The Disputatio Raimundi christiani et Homeri saraceni

A Case Study of Medieval Christian-Muslim Exchange

Margot Leblanc

Pages: approx. 308 p.
Size:156 x 234 mm
Illustrations:1 b/w, 1 col.

Language(s):English
Publication Year:2027

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This volume examines the Disputatio Raimundi Christiani et Homeri Saraceni, a work by Ramon Llull recounting a dialogue with an Islamic scholar during his imprisonment in Béjaya. It seeks to determine whether this exchange could reflect an actual historical encounter and to assess how unique the text is within Llull’s oeuvre as well as within the broader intellectual context of the thirteenth century.

Subject(s)

BIO

Margot Leblanc holds a doctorate in Religious Studies from the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at KU Leuven. She obtained master’s degrees in both Classical Philology and World Religions at KU Leuven. Her research primarily focuses on Christian–Muslim encounters in the medieval period, approached consistently from a text critical perspective.

Summary

In 1307, Ramon Llull, Catalan theologian, poet and adventurer, travelled to Béjaya with the goal of converting the local population to Christianity. Even though he was aware of the dangers of his mission, he also felt great confidence in his own conversion method: a logical system which he named the Ars. This method was supposed to give a logical proof of Christian doctrine. Llull believed that he could use the method of the Ars to find rational arguments which were sufficient to convert any non-Christian to Christianity.

After his arrival in Béjaya, Llull engaged in a vigorous debate with the local populace, leading to his imprisonment by the authorities of Béjaya. He spent months in a dungeon, unable to carry out his original plan. However, Llull later wrote in his Vita Coaetanea and his Disputatio Raimundi Christiani et Homeri Saraceni that his stay in the dungeon was not completely uneventful. According to Llull himself, he was visited daily by an Islamic scholar named ‘Umar. The two men engaged in a days long debate about the Trinity, the Incarnation, the attributes of God, and the nature of Christianity and Islam.

This book examines the Disputatio Raimundi Christiani et Homeri Saraceni, which is Ramon Llull’s version of the debate he held with the Islamic scholar ‘Umar. In the Disputatio Raimundi, Llull uses the arguments of the Ars to prove his faith. However, were these arguments sufficient to prove Christian doctrines? Was Ramon Llull fair? What was Llull’s opinion on Islam, and was he really that different from other Christian preachers of his time?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abbreviations
1. Introduction
The Status Quaestionis
The Divine Attributes in Llull’s Œuvre
2. Life and Works of Ramon Llull, an Overview
The Situation in Mallorca
Llull’s Conversion
The Art
Llull’s Journeys
Montpellier, Paris and Rome
Tunis
Second Journeys to Rome and Paris
Bijāya
The Situation in Bijāya
The Disputatio
Llull’s Stay in Pisa, His Third Journey to Paris and His Final Mission in North Africa
Ramon Llull’s Outlook on Interreligious Exchange with Islam
3. Ramon Llull’s theology: the Attributes of God
The Ladder of the Universe: How the Attributes of God Are Formed by Llull
The Attributes Throughout Llull’s Works
The Llibre de contemplació en Déu (1271-1273)
The Llibre del gentil e dels tres savis (1274-1283)
The Cent noms de Déu (1292)
The Ars generalis ultima (1305-1308)
The Liber Disputationis Raimundi Christiani et Homeri Saraceni (1308)
Conclusion
The influence of Arab philosophy
Four Relevant Authors: Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Averroes and al-Juwayni
Ramon Llull’s Concept of “Christianus arabicus”
Llull’s Contact with Islamic Thought
The Ars and Llull’s Outlook on Islam
On Nature and Substance
4. Case studies: eternity, goodness, greatness, power, intellect
4.1. The essential attributes: eternity
What are the essential attributes?
Case study: Eternity
Umar: influence of Islam
Raimundus: Llull’s œuvre
Conclusion
4.2. The non-essential attributes: goodness, greatness, power
What are the non-essential attributes?
Case study: Goodness
Umar: influence of Islam
Raimundus: Llull’s œuvre
Conclusion
Case study: Greatness
Umar: influence of Islam
Raimundus: Llull’s œuvre
Conclusion
Case study: Power
Umar: Influence of Islam
Raimundus: Llull’s oeuvre
Conclusion
Case study: Understanding
Umar: influence of Islam
Raimundus: Llull’s oeuvre
Conclusion
Conclusion
5. Ramon Llull and Christian Concepts of Mission in Interreligious Encounter
Introduction
Ramon Llull and the Dominicans
New Missionizing Tendencies in the Thirteenth Century
5.1. Ramon Llull and Ramon Martí
Introduction
Explanatio symboli apostolorum
The Defense of the Use of the Old and New Testaments
Secunda ratio
Quarta ratio
De seta Machometi
De mendatiis Machometi
De immunditiis Machometi
De lege Machometi
Pugio fidei
Why Averroists Believe that God Does not Know the Particulars
Why God Must Know the Particulars
Why God Must Know the Infinite
Conclusion
5.2. Ramon Llull and Riccoldo da Monte di Croce
Introduction
Liber peregrinationis
De saracenis
De oratione
De elemosinis
De reverentia ad nomen Dei
Epistole ad ecclesiam triumphantem
Epistola ad Deum verum et vivum
Epistola ad beatam virginem Mariam
Epistola ad totam Ecclesiam triumphantem
Contra Legem saracenorum
Capitulum I: A Heresiological Approach
Capitulum II and III: The Defense of the Use of the Old and New Testaments
Capitulum VIII: More Critique on Muhammad
Conclusion
6. Conclusion
How Should Christians Debate the Trinity with Non-Christians?
How Should One Answer the Questions of Islamic scholars, Regarding the Nature of God?
How Should One Deal with Interreligious Ecounter Between Christians and Muslims?
What Does This Mean for the Disputatio Raimundi?
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources