedness do not stand up to close scrutiny: they comprise, for Llull as for Theodore Abû Qurrah, a strategic posture for the defense of Christianity against its rivals. The four characters in the Libre del gentil all accept without question that only one of the three religions can lead to eternal bliss, that the adherents of the two erroneous religions are bound for hell. And while Llull never explicitly announces which religion the gentile chooses, the dialogue clearly indicates that it is Christianity. When (for example) in book 2, the Jew explains that his people have been in captivity for the past twelve hundred years, the gentile responds that perhaps it is because the Jews have unwittingly sinned against God, a clear reference to the Christian notion that the destruction of the temple and the subjugation of the Jews was punishment for the killing of Christ. The gentile later exclaims that he would in no way wish to become a Jew if that meant he would have to suffer servitude with the Jews on account of their sins. Clearly, Judaism will not be the religion the gentile chooses at the end of the debate. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1319
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: A sharp demonstration that fairmindedness in interfaith rhetoric is itself a strategic weapon, not the absence of one — worth sitting with for its implication that evenhanded dialogue frames can smuggle in exclusivist conclusions.
- XREF: connects to: Medieval thinkers saw all faiths as destined for eventual reunion in one church