Medieval Christians valued Qur’anic Christ references over Islamic monotheism
Evidence
The acceptance of Christ as a prophet and the denial of His Godhead seemed in the Middle Ages to be the most important aspect of the Qur’anic mixture of truth and untruth. The approach was generally an analytical one which attempted to formulate the Christological doctrine of the Qur’an in terms readily intelligible to Christians. This subject was given much more attention, and was clearly considered much more significant, than the Islamic proclamation of the unity of God. The latter was barely considered a fit subject for prophecy at all; it was elementary, and it was attainable by reason. It was the approximation to the revealed truths of Christian faith that was of interest to Christians, and the Qur’anic references to Gospel stories were characteristically seen as the praise of Christ. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 920
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the broader pattern in this book of medieval Christian-Muslim relations — the focus on shared truths vs. differences. — connects to: Medieval Christian polemic interpreted Qur’anic texts as nastily as possible; Medieval Christian readers judged the Qur’an by its Christology; Some medieval Christians grasped the Qur’anic Christ accurately (+3 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 920
Broader Connections
- Medieval Christian readers judged the Qur’an by its Christology
#corroborates(0.95) - Medieval Christians read the Qur’an as inadvertent testimony to Christian truth
#corroborates(0.85) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1079 - Some medieval Christians grasped the Qur’anic Christ accurately
#expands(0.80) - Medieval Christians saw Islamic Christology as true yet fatally uncomprehending of key terms
#expands(0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 923 - Some medieval Christians read the Quranic Christ sympathetically as humility-erasing error
#expands(0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 927