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Project

Sabbatical Annemarie C. Mayer: Between Cross and Half Moon:Raimundus Lullus' Theological Relation to Islam

During my sabbatical"Between Cross and Half Moon" I shall focus on writing a major English monograph on Raimundus Lullus and his theological relation with Islam, addressing also his suggestions for dealing with the crusades while he kept proclaiming an openness for dialogue. Beyond investigating historical facts, I will ask: on what theological basis was such hermeneutical openness possible for Lullus? The prevailing soteriological paradigm at the time invariably stated that all non-Christians wer doomed to end up in hell and that no salvation (lest by conversion) was possible for them. At the same time Lullus spoke of himself as "Christianus arabicus" and "procurator infidelium", thus he clearly adopted a different stance form the default crusade-friendly approach of the majority of Christian theologians at his time. Nevertheless, towards the end of his life, he seems to have been more amenable to the idea of violent conquest, at least for the sake of getting the chance to enter a Muslim country and start a dialogue that might lead to mutual understanding and in some cases to conversion. Given the soteriological restrictions of scholastic theology at his time, it becomes all the more urgent to investigate his theology of religions, especially with regard to Islam. Since we have today still more than 250 authentic works of his, of which a large number deals directly or indirectly with the issue of encountering Muslims on a theologically reflected basis, this is vast research field. A respectable result cannot be achieved just within a few weeks, although my previous research on Lullus already provides a sound basis to build on (cf: my latest publication in this field:"Llull and Interfaith Dialogue", A Companion on Ramon Llull.Ed.Austin Amy, Johnston Mark. 146-175. Brill, Leiden 2018.

Date:1 Sep 2020 →  28 Feb 2021
Keywords:inter-religious dialogue, Raimundus Lullus, Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages
Disciplines:Fundamental and systematic theology, History of religions, churches and theology, Study of Christianity, Study of Islam and qur'anic studies, Study of Judaism