Patterns of Argumentation and Exchange of Ideas in Late Antiquity and Early Islam

This volume brings together a group of experts on late antique and early Islam who examine a corpus of medieval Greek, Syriac and Arabic texts which reflect exchange of ideas and opinions. The main focus of the volume is on how religious ideas in the Eastern Mediterranean world (6th-8th c. CE) were shaped by the challenges of rival religious groups, and especially what patterns of argumentation were employed when answers were formulated to critical questions from inside and outside the community. Much-debated questions in the study of early Christian-Muslim and Jewish-Muslim confrontation are to what extent literary debates reflect live interactions and to what extent the texts allow us to trace the transmission of ideas between the various communities. What sort of methods and techniques were employed by late antique authors to defend their religion and attack other ones? How were rhetorical tools developed and adjusted to meet evolving needs of debating with other religious groups? The volume contributes to ongoing discussions about Islam's origins in late antiquity and the cultural continuities between Eastern Christianity and Islam.