Paul of Antioch’s Letter to a Muslim friend of Sidon

Abstract

This is an introduction and Spanish translation of: “Letter to a Muslim friend in Sidon”, by Paul of Antioch, Melkite bishop of Sidon. This work, written at the end of the 13th century, gave rise to one of the richest and most complex episodes in the history of Islamic-Christian debate. Here the author tries to justify the Christian religion by means of basically rational arguments, duly backed up by Koranic texts. This leads him, finally, to attempt a kind of “Christian theology according to the Koran”. The letter of the bishop of Sidon, and its reworking in Cyprus about a century later, led to the publication of at least three important Muslim apologetical works.