Raymond of Sabunde facts for kids

Raymond of Sabunde (born Ramon Sibiuda; around 1385 – April 29, 1436) was a smart scholar from Catalonia. He taught medicine and philosophy, and later became a professor of theology at the University of Toulouse in France. Raymond was born in Barcelona, which was a big city in the Crown of Aragon back then. He passed away in Toulouse.

Raymond is famous for his book, Theologia Naturalis, which means Natural Theology. He wrote it between 1434 and 1436, but it was published in 1484. This book was very important for how people thought about natural theology. Natural theology is about understanding God through nature and reason. The book was first written in Latin, but it had some words influenced by the Catalan language. Later, his followers made a more classic Latin version. The famous French writer Michel de Montaigne translated it into French in 1569.

Raymond's Big Idea

Raymond's book was written to challenge an idea some people had. They believed that reason (thinking logically) and faith (believing without proof) were completely opposite. They thought philosophy and theology could not go together.

Raymond disagreed. He said that both the "Book of Nature" and the Bible are ways God shows himself to us.

• The Book of Nature means everything we can learn from the world around us. This is a general way God reveals things.
• The Bible is a specific way God reveals things through written words.

Montaigne, who translated Raymond's book, wrote about it in his own famous book, Essays. Montaigne said that Raymond's ideas were "excellent" and "full of piety." He also noted that Raymond tried to use human reason to prove all the main ideas of Christianity to people who didn't believe in God (Atheists). This was a very brave and ambitious goal for his time.

About the Book

The first printed version of Raymond's book came out around 1484. Many other versions were printed after that, even one as late as 1852.

However, in 1595, a part of the book called the Prologus was put on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. This was a list of books that the Catholic Church said people were not allowed to read. The Prologus was banned because it said that the Bible was not the only source of truth revealed by God. This idea was seen as controversial at the time.

You can find old Latin versions of the book online. One is from 1480 here, and another from 1488 here.

See also

In Spanish: Raimundo de Sabunde para niños