Pursuing Veritas

Finally, John’s approach to arguing against Islam reflects a commitment to fairness and intellectual integrity. John displays rhetorical accuracy when engaging legitimate theological questions raised by Islam, as he avoids misrepresenting Islamic beliefs and even offers critiques of Islam that Christian faith could also fairly address, holding each worldview to the same standards of proof and explanation.

This approach is most evident in the Disputatio, where the questions posed by the Muslim participant are met with thoughtful and respectful responses rather than dismissive rebuttals and the Muslim interlocutor likewise poses difficult, contradiction-raising questions, forcing John’s Christian to respond in like kind. Interaction with various theological schools of thought, such as the Jabriyyah, also proceeds on a basis of mutual rationality and fairness, as John did not seem interested in giving his side a rhetorical (or false) advantage (Louth 2002: 82).

Indeed, greater understanding seems to have been a concern of both participants of John’s Disputatio, leading him to treat intellectual issues seriously rather than with mere polemics. John operates on the assumption that sincere faith is that which is arrived at with intellectual integrity and treats his Islamic interlocutors accordingly.