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 2, 2012

Patriarch of Moscow Consecrates 64 Ton Bell


By John Sanidopoulos

On August 1, 2012 Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia arrived in Nizhny Novgorod.

On the square in front of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, His Holiness performed the rite of consecration of a 64-ton bell - the third largest in Russia.

Thousands of people attended the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy, and the Patriarch was joined by the Kira Moleva choir of the Cathedral.

Work on this bell began in 2007, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II. It is decorated with embossed icons of St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Macarius Zheltovodsk, Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky and George Vsevolodovich, the founder of Nizhny Novgorod.

At the consecration, the Patriarch said:

"It gives me great pleasure, on the way from Moscow, to visit the Diveevo in Nizhny Novgorod, visit this sacred place close to my heart, and sanctify the third largest bell of Holy Russia.

You heard the powerful sound of this bell. What do we, the Russian Orthodox people, associate with that sound? On the one hand, this sound brings us to the past. It connects us with the previous generations, those who spared no effort to build churches, schools, almshouses, hospitals, who have spared no effort to fill the lives of our people Christian values, chief among them - love. This bell reminds us how great and wonderful our past was....

And these wonderful sounds of the bells will pay us well for the future. We are all responsible for ensuring that the spiritual potential of Holy Russia inseminate the next generation, and give them the power of faith, strength of moral feeling, the love his homeland, his people, his church, to resist every Diabolic temptations, to separate the lies from the truth, good and evil, light from darkness. And if we retain this ability, we do not just save our Fatherland - we will make it spiritually and financially strong."




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