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.



June 2, 2012

Elder Paisios: On General Prayers for the Dead


- Elder, the dead who do not have people to pray for them, are they helped by those who pray generally for the dead?

- Of course they are helped. When I pray for all the reposed, I see in my sleep my parents, because they are at rest by the prayers I do. Whenever I have a Divine Liturgy, I do a general memorial for all the reposed. If sometimes I do not pray for the reposed, the reposed who are known to me appear before me. One relative of mine, who was killed in the war, I saw in front of me after the Divine Liturgy, during the time of the Memorial Service, because I didn't have him written with the names of the reposed, since he was memorialized during the Proskomide with the other fallen heroes. And you also during the Holy Prothesis, do not only give the names of the sick, but also those of the reposed, because the reposed have great need.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos
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