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Ibn Kammuna Examination Of Three Faiths Summary

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During the 13th century, religious dialogue among different cultures was expanding at a rapid rate (457). With this cross-cultural exchange came competing views which vied for religious dominance in both Eastern and Western civilizations. Notably, many arguments in favor of Christianity were spread by Franciscan friars such as John of Plano Carpini, John of Monte Corvino, and William of Ruysbruck. Additionally, scholars such as Ibn Kammuna concerned themselves with the comparative study of religion. As a Jewish thinker, Ibn Kammuna found this comparative study to be particularly important within the context of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in order to defend monotheism in the East (468). Though the Franciscan friars may have had more at stake in their defenses of Christianity (as a political tactic against a Mongol invasion of Europe, for example), it is Ibn Kammuna’s arguments concerning Christianity that are most persuasive to non-Christians. Ibn Kammuna begins his “Examination of Three Faiths” by succinctly and effectively explaining what the major tenets of Christianity are, showing that he is knowledgeable on the subject. Interestingly, though Kammuna himself was a Jewish scholar, he explains the tenets of Christianity in the first-person, as if speaking on behalf of Christians: “We believe all that is in the Torah … We are truly monotheists …” (469). After this exposition of the Christian faith, Ibn Kammuna immediately begins to write about the “many discrepancies

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