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 28, 2012

Monk Moses of Platina Monastery


Maria Kirkulescu
February 2009

A frozen forest, a small church, few monks - all young Americans, smiling. The tomb of Fr. Seraphim Rose is a short distance away, behind the church.The February night comes quickly.

We learn that there is only one cell for women with two beds. For men there is also only one cell, but with many more beds. Fr. Moses appears, a black man...very black. In the night one can only see his teeth, smiling as he gives us hospitality. He is tall, around two meters! He leads us to the cell where he has started a fire. Then I suddenly associated him with the icon of St. Moses the Ethiopian that I saw in the Church of St. Herman in Platina. It was like a living answer to my perplexity when I saw the icon among dozens of Russian icons of saints, at a far away place in America. The young "colored" Orthodox American monk did not receive by chance his name at his tonsure.


The next day we had breakfast, and we saw the obedience of Moses was in the refectory: he cooked, he quickly served, he read from a book while we were all eating. His hospitality was done with much love, with simple non-pretentious movements, and joy given from heart to heart. The young Orthodox American had these like St. Moses the Ethiopian.

If in 21st century America, where 1% of the population is Orthodox, someone can have as an example the asceticism of St. Moses the Ethiopian, then all is not lost.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos
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