Medieval scholastic missionary polemics produced almost no conversions

Evidence

The efforts of Ramon Penyafort, Ramon Martí, and other Dominicans had launched a large and complex missionary machine, producing voluminous, erudite works. Yet they produced few converts; Jews and Muslims were unimpressed with the rationalistic attack on their beliefs and their holy texts. Ramon Llull was right in his critique of their ineffectiveness, though Llull’s own method proved even less fruitful. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1271

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the persistent failure of evidence-heavy, rationalistic persuasion to change minds — a case study in why erudition alone rarely persuades, applicable to modern religious and political debate.
• XREF: Connects to Milgrom’s point about information costs and to general literature on when rational argument fails to persuade.