Medieval thinkers accepted that pagan and even false prophets could utter true prophecies.
Evidence
The existence of kinds of prophecy outside the framework of the Old Testament, and of evil prophets within it, was generally assumed in the Middle Ages, although the prophets of Christ were incomparably more important than the others. St Thomas referred to the vates of ancient paganism, citing St Isidore on the classical poets, and he justified the possibility of truthful prophecy in cases of ‘demoniacs, possession and false prophecy’; that is, pseudoprophecy might utter truths. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 401
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
Related
- Medieval theology allowed truthful prophecy outside biblical revelation (similarity 0.92)
- Medieval critics narrowed prophecy to future-telling to disqualify Muhammad. (similarity 0.82)
- Medieval Latin writers recognized Islam’s claim of a progressive prophetic sequence (similarity 0.81)
- Medieval Christian thinkers could not conceive of non-Scriptural sources of truth (similarity 0.81)
- Medieval Christians doubted Islam’s truth yet marveled at its success (similarity 0.80)
- Medieval critics treated pagan birth as discrediting prophecy, not enhancing it. (similarity 0.80)
- Medieval Christian writers widely understood Muhammad as merely a prophet (similarity 0.79)
- Medieval writers knew Muslims viewed Muhammad as only a prophet (similarity 0.78)