The sources of
both religions lie in the East and in Oriental thought.
No less is true of Judaism, a scholastic system which was excellently
adapted by its international character, to become a medium of
communication between Christianity and Muhammedanism during those
centuries. In this connection special mention must be made of the
Spanish Jews; to their work, not only as transmitting but also as
originating ideas a bare reference must here suffice. But of greater
importance was the direct exchange of thought, which proceeded through
literary channels, by means of translations, especially by word of
mouth among the Christians and Muhammedans who were living together in
Southern Italy, Sicily, and Spain, and by commercial intercourse.
The other question concerns the fundamental problem of European
medievalism. We see that the problems with which the middle ages in
Europe were confronted and also that European ethics and metaphysics
were identical with the Muhammedan system: we are moreover assured
that the acceptance of Christian ideas by Islam can only have taken
place in the East: and the conclusion is obvious that mediaeval
Christianity was also primarily rooted in the East. The transmission
of this religious philosophy to the non-Oriental peoples of the West
at first produced a cessation of progress but opened a new
intellectual world when these peoples awoke to life in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries. But throughout the intermediate period
between the seventh and thirteenth centuries the East was gaining
political strength and was naturally superior to the West where
political organisation and culture had been shattered by the Germanic
invasions; in the East again there was an organic unity of national
strength and intellectual ideals, as the course of development had not
been interrupted.
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