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.



December 31, 2012

The Top 25 Movies of 2012


This year I had the chance to see a lot of movies, so my list is based on my own personal preferences and criteria. I decided to make a Top 25 list this year instead of the routine Top 10 mainly because there were so many good movies this year that were in sort of the same range of how good they were. Plus, since I usually make comments on each movie, this prevents me from having to do so.

After I made my list I decided to look online and compare my list with those of the "experts". There were some similarities, but mainly differences. What I noticed is that most movie critics forgot to include the movies of the first six months of the year. This is why I make my Top 10 list every summer at the six-month mark, so as not to forget. For this reason, in other lists one will rarely find The Avengers or The Grey or even Bernie and Moonrise Kingdom. Of course, usually the best movies are released towards the end of the year, and it seems like most get caught up in this, but I don't forget. Also, pretty much every list I read had the movie Zero Dark Thirty in their Top 10. This has to date only been released in five theaters, set for wider release on January 11th, so I have not seen it. There are many others I have not seen, especially foreign films, so this list may be revised in the future, but for now it stands as is. Below is my list, with a one sentence comment only for my top ten as for why I chose them.

(List updated on January 15th)

1. Django Unchained - Too many movies have been taking themselves a bit too seriously lately, so this was refreshing and it had the elements of a great movie missing in all the rest.

2. Argo - A well-acted and intense thriller/caper based on a true story.

3. The Avengers - It lived up to the hype and fantasy.

4. The Grey - A tale of survival, it made you feel the intense emotions, especially fear, angst and claustrophobia.

5. Bernie - The best comedy turned tragedy of the year, that makes you wonder what emotions you should have after seeing it. (Technically this is a 2011 movie and it was released in 2012.)

6. Moonrise Kingdom - Nostalgic, fun, and attractively eccentric, with great performances.

7. The Sessions - The best all around performances of the year, lighthearted and enjoyable, also based on a true story.

8. Life of Pi - An enthralling and moving adventure, with many allegorical undertones.

9. Lincoln - A well acted and dignified historical drama that immerses the audience into an interesting historical period.

10. Beasts of the Southern Wild - An emotional, charming and powerful journey.

11. Flight

12. Silver Linings Playbook

13. Skyfall

14. The Dark Knight Rises

15. Looper

16. The Impossible

17. Lawless

18. Wreck It Ralph

19. Frankenweenie

20. The Cabin in the Woods

21. Take This Waltz

22. Sinister

23. Anna Karenina

24. Zero Dark Thirty

25. The Hobbit; The Hunger Games (tied, but also because some would not include Bernie as a 2012 film)

Honorable Mentions: Hitchcock, Les Miserables, Ted, The Master, 21 Jump Street, Paranorman, Killing Them Softly, Promised Land



Labels:

BECOME A PATREON OR PAYPAL SUBSCRIBER


Patreon!