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.



March 30, 2010

"Bring More Evils Upon Them, O Lord"


By John Sanidopoulos

In the Septuagint version of Isaiah 26:15, we read the following:

"Bring more evils upon them, O Lord, bring more evils upon those who are glorious upon the earth."

Orthodox are familiar with this verse because it is chanted during Great Lent and Holy Week for the Orthros service. Those unfamiliar with the Old Testament, in which verses like these are quite common, often get scandalized by such verses due to misunderstanding and ignorance. Below is an explanation by Elder Paisios the Athonite taken from the book With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man:

Someone asked me, "Isn't the hymn we chant during Great Lent: 'Bring more evils upon them, O Lord, bring more evils upon those who are glorious upon the earth' a curse? And if it is, why do we still chant it?"

"When the barbarians are attacking," I replied, "and are ready to destroy a people just like that, and the people are praying that their enemies encounter obstacles, that their chariots break down and their horses get harmed, is that good or bad? That's what it means: that they may run into obstacles. It's not a curse."

Of course, unless we are being attacked by an enemy, it is difficult to apply this prayer literally. In this case we should pray it in a spiritual sense that those who are glorious and successful upon the earth may be humbled by the Lord for the sake of their salvation.

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