Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



January 23, 2010

The Dogmatic Atheist


If someone says to you "There is no God", firmly respond saying "There is a God indeed, yet for you He does not exist."

It would be more accurate for an unbeliever to humbly say, "I have no God", since the majority of people do acknowledge belief in God and consider it a statement of utter arrogance to assert that one could come to an absolute belief that God does not exist.

When an unbeliever dogmatically states "There is no God",...:

... it is like a sick person saying that health does not exist.

... it is like a blind person saying there is no vision to see light.

... it is like a beggar saying there are no riches in the world.

... it is like an evil man saying there is no goodness among men.

Rather,...:

... the sick person should say "I have no health".

... the blind person should say "I have no vision".

... the beggar should say "I have no riches".

... the evil man should say "I have no goodness".

Just because someone doesn't have something or doesn't understand something or doesn't believe something, it doesn't mean everyone lacks what they lack. So instead of an atheist dogmatically stating his lack of God should be lacked by everyone, he should acknowledge his lack is merely only a personal loss compared to those who do believe in God and live a fuller and richer life because of it.

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