Medieval religious disputation tracts almost always ended in conversion

Evidence

The Libre del gentil is indeed an exceptional work, seen in the context of medieval Christian texts about Islam (or Judaism): four wise men calmly discussing religion in a verdant grove. There are no attacks on Muhammad or the Koran, no charges of Jewish deicide or of the Talmud as blasphemous. Such texts of religious disputation almost invariably end in conversion: yet here the reader does not even learn which religion the gentile has chosen, and none of the three sages converts at all (though they all agree that they wish to find the one true law). While such tracts commonly present gross caricatures of the opponents’ religions, Llull, scrupulous in his use of authentic Jewish and Muslim sources, presents a remarkably fair and accurate portrayal of each of the three religions. Llull’s tract stands out as an irenic island is a sea of tempestuous disputation and polemic. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1318

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to similar readings of religious disputation as rhetorical rather than open-ended, matching the tone of polemic studies.