Raymond of Sabunde (born Ramon Sibiuda; also known as Sabiende, Sabond, Sabonde, Sebon, Sebond, Sebonde, or Sebeyde; c. 1385Gonzalo Díaz Díaz, ''Hombres y documentos de la filosofía española: S-Z'': Vol. VII. Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Científicas 2003, , p. 19 – 29 April 1436) was a Catalan scholar, teacher of medicine and philosophy and finally regius professor of theology at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. He was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(at that time the major Catalan city of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

), and died in

. His ''Theologia Naturalis sive Liber naturae creaturarum, etc.'', written 1434–1436 but published in 1484, marks an important stage in the history of

natural theology Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as ...

. It was first written in Latin (but not in a strictly classical Latin, since it contained plenty of Catalan-influenced Latin words).Mariàngela Vilallonga, ''Ramon Sibiuda'' in ''La literatura llatina a Catalunya al segle XV'', p. 208 His followers composed a more classical Latin version of the work. It was translated into French by

Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the the essay ...

(Paris, 1569) and edited in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at various times (e.g.,

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, 1487; Strasburg, 1496;

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 1509;

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, 1581, etc.). The book was directed against the position then held by some, that

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

and

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

were antithetical and irreconcilable. Raymond declares that the Book of Nature and the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

are both divine revelations, the one general and immediate, the other specific and mediate. Montaigne (''

Essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

'', bk. ii. ch. xii., "Apology for Raymond de Sebonde") tells how he translated the book into French and found "the conceits of the author to be excellent, the contexture of his work well followed, and his project full of pietie ... His drift is bold, and his scope adventurous, for he undertaketh by humane and naturall reasons, to establish and verifie all the articles of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

religion against

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

s."

Editions

The ''

editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...

'' of the book, which found many imitators, is undated but probably belongs to 1484; there are many subsequent editions, one by J. F. von Seidel as late as 1852. In 1595 only the ''Prologus'' was put on the

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

for its declaration that the Bible is not the only source of revealed truth.
Latin edition said to be from 1480
an
another from 1488
are available on Archive.org.

References

Sources

*D. Beulet, ''Un Inconnu celebre: recherches historiques et critiques sur Raymond de Sabunde'' (Paris, 1875) * Jean Henri Probst, ''Le Lullisme de Raymond de Sebonde'' (Toulouse, 1912) *Mariàngela Vilallonga, ''Ramon Sibiuda'' in ''La literatura llatina a Catalunya al segle XV''. Ed. Curial-Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona 1993. *Jaume Puig, ''La filosofia de Ramon Sibiuda'', Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Barcelona 1998. {{Authority control Sabunde, Raymond of Christian apologists Christian philosophers Spanish Christian theologians Sabunde, Raymond of (Ramon Sibiuda) Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain Medieval Spanish theologians 15th-century Spanish philosophers 15th-century writers from the Crown of Aragon