Medieval Christian apologists argued the divine essence transcends biological analogy

Evidence

In practice, Ricoldo was fond of the counter-attack upon the Islamic interpretation; for example, he said that to assert that God has no Son because He has no wife is like saying that He is not living because He does not draw breath. … He also made an image for the Incarnation, in order to defend the Crucifixion: a king might send his words in a book, and the book be burned, but his words would not burn. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1012

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘king’s words in a book’ analogy echoes later Christian apologetics’ logos theology — connects to theological-metaphor material in the reader’s library on how abstract doctrines get sold through concrete images.