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.



October 10, 2010

St. Gregory Palamas: On the Translocation of the Prophet Elijah


By Metropoitan Hierotheos Vlachos

The words of St. Gregory Palamas can bring to mind that only the Theotokos is in heaven with Christ, and bodily, in connection with the taking up of the Prophet Elijah, since we know from the Bible that Elijah too was taken up to heaven with his body. But St. Gregory amazingly interprets this point as well. Speaking of the Ascension of Christ and especially saying that while there are many ascensions, Christ's ascension is unique, he also refers to the case of the Prophet Elijah. He writes: "But neither did he exceed the bounds of the earth's atmosphere; the ascension of each of them was a raising from the earth without being taken from the surroundings of the earth...." From this interpretation it appears that the taking up of the Prophet Elijah was in some way a translocation, we could say that it was a kind of death, and that of course in being taken up he did not go beyond the limits of the earth's atmosphere. Therefore only the Panagia was resurrected and taken up bodily into heaven, and is glorified with her Son, as His mother, in her human nature.

Source: Saint Gregory Palamas As A Hagiorite

Read also: Did the Prophet Elijah Actually Ascend 'Into' Heaven?
 
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