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.



August 16, 2010

The Vatican Authenticates Bulgarian Relics of St. John the Baptist


Bulgaria Gets Long-Distance Relics Authenticity Boost from Vatican

August 15, 2010
Novinite

An expert from the Vatican has confirmed that the relics recently found in Bulgaria's Sozopol do belong to St. John the Baptist in spite of not having seen them.

This has been announced by Bulgaria's Diaspora Minister, Bozhidar Dimitrov, after on Saturday the relics, whose authenticity caused a bitter argument between him and leading archaeologists, were transferred to a special new reliquary.

“The Vatican has a committee for checking the authenticity of relics. Expert Michael Hesemann said the relics of St. John seem real to him from what he saw on TV, and what he read about how they were discovered. He does not need to see them personally,” explained Minister Dimitrov who has been criticized by many for rushing prematurely to declare the authenticity of the relics when they were found two weeks ago.

Dimitrov also joked that the relics have already made a miracle happen as Finance Minister Simeon Djankov allocated additional BGN 900 000 for archaeological excavations despite the government's austerity measures.
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