Muslim military success drove Christians to doubt their own theology

Evidence

Yet to Riccoldo, overwhelmed by Muslim victories and mocked by non-Christians in Baghdad, these “blasphemies” are all the more perplexing. Can it be true, he asks Jesus, that you are, as the Saracens say, one of them? That would indeed explain why you favor them. He addresses the same question to the apostles. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1242

Categorization

• QUESTION: Riccoldo’s doubt that Muslim victories imply Jesus favors Muslims is a striking psychological mechanism in Crusade-era Christian thought.