He did not, however, spell out those meanings for them, nor did He direct them to them. Rather, he wished them to reflect, discover the truth by their own reason, and then labor to turn those texts away from their literal sense. His purpose—so they claim—was to test them and oblige them to exhaust their minds in wrenching his words from their plain import and necessary implications, and to recognize the truth from some avenue other than his. This is the doctrine of the mutakallimah (dialectical theologians), the Muʿtazilah, and all who have followed them in any measure.