Thirteenth-century missionaries considered Muslims too rational to accept unexamined doctrine.
Evidence
And since they excel in reason and have sharp intellects, they do not want to believe anything they cannot understand.β The ο¬rst thing to do in arguing with them is not to expound Christian law, for that would be casting pearls before swine, as they will only deride our doctrines. β John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1260
Categorization
- QUESTION: The pearls-before-swine line coexists with crediting sharp intellects β an internal contradiction worth tracing in how missionaries shifted between praise and contempt.