Mediaeval anti-Islamic polemics convinced neither Muslims nor Christians

Evidence

The overwhelming probability is that the public intended by the polemists was Christian. We may forget any suggestion that some real debate between the two religions was ever practicable. Nearly all the arguments that we have just reviewed were well calculated to be effective with such an audience, and only with such. They were admirably formulated to uphold faith. They would suitably horrify those who were at a distance from actual Muslims, but they would also fortify those who could not be guarded physically from Islamic realities. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1469 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Many of the arguments used against the Islamic position were similar to, or identical with, those directed against Muslim ethics of sex. Sometimes these were the simple practical arguments directed ad homines which are not unlike modern rationalist arguments against all religion, as wish-fulfilment, or as formed by geographical or economic circumstances. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 825 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Anti-Quran polemics were crafted for Christian audiences rather than actual Muslims; Christian anti-Islamic polemic targeted Christian readers, not Muslims — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1469; Anti-Islamic polemic was shaped to repel Christians, not Muslims — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1471 (+2 more)

Related

• Medieval anti-Islamic polemic resembles modern rationalist critiques of religion (similarity 0.91)
• Medieval anti-Islamic polemics aimed to fortify Christians rather than convert Muslims (similarity 0.90)
• Christian anti-Islamic polemic targeted Christian readers, not Muslims (similarity 0.89)
• Medieval Christian polemics could only read Islam as affirming or negating Christianity (similarity 0.88)
• Medieval Christian polemics against Islam were written for Christian audiences, not Muslims (similarity 0.88)
• Christian polemics against Islam argued from premises only Christians accepted (similarity 0.87)
• Anti-Quran polemics were crafted for Christian audiences rather than actual Muslims (similarity 0.87)
• Anti-Islamic polemic was shaped to repel Christians, not Muslims (similarity 0.87)
• Mediaeval Christian polemicists dismissed Quranic metaphors by misreading them as literal physics (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval Christian critics mirrored modern assumptions about Muslim shrine devotion (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval Christian polemic offered no common ground that could persuade Muslims. (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval writers ignored Islamic ritual because praising it served no polemic purpose (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval interreligious polemics operated without shared evidentiary premises (similarity 0.86)
• Arguments deployed against Islam in medieval polemics could rebound against Christianity equally. (similarity 0.85)
• Christian polemists preferred their own readings over traditional Islamic interpretation (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Christian anti-Islamic polemic targeted Christian readers, not Muslims #complicates (0.87) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1469
• Anti-Quran polemics were crafted for Christian audiences rather than actual Muslims #complicates (0.85)
• Anti-Islamic polemic was shaped to repel Christians, not Muslims #complicates (0.82) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1471
• Medieval anti-Islamic polemic resembles modern rationalist critiques of religion #complicates (0.82) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 825