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08 - Raymond Lull- First Missionary to the Moslems by Samuel Zwemer · Raymond Lull- First Missionary to the Moslems

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven of Raymond Lowell, First Missionary to the Moslems
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  Speaker 1: by Samuel Wemer. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven Other Missionary Journeys eighty thirteen oh one to
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  Speaker 1: thirteen oh nine. In an age of violence and faithlessness,
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  Speaker 1: he was the Apostle of Heavenly Love. George Smith. YEA,
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  Speaker 1: so have I strived to preach the Gospel? Not where
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  Speaker 1: Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's
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  Speaker 1: foundation Paul. From thirteen oh one to thirteen oh nine,
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  Speaker 1: Lull made several missionary journeys, which are the more remarkable
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  Speaker 1: if we consider that he was now sixty six years old,
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  Speaker 1: and if we think of the conditions of travel in
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  Speaker 1: the Middle Ages. The Mediterranean was beset with pirates, and
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  Speaker 1: the Cattle and Grand Company were fighting the Byzantines, while
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  Speaker 1: Genoa and Venice waged a war of commercial rivalry. The
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  Speaker 1: Knights of Saint John were fighting for roads, and the
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  Speaker 1: rival popes were quarreling. Travel by sea was dangerous and
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  Speaker 1: by land was full of hardship. In the Middle Ages,
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  Speaker 1: the use of carriages was prohibited as tending to render
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  Speaker 1: vassals less fit for military service. As late as the
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  Speaker 1: sixteenth century, it was accounted a reproach for men to
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  Speaker 1: ride in them, and only ladies of rank used such conveyances.
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  Speaker 1: Men of all grades and professions rode on horses or mules,
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  Speaker 1: and sometimes the monks and women on Chias's highway. Robbers
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  Speaker 1: infested the forests, and the danger from wild animals had
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  Speaker 1: not yet ceased even in the south of Europe. In
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  Speaker 1: spite of all obstacles, however, we read that Louell resolved
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  Speaker 1: to travel from place to place and preach wherever he
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  Speaker 1: might have opportunity. His purpose seems to have been to
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  Speaker 1: reach Jews and Christian heretics, as well as Saracens. Footnote
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  Speaker 1: Axsi adrijem cipri affectu multu suplicans a quadenus quos dom
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  Speaker 1: infidelees at que schismaticos, videlicate Jacobinos, nestorinos, maronites, adsuam pretti
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  Speaker 1: katon name nenu disputati name kroktarite veniere maklar page three,
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  Speaker 1: O four and footnote. After laboring for some time with
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  Speaker 1: the Jews in Majorca, he sailed for Cyprus, landing at Famagosta,
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  Speaker 1: the chief port and fortress. During the Genoese occupancy of
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  Speaker 1: the island. Cypress at that time had a large population
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  Speaker 1: of Jews, as well as of Christians and Moslems. Loll's
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  Speaker 1: preaching probably did not meet with success, for he soon
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  Speaker 1: left the island and, attended only by a single companion,
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  Speaker 1: rossed over to Syria and penetrated into Armenia, striving to
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  Speaker 1: reclaim the various Oriental sects to the Orthodox faith. Armenia
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  Speaker 1: in the thirteenth century was the name of a small
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  Speaker 1: principality to the north of Cilicia under a native dynasty
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  Speaker 1: with Cyprus. It formed the last bulwark of Christianity against
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  Speaker 1: Islam in the East. For fear of being crushed by
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  Speaker 1: the Moslem powers, the Armenians formed alliances with the Mongolian
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  Speaker 1: hordes that overran Asia and shared in the hostility and
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  Speaker 1: vengeance of the Mamelukes. Among this brave remnant and bulwark
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  Speaker 1: of the faith that even to our own day had
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  Speaker 1: resisted and too blood the aggressive spirit of Islam, Low
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  Speaker 1: labored for more than a year. It was in Armenia
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  Speaker 1: that he wrote his book entitled The Things Which a
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  Speaker 1: Man Ought to Believe Concerning God. Written in Latin, it
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  Speaker 1: was afterwards translated for his Spanish countrymen into Catalan. From Cyprus,
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  Speaker 1: Lowell returned once more to Italy and France, where from
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  Speaker 1: thirteen o two to thirteen oh five he traveled about,
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  Speaker 1: lecturing in the universities and writing more books. Before we
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  Speaker 1: speak of his second journey to North Africa, a few
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  Speaker 1: words should set forth the character of his love and
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  Speaker 1: labors for the despised jew Scattered throughout every kingdom and
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  Speaker 1: island of Europe. The Jews had attained in many land's
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  Speaker 1: power and influence, both because of their learning and their wealth.
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  Speaker 1: In Spain, under the Saracen supremacy, they enjoyed ample toleration,
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  Speaker 1: but in proportion as the Moors were driven out and
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  Speaker 1: the Christians became powerful, the Jews suffered. As early as
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  Speaker 1: eleven o eight, a riot broke out in Toledo against
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  Speaker 1: the Jews, and the streets streamed with their blood. All
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  Speaker 1: through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, dark stories were told
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  Speaker 1: of the hostility of the Jews. It was said that
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  Speaker 1: they poisoned wells, stole the consecrated wafers to pierce them
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  Speaker 1: with a needle, and crucified infants at their pass over festivals,
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  Speaker 1: and used their entrails for magic and secret rites. In
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  Speaker 1: twelve fifty three the Jews were expelled from France, and
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  Speaker 1: in twelve ninety from England. Many were put to death
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  Speaker 1: by the Inquisition, and there were very few Christians who
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  Speaker 1: dared to defend a Jew in court. A child could
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  Speaker 1: not be missed without some foul play being suspected on
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  Speaker 1: the part of a Jew in Vain. A few pious
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  Speaker 1: monks protested against such accusations and tried to be friendly
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  Speaker 1: outcast race. The whole spirit of the times was to
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  Speaker 1: class Jews and Moslems as infidels and as worthy of
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  Speaker 1: hatred and contempt if possible. The hatred against the Jews
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  Speaker 1: was stronger in Spain than elsewhere. During the closing years
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  Speaker 1: of Loll's life, there were already kindled in Spain the
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  Speaker 1: fires of bitter cruel persecution, which at last, under Torkamoda
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  Speaker 1: consumed the entire race of the Jews in that country.
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  Speaker 1: In the thirteenth century, in almost all the lands, the
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  Speaker 1: Jews were compelled to wear an insulting badge, the so
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  Speaker 1: called jew hat, a yellow funnel shaped covering on the
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  Speaker 1: head and a ring of red cloth on the breast.
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  Speaker 1: They were also compelled to herd together in the cities
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  Speaker 1: in the ghetto or Jewish quarter, which was often surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by a special wall. This despised race, however, was not
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  Speaker 1: outside the circle of Lowell's love and interest. He wrote
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  Speaker 1: many books to prove to them the truth of the
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  Speaker 1: Christian religion. He showed them that their expected Messiah was
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  Speaker 1: none other than Jesus of Nazareth. His great mission to
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  Speaker 1: the Saracens in Africa did not blind him to the
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  Speaker 1: needs of missions at home, and we read how in
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  Speaker 1: thirteen o five and even earlier he labored to convince
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  Speaker 1: the Jews and majorca of their errors. In an age
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  Speaker 1: when violence and faithlessness were the only treatment which Jews
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  Speaker 1: expected from Christians, Raymond Lowell was the apostle of love
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  Speaker 1: to them. Also, there is a story or legend to
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  Speaker 1: the effect that about this time Lowell paid a short
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  Speaker 1: visit to England and wrote a work on alchemy at
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  Speaker 1: Saint Catherine's Talk Hospital in London. But we have no
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  Speaker 1: good testimony for this event, and the legend probably arose
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  Speaker 1: from confounding Louel the Missionary with another lul who was
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  Speaker 1: celebrated for his knowledge of alchemy in the acta sanctor room.
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  Speaker 1: A special article is devoted to prove that Lull never
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  Speaker 1: taught or practiced the arts of medieval alchemy. We now
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  Speaker 1: come to his journey to North Africa, on which he
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  Speaker 1: set out in thirteen o seven, probably from some port
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  Speaker 1: in France or from Genoa. This time he did not
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  Speaker 1: go to Tunis, but to Bougia. Some say he visited
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  Speaker 1: Hippon and Algiers as well. A special interest attaches to
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  Speaker 1: the town in Bugia in the story of Lol's life,
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  Speaker 1: as it was here he preached to Moslems in his
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  Speaker 1: old age, and here was the scene of his death.
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  Speaker 1: Boujia is a fortified seaport in Algeria, between Cape Carbon
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  Speaker 1: and Waddi Sahil. Its most important buildings at present are
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  Speaker 1: the French Roman Catholic Church, the hospital, the barracks and
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  Speaker 1: the old Abdul Cadir fort, now used as a prison.
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  Speaker 1: At present it has but a small population, yet conducts
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  Speaker 1: a considerate trade in wax, grain orangs, oil and wine.
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  Speaker 1: Boujia is a town of great antiquity. It is the
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  Speaker 1: Solda of the Romans and was first built by the Carthaginians.
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  Speaker 1: Genseric the Vandal surrounded it with walls. In the tenth century,
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  Speaker 1: it became the chief commercial city of all North Africa
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  Speaker 1: under the beni Hammad sultans. The Italian merchants of the
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  Speaker 1: twelfth and thirteenth centuries had numerous buildings of their own
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  Speaker 1: in the city, such as warehouses, baths and churches. In
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  Speaker 1: the fifteenth century, Bougia became a haunt for pirates. After
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  Speaker 1: that time it lost its prosperity and importance. Our photograph
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  Speaker 1: shows the ruins of the old gateway from the harbor,
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  Speaker 1: which dates from the eleventh century and through which Loe
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  Speaker 1: must have entered the town. Although they were Christian merchants
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  Speaker 1: in Bugia, they were a small minority and were able
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  Speaker 1: to secure commercial freedom and favor only by avoiding all
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  Speaker 1: religious controversy and keeping their light carefully under a bushel.
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  Speaker 1: One can read in the history of the Mameluke dynasty,
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  Speaker 1: which ruled Egypt at this period, how Christians were regarded
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  Speaker 1: and treated by the Saracens so far as possible. The
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  Speaker 1: odious Edict of Omar the second was reimposed and its
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  Speaker 1: intolerant rules enforced. The Mameluke Sultan the Seer a jealous, cruel,
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  Speaker 1: suspicious and avaricious tyrant extended his power over Tunis and
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  Speaker 1: Bujia from thirteen o eight to thirteen twenty. He was
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  Speaker 1: fanatical as well as cruel, and one has only to
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  Speaker 1: read how Christian churches were destroyed, Christians burned or mutilated,
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  Speaker 1: and their property confiscated in the capital to know what
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  Speaker 1: must have been the state of the provinces. Raymond Lull
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  Speaker 1: no sooner came to Bujea than he found his way
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  Speaker 1: to a public place, stood up boldly and proclaimed in
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  Speaker 1: the Arabic language that Christianity was the only true faith,
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  Speaker 1: and expressed his willingness to prove this to the satisfaction
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  Speaker 1: of all. We know not what the exact nature of
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  Speaker 1: his argument was on this occasion, but it touched the
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  Speaker 1: character of Mohammed. A commotion ensued and many hands were
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  Speaker 1: lifted to do him violence. The Mufti or chief of
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  Speaker 1: the Moslem clergy, rescued him and expostulated with him on
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  Speaker 1: his madness and thus exposing himself to peril death. Loul replied,
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  Speaker 1: has no terrors whatever for a sincere servant of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: who is a laboring to bring souls to a knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of the truth. After this, the Mufti, who must have
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  Speaker 1: been well versed an Arabian philosophy challenged Loul for proofs
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  Speaker 1: of the superiority of Christ's religion over that of Mohammed.
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  Speaker 1: One of Loll's arguments, given in his controversial books consists
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  Speaker 1: in presenting to the Saracens the Ten Commandments as the
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  Speaker 1: perfect law of God, and then showing from their own
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  Speaker 1: books that Mohammed violated every one of these divine precepts.
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  Speaker 1: Another favorite argument of Laul with Moslems was to portray
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  Speaker 1: the seven Cardinal Virtues and the seven Deadly sins, only
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  Speaker 1: to show subsequently how bare Islam was of the former
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  Speaker 1: and how full of the latter. Such arguments are to
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  Speaker 1: be used with care, even in the twentieth century. We
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  Speaker 1: can imagine their effect on the Moslems in the North
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  Speaker 1: of Africa and Lul's dey persecution followed. He was flung
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  Speaker 1: into a dungeon and for half a year remained a
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  Speaker 1: close prisoner, befriended only by some merchants of Genoah and Spain,
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  Speaker 1: who took pity on the aged champion of their common faith. Meanwhile, riches, wives,
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  Speaker 1: high place, and power were offered the Christian philosopher, if
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  Speaker 1: only he would abjure his faith and returned Moslem. This
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  Speaker 1: was Lul's reply from the depths of his dungeon to
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  Speaker 1: all their enticements. Ye have for me wives and all
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  Speaker 1: sorts of worldly pleasure if I accept the law of
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  Speaker 1: Mohammed Alas, ye offer a poor pride, as all your
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  Speaker 1: earthly goods cannot purchase eternal glory. I, however, promise you
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  Speaker 1: if ye will forsake your false and devilish law, which
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  Speaker 1: was spread by sword and force alone, and if he
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  Speaker 1: accept my belief eternal life, for the Christian faith was
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  Speaker 1: propagated by preaching and by the blood of holy martyrs. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: I advise you to become Christians even now, and so
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  Speaker 1: obtain everlasting glory and escape the pains of hell. Such
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  Speaker 1: words from the lips of a man seventy three years old,
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  Speaker 1: in perfect command of the Arabic tongue, learned in the
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  Speaker 1: wisdom of the Arabian philosophy, and from whose eyes flashed
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  Speaker 1: earnest zeal for the truth must have come with tremendous force.
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  Speaker 1: While he carried in prison, Lowell proposed that both parties
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  Speaker 1: should write in defense of their faith. He was busy
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  Speaker 1: fulfilling his part of the agreement when a sudden command
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  Speaker 1: of the governor Fujiya directed that he be deported. Whether
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  Speaker 1: the reason of this command was the results that followed
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  Speaker 1: Loul's preaching, we know not. His biographers indicate that Lol
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  Speaker 1: was visited in prison by Moslems, who again and again
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  Speaker 1: urged him to apostatize. During his imprisonment, they plied him
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  Speaker 1: for six months with all the sensual temptations of Islam.
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  Speaker 1: Footnote permite bant a e uxores honories domum epicuniam kopiosum
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  Speaker 1: Vita Prima, chapter four, and footnote This must have been
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  Speaker 1: a bitter experience for the missionary in recalling the sins
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  Speaker 1: of his youth and the vision of his early manhood.
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  Speaker 1: But I amid the torture and the taunting I have
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  Speaker 1: had thee Thy hand was holding my hand fast and faster.
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  Speaker 1: Thy voice was close to me, and glorious eyes said,
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  Speaker 1: follow me, thy master, smile as I smile, thy faithfulness
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  Speaker 1: to see Raymond. Lol left Fujia practically a prisoner, since
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  Speaker 1: the Moslems did not wish to have repeated the incident
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  Speaker 1: that followed his embarking at Tunis. During the voyage, however,
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  Speaker 1: a storm arose, and the vessel was almost wrecked off
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  Speaker 1: the Italian coast near Pisa. Here he was rescued and
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  Speaker 1: received with all respect by those who had heard of
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  Speaker 1: his famous philosopher and missionary. From Pisa, Low went by
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  Speaker 1: way of Genoa to Paris. Of his work there and
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  Speaker 1: at the Council of Vienna, we have already given an
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  Speaker 1: account end of chapter seven, read by Alathia Chris