Medieval Dominicans held reason could defend but never prove the faith

Evidence

Jaume I’s Aragon became a veritable testing ground for the new Dominican missionary strategy to convert Jews and Muslims: Dominicans learned Hebrew and Arabic, studied the Bible, Talmud, and Koran, and (with the help of royal coercion) forced Jews and Muslims to debate with them and to listen to their sermons. Ramon Martí, in particular, sought to deploy the tools of logic and scholastic theology to decimate the rival religions and prove the truth of Christianity. Yet the missionary efforts of Martí and his associates had only limited success, and increasingly, Christian theologians, like Dominican Thomas Aquinas, affirmed that it was impossible to prove the truth of Christianity through reason alone. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1181 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval doctrine held reason could attack rivals but never prove Christian truth.; Medieval missionaries held that only miracles or reason could convert the infidel; Late medieval theologians concluded reason could defend but never prove the Christian faith. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1277 (+17 more)

Broader Connections

• Late medieval theologians concluded reason could defend but never prove the Christian faith. #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1277
• Dominicans held Christian truth unprovable by necessary reasons; Llull rejected this #corroborates (1.00)
• Reason can defend but not prove the Christian faith. #corroborates (1.00)
• Thirteenth-century theologians admitted reason could not prove Christianity’s truth #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1181
• Thomas Aquinas held that reason can defend faith but never prove it #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1229
• Dominican missionaries refused to prove Christianity by reason, destroying Muslim faith without replacing it #complicates (0.80)
• Medieval Dominican rationalist missionizing yielded almost no Jewish or Muslim converts #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1271
• Dominican missionary strategy separated demolishing error from expounding truth #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1193
• Medieval Christian thinkers could not conceive of non-Scriptural sources of truth #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1403
• Dominican missionaries sought to prove Christianity through rival scripture exegesis #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1272
• Medieval scholastic missionary polemics produced almost no conversions #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1271
• Medieval polemicists could not distinguish authoritative doctrine from local superstition #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2228
• Medieval sacraments did not graft supernatural authority onto natural functions #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval Christians showed no curiosity about pagan invaders’ religions #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval polemicists hoped rational argument could unify the faiths #complicates (0.70)