Peter urged Muslims to answer Christian debate with reason rather than violence
Evidence
These Arab philosophers use their reason to comprehend nature; do they not know that this nature, the highest object of the search for truth, asks Peter, the uncreated creator, the ultimate substance or essence, is God? Should they not use their reason to investigate the truth concerning God? The law prohibiting religious dispute is an “infernal counsel,” a law fit for irrational sheep, not rational men. Instead of reaching for your swords or stones when a Christian comes to preach the gospel, Peter says, follow rather the example of Christians who dispute with Jews, listening patiently to their arguments and responding wisely. (Peter fails to follow his own advice in his vitriolic Against the Inveterate Stubbornness of the Jews.) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 858
These Arab philosophers use their reason to comprehend nature; do they not know that this nature, the highest object of the search for truth, asks Peter, the uncreated creator, the ultimate substance or essence, is God? Should they not use their reason to investigate the truth concerning God? The law prohibiting religious dispute is an “infernal counsel,” a law fit for irrational sheep, not rational men. Instead of reaching for your swords or stones when a Christian comes to preach the gospel, Peter says, follow rather the example of Christians who dispute with Jews, listening patiently to their arguments and responding wisely. (Peter fails to follow his own advice in his vitriolic Against the Inveterate Stubbornness of the Jews.) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 858
Categorization
- QUESTION: Why did Peter see Muslim use of force in religious disputes as irrational while Christian crusade violence seemingly did not disturb his own logic? Worth investigating.
- CANDY: Peter preached patient debate with enemies while simultaneously writing a notoriously vitriolic anti-Jewish tract - self-contradiction of a medieval scholar, light enough for an aside.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 858