LULL, Raymund

[s. 432] : Born in 1235. Died in From Zwemer’s biography of this first and, perhaps, greatest mi ionary to Mohammedans, we gather the following facts Raymund 1315.: Five Lull lived during a most eventful epoch. years after his birth the rise of the Ottoman Turks occurred, and before he was twenty Louis IX. had failed in his crusade, and the Inquisition had begun in Spain to torture Jews and heretics. As he was growing into manhood, the beneficial effects of the Crusades were being felt; physical science was struggling into feeble life; discoveries of distant lands were being made; the Universitv of Oxford was founded, and the world, as Lull knew it, was the world of medieval legend and cla ic lore. The Mohammedan world was, with all Europe, in a state of ferment, and Raymund Lull was raised up to prove what the Crusades might have done if they had fought for the cro with the weapons of the Prince of Peace. Lull was a member of a distinguished Catalonian family, and when the island of Majorca was taken from the Saracens by James I., King of Aragon, Lull’s father was rewarded with large estates in the conquered territory, for his distinguished services. A succe ion of twenty proud sovereigns reigned from the year 1035 to 1516, and at such r. court, probably in the capital town of Zaragoza (Sarago a), Lull spent several years of his life. He was a court poet, and a 415 Gifted with rare mental accomplishments, the heir to large wealth, he was a gay knight at the banciuets of James II., before he became a scholastic philosopher and an ardent mi ionary. It was at Palma, when thirty-two years old, that he made his decision to forsake and become a preacher of righteousne . His all conversion reminds one of the experience of Saul on his way to Damascus, and of St. Augustine under the fig tree at Milan. He sold all his property, gave the money to the poor, and reserved only a scanty allowance for his wife and He determined to attack Islam with children. the weapons of Christian truth; and a uming the coarse garb of a mendicant, he made pilgrimages to various churches in the island, praying for grace and a istance in the work of his life. In the 13th century, Islam, the mistre of philosophy and science, had political influence and prestige; and against this mighty power this knight of Christ was to lead an attack with the weapons of love and learning, instead of the Crusaders’ weapons of force and fanaticism. He entered upon a thorough course of study, mastered the Arabic language, spent much time in spiritual meditation, and at about the age of forty he entered upon the most useful part of his life, His Ars Major was as author and mi ionary. completed in 127.5, and under the patronage of the King of Majorca this first book of his Method was published. Soon after the publication of this work, he persuaded James II. to found and endow a monastery in Majorca, where Francis can monks should be instructed in the Arabic language, and trained to become able disputants among the Muslims. In 1276 such a monastery was opened, and thirteen monks began to study Lull’s method and imbibe his spirit. Lull now longed for a new Pentecost, and for world-wide mi ions. Fired with apostolic zeal, he went to Rome and Paris; and, altho in his fifty-sixth year, he determined to set out alone and single-handed and preach Christ in North Africa. On arriving at Tunis he invited the Muslim literati to a conference. He announced that he had studied the arguments on both sides of the question, and was willing to submit the evidences for Christianity and for Islam to a fair comparison. The challenge was willingly accepted, and after a long, fruitle discu ion Lull advanced the following propositions, which strike the two weak points of Mohammedan monotheism: “Lack of love in the being of Allah, and lack of harmony, in his attributes.” Some accepted the truth and others became fanatical. Lull was cast into a dungeon by order of the Sultan, and, at this time, narrowly escaped death. After bitter persecutions he returned to Europe; but he made other mi ionary journeys, and in 1307 he was again on the shores of North Africa, fifteen years after his banishment. Altho he was now sixty-six years of age, despite the conditions of travel in the Middle skilled musician. Ages we find him visiting Cyprus, Syria, and penetrating into Armenia, striving to reclaim the various Oriental sects to the orthodox faith. In 1307 he set sail again for North Africa, and at Bugia, in a public place, he stood up boldly and proclaimed, in the Arabic language, that Christianity was the only true faith; and once again violent hands were laid upon him. He was flung into a dungeon, and for six months remained a close prisoner, befriended only by some merchants of Genoa and Spain, who took pity on the Lndd Luther an Forelgrn aged mi ionary of the cro . He was banished again from Africa, with threats that his life would be taken if he ever returned, but with unabated love and zeal he went there again in 1314. For over ten months this veteran of the cro dwelt in hiding, talking and praying with his converts, and trying to influence those who were still in darkne . Weary of seclusion, he, at length, came forth into the open market and presented himself to the people as the man whom they had e.xpelled, and who desired still to preach Christ to them. He seemed to court martyrdom. He was seized and dragged out of the town, and by the command, or at least the connivance, of the king, he was stoned to death. Lull’s life-work was three-fold: he devised a philosophical or educational system for persuading non-Christians of the truth of Christianity, he established mi ionary colleges, and he himself went and preached to the Muslims, sealing his witne of Christ with his blood. There exists no complete catalog of his books, but he wrote on nearly every known subject, and in the first published edition of his works (1721) two hundred and eighty titles are given. Neander (I. A. W), Church History, Vol. IV. Maclear, His~; tory of Christian 1863; Mi ions in the Middle Ages, London, Zwemer (S. M.), Raymund Lull, New York, Funk & Wagna Is, 1902. LUMBA5 5A BOLAN: A settlement in the Toba Lake region of Sumatra. Station of the Rhenish Mi ionarv Society, with (1903) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 1 native worker, 1 Sunday school and 1 day school. 433