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It was only in Montpellier in 1304 that Llull finally sat down
and wrote his first major work on preaching, the Liber de
praedicatione.[13] Prior to this, Llull had already applied his
Art to various different fields such as philosophy, metaphysics, law
and medicine among others. The Liber de praedicatione was one of
Llull's encyclopaedic works divided into two main sections, with the
first section divided into a further three subsections and the second
section into two subsections. The first part is dedicated to the
explication of the general rules of the Art, because no further
progress can be made without them. The second part is dedicated to the
theory behind preaching utilising the tools and terminology of the Art
to build up a comprehensive framework, including the introduction of
nine new conditions for this work, and thereafter the presentation of
one hundred sermons (in actual fact there are 108) which, said
Llull, `we will present if God gives me life and grace'.[14]
Following this major work, Llull wrote another two works in Catalan
dedicated to the Art of preaching. The first, the Ars major
praedicationis - or as it has recently been edited as the Llibre de
virtuts e de pecats - in 1313 (NEORL I: Palma, 1991)
and the second, the Ars abbreviata praedicandi also in 1313 edited
in ROL XVIII.[15] The latter was a shortened version of
the former and should be seen as a summary of Llull's thought on
preaching. In the epilogue to the work, Llull also entitled it,
`an art of how to discover which law [i.e. religion] is true and
which false, which is natural science and which
supernatural'.[16]
It is perhaps unnecessary to mention that prior to 1304 Llull had
been considering the art of preaching which he considered `the most
important, the most difficult and the most noble office'.[17] It
can be no coincidence, for example, that the letter granting Llull
permission to speak in the synagogue in 1299 was given at the same
time when Llull wrote works that dealt very briefly with sermons. For
example, the Oracions de Ramon (1299), and the long poem
Medicina de peccat (1300) both written in Barcelona, and
shortly afterwards the Rhetorica nova which (although originally
written in Catalan in 1301) only exists in its Latin redaction of
1303 from Genoa. These works also touch on what would become the
main subject matter of Llull's later works on predication: the
virtues and vices.
Prior to the Liber de praedicatione, Llull had on other occasions
extolled the virtues of preaching as a method conducive to conversion.
For example, in the Ars demonstrativa, Llull wrote that `preaching
was a good method for the dissemination of the Art'. Just prior to
this last statement, Llull had written, `that the people for whom
the Art is intended are Gentiles, Jews, Christians, Saracens
alike, and to all people no matter to what religion or sect they belong
because the principles of the Art are so general that they can be used
to judge clearly which people are on the true path and which are in
error'.[18] Llull also had much to say concerning the preacher
himself. In the same Ars demonstrativa, Llull indicated that the
preacher should be a master of the techniques of the Art, otherwise,
his preaching would be imperfect and the audience would fail to grasp
the usefulness of the sermon. Moreover, the preacher had to be on a
high moral level, prepared to face trials and tribulations, scorning
the vanities of this world. Interestingly enough, if the preacher is
of this stature and he discusses the intrinsic and extrinsic works of
God in his sermon, he receives the influence and blessing of God in
his sermon, and this will be felt by the people to whom Llull is
preaching.[19] In the Ars generalis ultima Llull wrote that the
preacher should not only be a theologian and a philosopher but also well
versed in geometry, arithmetic and rhetoric as well. In the Ars
brevis, (in the list of 100 forms) Llull writes that preaching is
the form with which the preacher instructs people so they will conduct
themselves well and avoid bad conduct.[20]
Abraham Soria Flores in his detailed Latin introduction to the
Liber de praedicatione singled out some eleven Artes praedicandi that
were known in Llull's time and concluded that while Llull was
probably aware of at least some of these manuals, the style he adopted
for his own Liber de praedicatione was singular and unique. Llull did
not intend, as the other Artes praedicandi do, to impose any rigorous
structure or norms, he just wanted to give examples of how a preacher
can utilise the mechanisms of his Art when sermonising.[21] This
has been reiterated by Fernando Domínguez in his introductions to the
two later works on preaching mentioned above.[22] He also suggests
that these works were `Llull's answer, both original and daring, to
the problems of communication in medieval society, as well as a
critique of the moral demands of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy'.[23] Llull saw preaching as an intellectual exercise
inclusive of everyone, Christian or not, whereas the other Ars
praedicandi were devoted to explaining how to expound the authority of
the Bible to a Christian audience. Llull wished to use the figures
and rules of his Art to be able to preach to the unconverted as well as
the converted.[24]
Between 1304 and 1312-13 there is a noticeable
change in Llull's approach to preaching. The Liber de praedicatione
was written in Latin and placed an emphasise on the use of a verse from
the Bible to serve as the guiding line for the sermons, all the
sermons begin with such a quote, thus following the accepted starting
formula of the conventional Artes praedicandi.[25] It is
interesting that a year later in 1305, Llull was already starting
to diverge from this formula, as in the Liber praedicationis contra
judaeos where not all the sermons start with a biblical
quotation.[26] The later works, almost to emphasis the shift in
approach, were originally written in Catalan and there is a distinct
lack of biblical quotations or a guiding theme, instead there is more
of a reliance on the terminology of the Art and its figures. Even
though thematically, Llull's sermons might, like those of the
mendicants, have a rational base, the emphasis is on the theme of
love. This theme is the underpinning message of all of Llull's
sermons which will lead a person to the virtues and away from the
vices.[27] He writes, `In all sermons there pertains a theme
from the Holy Scriptures. And thus, we have decided to make our
themes from the general commandment that God commanded Moses,
saying, "Love God your Lord with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your thought and with all your strength" (Deut
6:5). This commandment is the most general of all the particular
commandments and for this reason from this commandment we apprehend the
themes of this book'.[28]
Fernando Domínguez also suggests, as mentioned previously, that
these manuals were supposed to reduce the science of preaching to its
most simple and general base, as demonstrated by the figure in the Ars
abbreviata praedicandi, which is to talk about God one in three and
his dignities, and to bring man to a life of virtue. This,
therefore, makes this Art of preaching inclusive to all audiences, to
unbelievers as well.[29] However, there is a substantial
difference between the approach taken by Llull when preaching to a
Christian audience and his works dealing with the presentation of his
ideas for conversion purposes. These manuals of preaching that Llull
wrote were intended mainly for a preacher addressing a Christian
audience and were not intended to be used in conversion work or as
sermons for conversion. While the sermons are general, in that most
of them could have quite easily been used in a synagogue as a moral
discourse for a Jewish audience (and indeed Jewish sermons themselves
often took the form of a moral teaching), there is nothing in them per
se that would cause a Jewish audience to convert. It would be a
useful exercise to compare how Llull talks about the articles of faith
and the Trinity in these manuals and the way he does so in, for
example, the Liber praedicationis contra judaeos. In the former he
does not discuss the Christian articles of faith and especially the
Trinity, from a polemical standpoint. He is writing these sermons
for a Christian addressing fellow Christians, not for unbelievers,
directing their attention to the love of God and extolling them to
adopt the virtues and distance themselves from the vices. In the
Liber praedicationis contra judaeos written in 1305 and containing
fifty-two speeches, one for every week of the year, Llull is intent
on proving the veracity of the Christian faith, concentrating mainly
on the Trinity and the Incarnation. The tone of the book is strongly
polemical and is intended to provoke a strong reaction from the readers
or audience. This book, written as a manual for missionaries and for
practical purposes, was primarily directed, as the title suggests,
against the Jews, although the arguments used could be applied for the
Muslims as well.[30]
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