Medieval Christian polemicists debated Muslims using Old Testament proof texts that Muslims rejected

Evidence

Oliver notes that al-Kâmil already believes in Jesus’ conception and virgin birth, his ascension into heaven, and his role as judge in the Final Judgment. Oliver seeks to convince him of the truth of the rest of Christian doctrine: the Trinity and the Incarnation, the divinity and death of Christ. You call us infidels, he says, because we worship the Trinity; you yourself unwittingly acknowledge it, he argues, when you recite David’s Psalm praising God’s name three times. Oliver has a fairly accurate knowledge of Islamic Christology, though he (like Alan of Lille) erroneously supposes that Muslims accept the text of the Old Testament, and that an argument based on the wording of a Psalm would carry weight with a Muslim opponent. He makes the same error later in his letter, when he defends the use of images in Christian churches by evoking Old Testament descriptions of images in the temples of Ezekiel and Solomon; the latter temple (he is referring either to the Dome of the Rock or al-Aqsa mosque) “your people frequent.” … In another letter addressed “to you, wise men and astrologers of Egypt,” Oliver presents arguments “from scripture, which you cannot negate,” in favor of Christian doctrine—presenting in fact a standard collection of proof texts gleaned from the Old Testament and commonly used in anti-Jewish tracts, but useless in arguing with Muslims. … Oliver contrasts Muhammad’s life and law with those of Christ. The way to heaven, he asserts, is through chastity; your polygamy is the path to hell. Your prophet taught you that those who were killed by their enemies would go straight to a heaven replete with carnal delights; “our teacher” taught us to love our enemy in hopes of attaining a purely spiritual reward in the next life. “Your doctor,” who was taught by a Jew and an apostate monk named Sergius, ordered to conquer by the sword all who did not recognize him. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1034

Categorization

• XREF: Grounds Anidjar’s genealogy of Christian polemical rhetoric toward Islam; shows the misreading of Muslim scriptural authority that later Islamophobic argument inherits.
• DEFINE: Documents the medieval stereotype that Muhammad was taught by a Jew and an apostate monk named Sergius — an origin point for ‘Islam as heresy tainted by Jews’ tropes.