Historians should be trying to establish historical facts and not score political points. Many who tend to hold the depopulation side of the arguments are, like me, practising Catholics who have been convinced that the balance of evidence comes down rather heavily on the side of the theory that, following the siege of AD870, the islands were uninhabited for at least one century.

This does not exclude the possibility that a small number may have actually remained in Malta hidden away in some remote part or that, as I believe you mentioned, their rather distant descendants returned to Malta at some point and brought with them the old customs, including the faith and its linguistic paraphernalia.

The trouble with this dispute is that is overshadowed – one would almost go as far as to say ”poisoned” – by the politics of the time during which the major discoveries informing it were made.

Wettinger, the depopulation theory’s primary proponent, was an agnostic and an MLP admirer (until the then PM decided to practically dismantle the University) and was highly encouraged – and partly funded – by Mintoff himself to conduct research which would dispel myths about the Arab period.

Despite Wettinger’s scholarship being beyond reproach, the conclusions his research pointed to were disputed as much on partisan and religious grounds as on academic ones.

The situation is such that, in some circles, one is considered to be a believer or not according to where one stands on the continuity/depopulation dispute.

Needless to say, I generalise, and exaggerate, to make the point.

The God of Islam IS the God of Christianity – hadn’t you noticed?

You start off from the standpoint that religion is a firm belief for everybody, and not some pseudo-identity in which they were raised.

Somebody who didn’t choose to be raised in Islam is not going to give two hoots about converting to Christianity, and then won’t give two hoots about the Christianity either.

Most people don’t give a damn about religion, you know – and you really can’t project the feelings and sentiments of the present 600 years into a very different past.

God vs god.

One is the name of a god (a proper noun); the other is an ordinary noun signifying a deity.

Your reference to the two authors gives no indication, at all, on what they said on the issue that I am commenting upon, that is the Semitic element in fundamental Christian practice in Malta.

Since you introduced the two authors, the least you could do is to say what they wrote that is relevant to the issue.

If you have no time to do this I do not see why you expect me to do this, and calling me names.

Your comment does not explain the other evidence of the Semitic words for the sacraments and the prayer, Our Father.

Still less does it explain why the claimed re-Christianisation was so mixed up, especially if we are to believe that Malta was completely uninhabited except by stray animals.

As for the word god, with or without the capital G, that is completely irrelevant since people do not speak, and pray, in capital letters. Nor is anyone, except you, referring to the written Maltese language.

In any case, I have no wish to carry on this discussion any further. You’ve given the game away with your talk of “Islamist caliphate”, “push back” and “struggle”.

I’ll happily teach history to the ignorant, but you’re worse than that. You’re a right-wing nutter.