Medieval writers treated pagan origin as disqualifying, unlike modern esteem for converts

Evidence

The paganism of Muhammad’s birth was seen as an argument against his claims; this reversed the modern view that the revelation is more impressive that comes to an idolator, the conversion more creditable that happens in spite of circumstances. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 467

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in how religious polemic inverts modern assumptions; echoes the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ article’s theme of past value-inversions. — connects to: Medieval critics treated pagan birth as discrediting prophecy, not enhancing it.
• SEED: An essay angle: how the criterion for religious credibility flipped — pagans who convert were once seen as tainted by their origins, now seen as especially admirable.