Raymond Lully
(RAMON LULL)
"Doctor Illuminatus", philosopher, poet, and theologian, b. at Palma in Majorca,
between 1232 and 1236; d. at Tunis, 29 June, 1315. Probably a courtier at the
court of King James of Aragon until thirty years of age, he then became a hermit
and afterwards a tertiary of the Order of St. Francis. From that time he seemed
to be inspired with extraordinary zeal for the conversion of the Mohammedan
world. To this end he advocated the study of Oriental languages and the
refutation of Arabian philosophy, especially that of Averroes. He founded a school
for the members of his community in Majorca, where special attention was given
to Arabic and Chaldean. Later he taught in Paris. About 1291 he went to Tunis,
preached to the Saracens, disputed with them in philosophy, and after another
brief sojourn in Paris, returned to the East as a missionary. After undergoing
many hardships and privations he returned to Europe in 1311 for the purpose of
laying before the Council of Vienna his plans for the conversion of the Moors.
Again in 1315 he set out for Tunis, where he was stoned to death by the
Saracens.
Raymond's literary activity was inspired by the same purpose as his missionary
and educational efforts. In the numerous writings (about 300) which came from
his facile pen, in Catalonian as well as in Latin, he strove to show the errors of
Averroism and to expound Christian theology in such a manner that the
Saracens themselves could not fail to see the truth. With the same purpose in
view, he invented a mechanical contrivance, a logical machine, in which the
subjects and predicates of theological propositions were arranged in circles,
squares, triangles, and other geometrical figures, so that by moving a lever,
turning a crank, or causing a wheel to revolve, the propositions would arrange
themselves in the affirmative or negative and thus prove themselves to be true.
This device he called the Ars Generalis Ultima or the Ars Magna, and to the
description and explanation of it he devoted his most important works. Underlying
this scheme was a theoretical philosophy, or rather a theosophy, for the
essential element in Raymond's method was the identification of theology with
philosophy. The scholastics of the thirteenth century maintained that, while the
two sciences agree, so that what is true in philosophy cannot be false in
theology, or vice versa, they are, nevertheless, two distinct sciences, differing
especially in that theology makes use of revelation as a source, while philosophy
relies on reason alone.
The Arabians had completely separated them by maintaining the twofold
standard of truth, according to which what is false in philosophy may be true in
theology. Raymond, carried on by his zeal for the refutation of the Arabians, went
to the opposite extreme. He held that there is no distinction between philosophy
and theology, between reason and faith, so that even the highest mysteries may
be proved by means of logical demonstration and the us of the Ars Magna. This
of course removed all distinction between natural and supernatural truth. Unlike
Abelard's, however, Raymond's rationalism was of the mystic type: he taught
expressly that, for the understanding of the highest truths, reason must be aided
by faith; that once faith has flooded the soul with its radiance, reason,
enlightened and strengthened by faith, "is as capable of showing that there are
three persons in one God as it is of proving that there cannot be three Gods".
"Relying on the grace of God", he writes, "I intend to prove the articles of faith by
convincing reasons" ("Opera", Strasburg ed., p. 966). On the other hand, he held
that, although reason needs the Divine assistance, faith is just as much in need
of reason; faith may deceive us unless reason guides it. He who relies on faith
alone is like a blind man who, relying on the sense of touch, can sometimes find
what he wants but often misses it; to be certain of finding his object he needs
sight as well as touch. So Raymond held that a man, in order to find out the truth
about God, must bring reason to the task as well as faith.
These principles were taken up by the followers of Raymond, known as Lullists,
who for a time had so great an influence, especially in Spain, that they
succeeded in founding chairs at the Universities of Barcelona and Valencia for
the propagation of the doctrines of the "Illuminated Doctor". The Church
authorities, however, recognized the dangerous consequences which follow from
the breaking down of the distinction between natural and supernatural truth.
Consequently, in spite of his praiseworthy zeal and his crown of martyrdom,
Raymond has not been canonized. His rationalistic mysticism was formally
condemned by Gregory XI in 1376 and the condemnation was renewed by Paul
IV. Raymond's works were published in ten folio volumes at Mainz, 1721-1742.
There are, besides, several editions of portions of his writings. His poems and
popular treatises, written in Catalonian, had a very wide circulation, in his own
day, and their style has won him a high place in the history of medieval Spanish
literature. The best know edition of the works in which he describes his logical
machine is the Strasburg edition of 1651. The "Rivista Lulliana", a periodical
devoted to the exposition of Raymond's philosophy, was started at Barcelona in
1901.
RIBEIRA, Origines de la filosofia de Ramon Lullo (Madrid, 1899); DENIFLE in Arch. f. Litt. u.
Kirchengesch. (1888), 352; DE WULF, History of Medieval Phil., tr. COFFEY (New York, 1909), 403
sqq.; TURNER, History of Philosophy (Boston, 1903), 394 sqq.
William Turner
Transcribed by Raymond Bonomi
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XII
Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
The Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org