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The Art of Conversion: Christianity and Kabbalah in the Thirteenth Century (Medieval Mediterranean)

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One of Raymond Llull's goals was to convert both Jews and Muslims to Christianity, and his Art developed over a period of some forty years with this purpose in mind. Llull's approach to conversion was based on the need to find principles common to members of the three monotheisitic faiths, which could then be used as a basis for dialogue. The elaboration of these principles presupposes a knowledge of the other's faith, and given that Llull's intellectual milieu was the same as the Kabbalists', the possibility that their teachings made an impression on Llull's thought must be taken into account.

Thus, in broad terms, this book concentrates on the nature of the relationship between different religious societies living in close contact with each other, and the ability to pinpoint the influences that one has over the other. As Christianity emerged as the dominant faith of medieval Europe and as the basis for political power, so its attitude toward the other monotheistic faiths, Judaism and Islam, became part of a continuous attempt at self definition which necessarily involved excluding the others because of conflicting truth claims.

Dr.Hames has shown exemplary scholarship in this thought provoking work.It will become required reading for anyboby interested in this field.

This work is outstanding in every way. Hames' schollarship is thorough, thoughtful, inciteful and provoking. I heartily recommend this book to anyone interesting in medieval history.