Medieval Christian refuters of Islam self-consciously opposed words to arms as missionary method

Evidence

Venerable, which derived from the literary form of his choice, a refutation of Islam addressed to Muslims in Latin; he considered it suitable for translation, but apparently did not arrange for a translation to be made. An excess of rhetoric does not obscure a genuine apostolic fervour, tempered by smugness. ‘I approach you, I say, not as our people often do, with arms, but with words, not by force, but by reason, not in hatred, but in love…’ — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 668

Categorization

• XREF: Resonates with the vault’s Anidjar thread on how the Christian West constructed Islam as an enemy to be defeated — here the contrast frame is words vs. sword within a single Christian self-understanding.