The weighty sources found in Melanchthon, Zwingli, and Jonas, are used for the first time by Malte van Spankeren as a basis for analysing which arguments were used to dissociate Islam, which personal theological positions were sharpened with the help of the "Turkish question", and which focal points developed that were to shape Christian perception in the long term.

Islam has attracted the attention of Christian writers right from its beginnings and it is in this context that it can be seen just how important the time around the Reformation is to the Christian perception of Islam. The weighty sources found in Melanchthon, Zwingli, and Jonas, are used for the first time by Malte van Spankeren as a basis for analysing which arguments were used to dissociate Islam, which personal theological positions were sharpened with the help of the "Turkish question", and which focal points developed that were to shape Christian perception in the long term. Not only does the author's approach contribute to further advancing the history of Christian-Muslim relations, it also introduces the concept of identity politics into the research of church history.

Autorentext
ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter der Spalding-Edition an der Universität Münster.