LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Brock University

48 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XV
the Muhammadan or Turkish faith.” 32 The fruit of his interest would not,
however, be seen until over a decade later. In Strasbourg a polemical work
was published in 1540 entitled The Qur’ân. That is, the Contents and a
Rejection of the Muhammadan Lawbook and Turkish Superstition. It is clear
after analysing the text that it is a paraphrased translation of Dionysius
Carthusianus’ 1454 Against the Qur’ân and the Sect of the Muhammadans,
which was published in Köln seven year earlier. 33 This shortened German
version of what Nicholas of Cusa rightly called a “huge” 34 work pits
Qur’ânic verse against Biblical citation in the form of a dialogue between the
Qur’ân and a Christian, with the latter, of course, emerging victorious.
Although it would hardly be convincing for a Muslim, it polarized the two
faiths to such a degree that a Christian reading it would remain firm in their
convictions assured of the truth of the Christian faith and falsity of Islam. It
is also important for at least one other reason. For the first time extensive
passages from the Qur’ân (especially those contentious with Biblical
teachings) were rendered into German.
Two years later another polemic against the Qur’ân and apologetic for the
primacy of the Christian faith over and against Islam was translated into
German under the title Refutation of the Qur’ân. The translator of this work
was none other than Luther, who mentioned in the preface that a better
argument against the Qur’ân could not be found, and that it would not only
be useful but was also necessary for the German laity to read. 35 His
32 K. R. Hagenbach, ed. “Schreiben Biblianders an Oporin”, in Beiträge zur Vaterlandischen
Geschichte, vol. 9 (Basel: Georg’s Verlag, 1870), 323. For biographical
information on Bibliander, see E. Egli, “Biblianders Leben und Schriften”, in Analecta
Reformatoria, vol. 2 (Zürich, 1901), 1-144. Concerning Zwingli, Katya Vehlow argues that he
appears not to have “ever studied Islam” (“The Swiss Reformerss Zwingli, Bullinger,
Bibliander and Their Attitude to Islam [1520-1566]”, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
6.2 [1995]: 236).
33 Bobzin, Der Koran, 70. See pages 70-76 for a brief overview of the contents and
connection between Contra Alchoranum & sectam Machometicam and Alchoran. Das ist des
Mahometischen Gesatzbuchs und Türckischen Aberglaubens ynnhalt und ablånung. The
cataloguer for the British museum suggests that the translator of this work was the humanist
and adversary of Erasmus named Heinrich von Eppendorff.
34 Nicholas of Cusa, Cribratio Alkorani, trans. Hopkins (Minneapolis: Banning Press,
1990), 75-76.
35 Luther, Verlegung des Alcoran (Wittenberg: Lufft, 1542), Aiii. Also in WA 53:272. The
Latin text that Luther translated from, entitled Confutatio Alcorani, is located on facing pages
with Luther’s translation in WA 53:272-388. The author of the Confutatio was a Dominican
missionary named Riccoldo da Monte di Croce who wrote this work after returning to Italy
after spending a decade in Baghdad. The Confutatio is actually a translation from a Greek
version of his original Latin text entitled Contra Legem Saracenorum. See Jean-Marie
Merigoux, “L’ouvrage d’un frère prêcheur florentin en Orient à la fin du XIIIe siècle. Le
Contra legem Sarracenorum de Riccoldo da Monte di Croce”, in Fede e controversia nel
’300 e ’500. Memorie Domenicane, nuova serie, 15 (Pistoia, 1986), 1-144. Two recent works
on Riccoldo worth mentioning are L. Michael Spath’s “Riccoldo da Monte Croce: Medieval