ftas&&ftaa&aaasfissfia&aaafifiaaassaafiaa&sgsaga&&as&&fig3fl $ I i 0 p O' l f I SI 1 (0) I I I- I i ’A & i s 'A l?, MISSIONARY HEROES COURSE LIFE STORIES OF GREAT MISSIONARIES FOR TEEN AGE BOYS ARRANGED IN PROGRAMS Raymund Lull First Missionary to the Moslems SOURCE BOOK “RAYMUND LULL, FIRST MISSIONARY TO THE MOSLEMS" By SAMUEL M. ZWEMER Program Prepared by FLOYD L. CARR 276 FIFTH AVENUE. NEW YORK CITY & Baptist Board of Education DEPARTMENT OF MISSIONARY EDUCATION B n I i i $ I Course No. 2 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/raymondlullfirstOOcarr Raymund Lull First Missionary to the Moslems SOURCE BOOK Raymund Lull, First Missionary to the Moslems" By Samuel M. Zwemer Baptist Board of Education DEPARTMENT OF MISSIONARY EDUCATION 276 Fifth Avenue, New York City OUTLINE Introductory Statement Program for Meeting . Life Sketch . Page . 2 Q o Life Incidents 4 7 Program based upon Raymund Lull, First Missionary to the Moslems by Samuel M. Zwemer Punk & Wagnalls Company, 75 cents FOREAVORD HE Missionary Heroes Course for Boys meets a real need. A It is a series of missionary programs for boys based on great biographies which every boy should know. Courses Number One and Number Two are now available, each providing pro¬ grams for twelve months, which may be used in the monthly meetings of boys’ groups. Other courses are in preparation and will be issued for subsequent years. It is suggested that the leader purchase two copies of each booklet; one to be kept for reference and the other to be cut up to provide each boy with his assigned part. Some may prefer to purchase one booklet and typewrite the parts for assignment. In order to tie together the life incidents as they are presented by the boys, the leader should master the facts outlined in the biographical sketch and read carefully the volume upon which the program is based. These volumes are missionary classics and may be made the basis of a worthwhile library of Christiau adventure. Boys are keenly interested in stories of adventure and achieve¬ ment and it is hoped that participation in the programs will lead many of the lads to read these great missionary biographies. At¬ tention is called to the twenty-three other life-story programs now available for Courses Number One and Number Two, both of which are listed on the last page. The books upon which these programs are based can be ordered from the nearest literature headquarters. Portraits of these missionary heroes are also avail¬ able for purchase at fifteen cents a copy. AATiile these programs have been developed to meet the needs of boys’ organizations of all types—i.e., Organized Classes, Boy Scouts, Knights of King Arthur, Kappa Sigma Pi, etc.,—they were especially prepared for the chapters of the Royal Ambas¬ sadors, a missionary organization for teen age boys originating in the Southland and recently adapted to the needs of the North¬ ern Baptist Convention by the Department of Missionary Edu¬ cation. AA 7 e commend these materials to all lovers of bovs. William A. Hill. PROGRAM FOR MEETING 1. Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-18. Raymond Lull’s life and message were a standing protest against the folly of addressing the Moslem problem with armed force rather than with the proclamation of divine love. (See pages 39-43 of “Raymund Lull, First Missionary to the Moslems” by Samuel M. Zwemer, copied in excerpt No. 8 following). 2. Praver. «/ 3. Hymn: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (see page 35 of the above book for the account of his vision of the Crucified Christ which changed him from a courtier to a champion of the faith, copied in excerpt No. 7, following). 4. Introduction to the Life Story # (based upon the brief sketch found in this booklet). 5. Raymund Lull’s Birthplace (pages 19-20, 23-25). 6. His Life as a Courtier- (pages 25-27, 29-30). 7. His Conversion (pages 31, 33-36). 8. His Dedication to the Moslems (pages 39-43). 9. Preparing for His Task (pages 54-56, 62). 10. Establishing a Missionary College (pages 65-67, 68-69). 11. Secured the Establishment of Professorship (pages 77-79). 12. His First Missionary Journey to Tunis (pages 80-82, 88-89). 13. Lull’s Witness in Bugia (pages 104-105, 107-108). 14. Summary of His Life Work (pages 63-64). 15. Last Journey and Martyrdom (pages 138-139, 142-143). * The leader should read the brief sketch in this booklet and also the book: “Raymund Lull, First Missionary to the Moslems” by Samuel M. Zwemer, Funk & Wagnalls Co., 75 cents. A brief sketch of Raymund Lull will be found in “Some Great Leaders in the World Movement” by Robert E. Speer or “Heroes of the Mission Field” by Walsh. 3 I SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF RAYMUND LULL R AYMUND LULL was born in the year 1235 in Palma, the capital city of the Island of Majorca. Majorca is an island of the Balearic group situated off the coast of Spain and memorable in the history of the struggle of the Spaniards with the Saracens. His father was a man of position and wealth who had taken an important part in freeing Majorca from Saracen rule. Lull grew up in luxury and as he himself says, in sensual living. Pond of pleasure, he and his young wife moved from Palma to the Court of James II., King of Aragon, and there he became seneschal of the court. He was a musician, playing the cithern with skill. He was also a gifted poet but devoted his skill chiefly to the framing of phrases to his lady¬ loves. When in his thirty-first year, he returned from the King’s Court to his native city. It was here on a July evening in the year 1266 that he came to the turning point in his life. He was composing an amorous tribute to a matron, who was unrespon¬ sive to his advances, when he saw suddenly, as in a vision, the Saviour hanging upon His cross and looking reproachfully at him. He was deeply moved and laid aside his cithern. Eight days later he took up his cithern to complete the song and again the vision appeared. It changed the entire course of his life. He rose up that day from his life of sin to follow the Saviour. The chains of the old life were still upon him, however, and it was not until autumn that the full victory was won. On October 4, 1266, at the Festival of Saint Francis of Assisi, he went to the Franciscan Church in Palma. There he heard a friar tell the story of St. Francis, how he was awakened from a thoughtless, reckless life to dedicate himself to proclaiming in poverty the Gospel message of the Divine Redeemer, witnessing even to the Sultan. As he listened to the unfolding story, his purpose became fixed. He, too, would renounce the world for Christ. This was his vow of consecration: “To Thee, 0 Lord God, I offer myself, my wife, my children and all that I possess. May it please Thee, Who didst so humble Thyself to the death of the Cross, to condescend to accept all that I give and offer to 4 Thee, that I, my wife and my children may be Thy lowly servants. 77 He accordingly sold his property, provided for his family and set himself to the task of witnessing to the Mohammedans. He had become convinced of the futility of the Crusades and de¬ clared: “It is my belief that the conquest of the Holy Land should be attempted in no other way than as Christ and the Apostles undertook to accomplish it—by love, by prayer, by tears, by the offering of our own lives. 7 7 And again: ‘ ‘ All mis¬ sionary effort must be impelled by the union of human and Divine love. 77 His first step was to write a book addressed to the Moslems, presenting the claims of Jesus Christ as opposed to the claims of the ‘ ‘ False Prophet. 7 7 To this end he purchased a Saracen slave to gam a knowledge of Arabic and for nine years he continued his study of the language and the Koran. Finally in 1275, he published his great work “Ars Major sive Generalis, 77 under the patronage of the King of Majorca. His next step was the establishment of a missionary college, the first institution of its kind in Christendom. The year follow- ing the completion of “Ars Major 77 , he persuaded James II. of Spain to found a monastery at Palma, where Franciscan monks could study the life and thought of the Moslem world and mas¬ ter the Arabic language. In 1276 this school opened with thir¬ teen monks enrolled as students. Later it was probably trans¬ ferred to Montpelier on the mainland, a great Franciscan cen¬ ter. He visited Rome and Avignon in the hope of persuading the Pope to found several colleges for the training of mission¬ aries for service in foreign lands, but the Pope was deaf to his plea. Later in 1311, the Council of Vienne, in response to his pleading, founded professorships of the Oriental languages in the Universities of Paris, Salamanca and Oxford. The final step in fulfilment of his life-purpose was to test the power of example. Just two hundred years before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, he ventured to cross the Mediterranean. Although in his fifty-sixth year, he determined to set out, alone and single-handed, to preach the Gospel in North Africa. He arrived in Tunis in the fall of 1291 and arranged for a debate with the Moslem scholars concerning the merits of their respec¬ tive faiths. They finally terminated a lengthy discussion by cast- ting him into prison under a death sentence. Through the in¬ tercession of a liberal Mohammedan, this sentence was com¬ muted to banishment. He escaped, however, from the ship which was to bear him away and preached in the neighborhood of Tunis for three months before returning to Naples. The next fifteen years were employed in lecturing at the Uni¬ versities of Italy and Prance and in seeking to win Jews and believers outside of the fold of the Catholic Church to the Chris¬ tian faith. The Jews were subject to the bitterest persecution during this period and Lull raised his solitary voice in their behalf. He took shipping to Cyprus as well as traveling throughout Europe. He even made an extended journey into Syria and Armenia. But the Saracens were the chief object of his desire. In 1307, at the age of seventy-one, this dauntless Christian Crusader resolved to ignore his earlier banishment, and go to Bugia, a seaport of Algeria, to proclaim the true faith. A tumult was at once created by his fearless preaching and his life was again in jeopardy. To the expostulating Moslem priest who rescued him, he replied: “Death has no terrors whatever for a sincere serv¬ ant of Christ who is laboring to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth.” He was imprisoned for six months, every inducement being offered to persuade him to accept the Moslem faith. He was again banished and after being shipwrecked at Pisa, he finally made his way to Paris. Eight years later, when in his seventy-ninth year, this “lion- hearted” Crusader determine,d again to “carry the war into Africa.” He returned to Bugia and spent a year in seclusion, quietly strengthening the little band of converts that he had gathered during his earlier visit. After a time he again openly proclaimed Christ in the public market of Bugia. “As he called upon the people to renounce Mohammed and follow Christ, he received the crown of martyrdom; for which he had longed. The infuriated crowd stoned him to death on June 30, 1315, and he fell asleep.” He had demonstrated his greatest utterance: “He who loves not, lives not; he who lives by the life, cannot die.” 6 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF RAYMUND LULL Reprinted from “Raymund Lull, First Missionary to the Moslems,” by Samuel M. Z wemer By permission of the publishers, Funk and Wagnails Company Raymund Lull’s Birthplace. ( Pp. 19-20, 23-25.) Raymund Lull was born of an illustrious family at Palma in the island of Majorca of the Balearic group in 1235. His father had been born at Barcelona and belonged to a distinguished Catalonian family. When the island of Majorca was taken from the Saracens by James I., king of Aragon, Lull’s father served in the army of conquest. For his distinguished services he was rewarded with a gift of land in the conquered territory, and the estates grew in value under the new government. . . . Palma, Lull’s birthplace and burial-place, is a pretty town with narrow streets and a sort of medieval look except where modern trade has crowded out “the old-world, Moorish char¬ acter of the buildings.” The cathedral is still a conspicuous building, and was com¬ menced in 1230 and dedicated to the Virgin by the same King James who gave Lull’s father estates near Palma. Portions of the original building still remain, and the visitor can enter the royal chapel (built in 1232) with assurance that if Lull did not worship here he at least saw the outside of the building fre¬ quently. Palma probably owes its name and harbor to Metellus Balearicus, who in 123 B.C., settled three thousand Roman and Spanish colonists on the island, and whose expedition is sym¬ bolized on the Roman coins by a palm branch. He also gave his name to the island group, and the Balearic slingers are famous in Caesar’s “Commentaries.” Palma is today a busy little port, and direct commerce is car¬ ried on with Valencia, Barcelona, Marseilles, Cuba, Porto Rico, and even South American ports. The present population is about sixty thousand. Formerly, Palma was a great center for shipbuilding, and there is little doubt that in Lull ’s time this industry also gave importance to the town. As early as the fourteenth century a mole, to a length of three hundred and eighty-seven yards, was constructed to improve the harbor of Palma. This picturesque town was the birthplace of our hero, 7 and today its inhabitants are still proud to lead you to the church of San Francisco where he lies buried. His Life as a Courtier. (Pp. 25-27, 20-30.) Of Lull's infancy and early youth nothing is known for cer¬ tain. He was accustomed to medieval luxury from his birth, as his parents had a large estate and his father was distinguished for military services. Lull married at an early age, and, being fond of the pleasures of court life, left Palma and passed over with his bride to Spain, where he was made seneschal at the court of King James II. of Aragon. Thus his early manhood was spent in gaiety and even profligacy. All the enthusiasm and warmth of his character found exercise only in the pleasures of the court, and, by his own testimony even he lived a life of utter immorality in this corrupt age. Wine, women and song were then, as often since, the chief pleasures of kings and princes. Notwithstanding his marriage and the blessing of chil¬ dren, Lull sought the reputation of a gallant and was mixed up in more than one intrigue. For this sort of life, his office gave him every temptation and plenty of opportunity. A seneschal (literally, an old servant) was the chief official in the household of a medieval prince or noble and had the su¬ perintendence of feasts and ceremonies. These must have been frequent and luxurious at the court of James II., for Aragon, previous to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, enjoyed the most liberal government of Europe. According to one authority, “the genius and maxims of the court were purely republican. The kings were elective, while the real exercise of power was in the hands of the Cortes, an assembly consisting of the nobility, the equestrian order, the representatives of cities, and the clergy. A succession of twenty sovereigns reigned from the year 1035 to 1516. At such a court and amid such an assemblage, probably in the capital town of Zaragoza (Saragossa), Lull spent sev¬ eral years of his life. He was early addicted to music and played the cithern with skill. But he was yet more celebrated as a court poet. . . . He was the most popular poet of his age in Spain, and his influence on Catalonian poetry is acknowledged in such terms of praise by students of Spanish literature that he might be called the founder of the Catalonian school of poets. The philological importance of Lull’s Catalonian writings, especial¬ ly his poems, was shown by Adolph Helfferieh in his book on “Lull and the Origin of Catalan Literature.” In this volume specimens of his poetry and proverbs are given. A writer in the “Encyclopedia Britannica” speaks of one of his poems, “Lo 8 Desconort” (Despair) as eminently fine and composite in its diction. This poem, if it was written before his conversion, as is probable, would already show that Lull himself was dissatisfied at heart with his life of worldly pleasure. Already, perhaps, there arose within him a mighty struggle between the spirit and the flesh. Sensual pleasures never satisfy, and his lower and higher natures strove one with the other. His Con version. (Pp. 81, 33-86.) It seems that at about his thirty-second year he returned to Palma, altho there is little certainty of date among his bio¬ graphers. At any rate it was at the place of his birth that Lull was born again. It was in the Franciscan church, and not at the court of Aragon, that he received his final call and made his decision to forsake all and become a preacher of righteousness. The prodigal son came to himself amid the swine, and his feet were already toward home when he saw his Father, and his Father ran out to meet him. The story of St. Augustine under the fig-tree at Milan was reenacted at Palma. The Christians of the thirteenth century believed in vi¬ sions and saw visions. Altho an age of visions is apt to be a visionary age, this was not altogether true of the thirteenth century. The visions of Francis of Assisi, of Catherine the Saint, of Peter Nolasco, and of others in this age, had a tremen¬ dous effect on their lives and influence. We may doubt the vision, but we can not doubt its result in the lives of those who profess to have seen it. Call it religious hallucination or pious imagination, if you will, but even then it has power. Buskin says that "such imagination is given us that we may be able to'vision forth the ministry of angels beside us and see the chari¬ ots of fire on the mountains that gird us round. ’ 7 In that age of Mariolatry and angel-worship and imitation of saints, it was not such a vision that arrested Lull, but a vision of Jesus Himself. The story, as told in a Life written with his consent during his lifetime, is as follows: One evening the seneschal was sitting on a couch, with his cithern on his knees, composing a song in praise of a noble mar¬ ried lady who had fascinated him but who was insensible to liis passion. Suddenly, in the midst of the erotic song, he saw on his right hand the Savior, hanging on His cross, the blood trickling from His hands and feet and brow, look reproachfully at him. Raymund, conscience struck, started up; he could sing no more; he "laid aside his cithern and, deeply moved, retired to bed. Eight days after, he again attempted to finish the song and again took up the plea of an unrequited lover. But now again, 9 as before, the image of Divine Love incarnate appeared—the agonized form of the Man of Sorrows. The dying eyes of the Savior were fixed on him mournfully, pleadingly: “See from His head, His hands, His feet Sorrow and love flow mingling down: Did ere such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?” Lull cast his lute aside, and threw himself on his bed, a prey to remorse. He had seen the highest and deepest unrequited love. But the thought that “Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all,” had not yet reached him. The effect of the vision was so transi¬ tory that he was not ready to yield until it again repeated itself. Then Lull could not resist the thought that this was a special message for himself to conquer his lower passions and to devote himself entirely to Christ's service. He felt engraved on his heart, as it were, the great spectacle of divine Self-sacrifice. Henceforth he had only one passion, to love and serve Christ. But there arose the doubt, How can I, defiled with impurity, rise and enter on a holier life? Night after night, we are told, he lay awake, a prey to despondency and doubt. He wept like Mary Magdalen, remembering how much and how deeply he had sinned. At length the thought occurred: Christ is meek and full of compassion; He invites all to come to Him; He will not cast me out. With that thought came consolation. Because he was forgiven so much he loved the more, and concluded that he would forsake the world and give up all for his Savior. His Dedication to the Moslems. ( Pp . 39-43.) After the visions he came to the conclusion that he could de¬ vote his energies to no higher work than that of proclaiming the Message of the Cross to the Saracens. His thoughts would naturally take this direction. The islands of Majorca and Min¬ orca had only recently been in the hands of the Saracens. His father had wielded the sword of the king of Aragon against these enemies of the Gospel; why should not the son now take up the sword of the Spirit against them ? If the carnal weapons of the crusading knights had failed to conquer Jerusalem, was it not time to sound the bugle for a spiritual crusade for the conversion of the Saracen? Such were the thoughts that filled his mind. But then, he says, a difficulty arose. How could he, a layman, in an age when the Church and the clergy were su¬ preme, enter on such a work? Thereupon it occurred to him 10 that at least a beginning might be made by composing a volume which should demonstrate the truth of Christianity and con¬ vince the warriors of the Crescent of their errors. This book, however, would not be understood by them unless it were in Arabic, and of this language he was ignorant; other difficulties presented themselves and almost drove him to despair. Full of such thoughts, he one day repaired to a neighbouring church and poured forth his whole soul to God, beseeching Him if He did inspire these thoughts to enable him to carry them out. This was in the month of July. But, altho old desires and the old life were passing away, all things had not yet become new. For three months his great design was laid aside and he struggled with old passions for the mastery. On the fourth of October, the festival of St. Francis of Assisi, Lull went to the Franciscan church at Palma and heard from the lips of the friar-preacher the tale of the “Spouse of Poverty.” He learned how this son of Pietro Bernadone di Mericoni, once foremost in deeds of war and a gay worlding, was taken prisoner at Perugia and brought by disease to the very gates of death; how he saw visions of the Christ and of the world to come; how, when he emerged from his dungeon, he exchanged his gay apparel for the garb of the mendicant, visiting the sick, tending the leprous, and preaching the Gospel; how in 1219, before the walls of Damietta, this missionarv-monk crossed over to the infidels and witnessed for Christ before the Sultan, declaring, “I am not sent of man, but of God, to show thee the way of salvation.” The words of the preacher rekindled the fires of love half- smothered in the heart of Lull. He now made up his mind once and forever. He sold all his property, which was considerable, gave the money to the poor, and reserved only a scanty allow¬ ance for his wife and children. This was the vow of his con¬ secration in his own words: “To Thee, Lord God, do I now offer myself and my wife and my children and all that I pos¬ sess; and since I approach Thee humbly with this gift and sa¬ crifice, may it please Thee to condescend to accept all what I give and offer up now for Thee, that I and my wife and my children may be Thy humble slaves.” It was a covenant of com¬ plete surrender, and the repeated reference to his wife and chil¬ dren shows that Raymund Lull’s wandering passions had found rest at last. It was a family covenant, and by this token we know that Lull had forever said farewell to his former com¬ panions and his life of sin. He assumed the coarse garb of a mendicant, made pilgrim¬ ages to various churches in the island, and prayed for grace and assistance in the work he had resolved to undertake. The man¬ tle of apostolic succession fell from Francis of Assisi, forty years 11 dead, upon the layman of Palma, now in his thirtieth year. From the mendicant orders of the Middle Ages, their precepts and their example, Lull in part drew his passionate, ascetic, and unselfish devotion. Preparing for His Task. ( Pp . 54-56, 62.) But the advice of his kinsman, the Dominican Raymund de Pennaforte, dissuaded him, and he decided to remain at Ma¬ jorca and pursue his studies and preparation privately. First, he laid plans for a thorough mastery of the Arabic language. To secure a teacher was not an easy matter, as Majorca had years ago passed from Saracen into Christian hands, and as no earnest Moslem would teach the Koran language to one whose professed purpose was to assail Islam with the weapons of philosophy. He therefore decided to purchase a Saracen slave, and with this teacher his biographers tell us that Lull was occupied in Arabic study for a period of more than nine years. Could any¬ thing prove more clearly that Lull was the greatest as well as the first missionary to Moslems? After this long, and we may believe successful, apprentice¬ ship with the Saracen slave, a tragic incident interrupted his studies. Lull had learned the language of the Moslem, but the Moslem slave had not yet learned the love of Christ; nor had his pupil. In the midst of their studies, on one occasion the Sara¬ cen blasphemed Christ. Plow, we are not told; but those who work among Moslems know what cruel, vulgar words can come from Moslem lips against the Son of God. When Lull heard the blasphemy, he struck his slave violently on the face in his strong indignation. The Moslem, stung to the quick, drew a weapon, attempted Lull’s life, and wounded him severely. He was seized and imprisoned. Perhaps fearing the death-penalty for at¬ tempted murder, the Saracen slave committed suicide. It was a sad beginning for Lull in his work of preparation. Patience had not yet had its perfect work. Lull felt more than ever before, “He that loves not lives not.” The vision of the thorn-crowned Head came back to him; he could not forget his covenant. . . . In judging the character of Lull’s method and his long period of preparation, one thing must not be forgotten. The strength of Islam in the age of scholasticism was its philosophy. Having thoroughly entered into the spirit of Arabian philo¬ sophical writings and seen its errors, there was nothing left for a man of Lull’s intellect but to meet these Saracen philosophers on their own ground. Avicenna, Algazel, and Averroes sat on the throne of Moslem learning and ruled Moslem thought. 12 Lull’s object was to undermine their influence and so reach the Moslem heart with the message of salvation. For such a conflict and in such an age his weapons were well chosen. Establishing a Missionary College. (Pp. 65 - 67 , 68 - 69 .) No sooner had Lull completed his “Ars Major,” and lectured on it in public, than he set to work to persuade the king, James II., who had heard of his zeal, to found and endow a monastery in Majorca where Franciscan monks should be instructed in the Arabic language and trained to become able disputants among the Moslems. The king welcomed the idea, and in the year 1276 such a monastery was opened and thirteen monks began to study Lull’s method and imbibe Lull’s spirit. He aimed not at a mere school of theology or philosophy: his ideal training for the foreign field was ahead of many theological colleges of our century. It included in its curriculum the geography of missions and the language of the Saracens! “Knowledge of the regions of the world,” he wrote, “is strongly necessary for the republic of believers and the conversion of unbelievers, and for withstanding infidels and Anti-christ. The man unacquainted with geography is not only ignorant where he walks, but whither he leads. Whether he attempts the con¬ version of infidels or works for other interests of the Church, it is indispensable that he know the religions and the environments of all nations. ’ ’ This is high-water mark for the dark ages! The pioneer for Africa, six centuries before Livingstone, felt what the latter expressed more concisely but not more forcibly: ‘ ‘ The end of the geographical feat is the beginning of the missionary enterprise.' . . . At Montpelier, Lull spent three or four years in study and in teaching. Here, most probably, he wrote his medical works, and some of his books appealing for help to open other mis¬ sionary schools. In one place he thus pleads with words of fire for consecration to this cause: “I find scarcely any one, 0 Lord, who out of love to Thee is ready to suffer martyrdom as Thou hast suffered for us. It appears to me agreeable to reason, if an ordinance to that effect could be obtained, that the monks should learn various languages that they might be able to go out and surrender their lives in love to Thee. ... 0 Lord of glory, if that blessed day should ever be in which I might see Thy holy monks so-influenced by zeal to glorify Thee as to go to foreign lands in order to testify of Thy holy ministry, of Thy blessed incarnation, and of Thy bitter sufferings, that would be a glorious day, a day in which that glow of devotion would return with which the holy apostles met death for their Lord Jesus Christ.” 13 Secured the Establishment of Professorship. ( Pp. 77- 79.) Once more Lull returned to Paris, and, strong in mind altho feeble in frame, attacked the Arabian philosophy of Averroes and wrote in defense of the faith and the doctrines of revelation. At Paris he heard that a general conference was to be sum¬ moned at Vienne, three hundred miles away in the south of Prance, on October 16, 1311. A general council might favor what popes had scarcely deigned to notice. So he retraced the long journey he had just taken. Nearly three hundred prelates were present at the council. The combat of heresies, the abroga¬ tion of the order of Templars, proposals for new crusades, and discussions as to the legitimacy of Boniface VIII. occupied the most attention. Nevertheless the council gave heed to at least one of Lull’s proposals, and passed a decree that professorships of the Oriental languages should be endowed in the universities of Paris, Salamanca and Oxford, and in all cities where the papal court resided. Thus, at last, he had lived to see one portion of his lifelong pleadings brought to fruition. Who is able to follow out the result for missions of these first Oriental language chairs in European universities even as far as saintly Martyn and Ion Keith-Palconer, Arabic professor at Cambridge? For this great idea of missionary preparation in the schools Lull fought single- handed from early manhood to old age, until he stood on the threshold of success. He anticipated Loyola, Zinzendorf and Duff in linking schools to missions; and his fire of passion for this object equaled, if not surpassed, their zeal. IIis First Missionary Journey to Tunis. (Pp. 80-82, 88- 89.) When Raymond Lull met with disappointment on his first visit to Rome, he returned for a short time to Paris, as we have seen, and then determined to set out as a missionary indeed to propagate the faith among the Moslems of Africa. Lull was at this time fifty-six years old, and travel in those days was full of hardship by land and sea. The very year in which Lull set out, news reached Europe of the fall of Acre and the end of Christian power in Palestine. All Northern Africa was in the hands of the Saracens, and they were at once elated at the capture of Acre and driven to the height of fanaticism by the persecution of the Moors in Spain. It was a bold step that Lull undertook. But he counted not his life dear in the project, and was ready, so he thought, to venture all on the issue. He expected to win 14 by love and persuasion; at least, in his own words, he would “experiment whether he himself could not persuade some of them by conference with their wise men and by manifesting to them, according to the divinely given Method, the Incarnation of the Son of God and the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity in the Divine Unity of Essence. ’ ’ Lull proposed a parliament of religions, and desired to meet the bald monotheism of Islam face to face with the revelation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. . . . Lull must have arrived at Goletta and thence proceeded to Tunis. His first step was to invite the Moslem ulema or literati to a conference, just as did Ziegenbalg in South India and John Wilson at Bombay. He announced that he had studied the arguments on both sides of the question and was willing to sub¬ mit the evidences for Christianity and for Islam to a fair com¬ parison. He even promised that, if he was convinced, he would embrace Islam. The Moslem leaders willingly responded to the challenge, and coming in great numbers to the conference set forth with much show of learning the miracle of the Koran and the doctrine of God’s unity. After long, tho fruitless discussion, Lull advanced the following propositions, which are well cal¬ culated to strike the two weak points of Mohammedan mono¬ theism : lack of love in the being of Allah, and lack of harmony in His attributes. Lull’s Witness in Bugia. ( Pp. 104-105107-108.) We now come to his journey to North Africa, on which he set out in 1307, probably from some port in France or from Genoa. This time he did not go to Tunis, but to Bugia. Some say he visited Hippone and Algiers as well. A special interest attaches to the town of Bugia in the story of Lull’s life, as it was here he preached to Moslems in his old age and here was the scene of his death. Bugia, or Bougiah, is a fortified seaport in Algeria between Cape Carbon and Wady Sahil. Its most important buildings at present are the French Roman Catholic church, the hospital, the barracks, and the old Abdul Kadir fort, now used as a prison. At present it has but a small population, yet conducts a con¬ siderable trade in wax, grain, oranges, oil and wine. . . . Raymond Lull no sooner came to Bugia than he found his way to a public place, stood up boldly, and proclaimed in the Arabic language that Christianity was the only true faith, and expressed his willingness to prove this to the satisfaction of all. We know not what the exact nature of his argument was on 15 this occasion, but it touched the character of Mohammed. A commotion ensued and many hands were lifted to do him violence. The mufti, or chief of the Moslem clergy, rescued him and expostulated with him on his madness in thus exposing himself to peril. “Death,” Lull replied, “has no terrors whatever for a sincere servant of Christ who is laboring to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth.” After this the mufti, who must have been well versed in Arabian philosophy, challenged Lull for proofs of the superiority of Christ’s religion over that of Mohammed. Summary of His Life Work. ( Pp. 63-64.) Lull’s lifework was three-fold: he devised a philosophical or educational system for persuading non-Christians of the truth of Christianity; he established missionary colleges; and he him¬ self went and preached to the Moslems, sealing his witness with martyrdom. The story of his life is best told and best remem¬ bered if we follow this clue to its many years of loving service. Lull himself, when he was about sixty years old, reviews his life in these words: “I had a wife and children; I was tolerably rich; I led a secular life. All these things I cheerfully resigned for the sake of promoting the common good and diffus¬ ing abroad the holy faith. I learned Arabic. I have several times gone abroad to preach the Gospel to the Saracens. I have for the sake of the faith been cast into prison and scourged. I have labored forty-five years to gain over the shepherds of the church and the princes of Europe to the common good of Chris- tendom. Now I am old and poor, but still I am intent on the same object. I will persevere in it till death, if the Lord per¬ mits it.” Last Journey and Martyrdom. (Pp. 138-139, 143-143.) The dangers and difficulties that made Lull shrink back from his journey at Genoa in 1291, only urged him forward to North Africa once more in 1314. His love had not grown cold, but burned the brighter “with the failure of natural warmth and the weakness of old age.” He longed not only for the martyr’s crown, but also once more to see his little band of believers. Animated by these sentiments, he crossed over to Bngia on August 14, and for nearly a whole year labored secretly among a little circle of converts, whom on his previous visits he had won over to the Christian faith. . . . 16 For over ten months the aged missionary dwelt in hiding, talking and praying with his converts and trying to influence those who were not yet persuaded. His one weapon was the argument of CfocFs love in Christ, and his 11 shield of faith” was that of medieval art, which so aptly symbolizes the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. So lovingly, and so unceasingly did Lull urge the importance of this doctrine that we have put the scutum fidei on the cover of this biography. Of the length, breadth, depth and height of the love of Christ, all Lull’s devotional writings are full. At length, weary of seclusion, and longing for martyrdom, he came forth into the open market and presented himself to the people as the same man whom they had once expelled from their town. It was Elijah showing himself to a mob of Ahabs! Lull stood before them and threatened them with divine wrath if they still persisted in their errors. He pleaded w T ith love, but spoke plainly the whole truth. The consequences can be easily anticipated. Filled with fanatic fury at his boldness, and unable to reply to his arguments, the populace seized him, and dragged him out of the town; there by the command, or at least the con¬ nivance, of the king, he was stoned on the 30th of June, 1315. 17 SERIES OF PROGRAMS NOW AVAILABLE Course Number One • JAMES CHALMERS, Martyr of New Guinea JAMES GILMOUR, Pioneer in Mongolia WILFRED T. GRENFELL, Knight-Errant of the North ADONIRAM JUDSON, Herald of the Cross in Burma ION KEITH-FALCONER, Defender of the Faith in Arabia DAVID LIVINGSTONE, Africa’s Pathfinder and Emancipator ALEXANDER M. MACKAY, Uganda’s White Man of Work HENRY MARTYN, Persia’s Man of God ROBERT MORRISON, Protestant Pioneer in China JOHN G. PATON, King of the Cannibals MARY SLESSOR, The White Queen of Calabar MARCUS WHITMAN, Hero of the Oregon Country Co urse Number Two CAPTAIN LUKE BICKEL, Master Mariner of the Inland Sea « WILLIAM CAREY, Pounder of Modern Missions ALEXANDER DUFF, India’s Educational Pioneer MARY PORTER GAMEWELL, Heroine of the Boxer Rebellion FRANK HIGGINS, Sky Pilot of the Lumbermen RAYMOND LULL, First Missionary to the Moslems GEORGE L. MACKAY, Pioneer Missionary in Formosa JOHN K. MACKENZIE, The Beloved Physician of Tientsin ROBERT MOFFAT, Friend of the African JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON, Martyr Bishop of the South Seas J. HUDSON TAYLOR, Organizer of the China Inland Mission JOHN WILLIAMS, Shipbuilder in the South Seas No. 319—M.E.L—1M—May, 1926 20 Booklets 25 Cents Each A reduction of 50 cents allowed if set of 12 Booklets is purchased