Unity and peace : mutual understanding between religions as Utopia

Abstract

The ideas of a dreamer, the opinion of a fool, who formulated them around 1270 in a book called The Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men. He was the Catalan poet, philosopher and theologian, Raymond Lull. Contemporary and subsequent writers thought about him in the less than glorious titles mentioned above. "A Utopist, an adventurer, a pilgrim between two cultures, who dreamt of leading to union the different peoples of the world through recognition of the one single God ... A poet ofthe impossible, whose life history fades in legend." He is said to have died in 1316 as an 83 year old man while he was crossing over to Mallorca, his native city after a missionary journey in Tunisia where the Moslems had stoned him and drove him away. Within the Franciscan Order, Raymond, who remained a layman throughout his life, is venerated as a saint.