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 23, 2012

Two Cypriot Icons of the Nativity of Christ


The Church of Stavros tou Agiasmati, founded and painted in 1494, is a single-aisled building with a steep-pitched timber roof covered with flat tiles. It is located northwest of the village of Platanistasa in Pitsilia. The interior of the church, including the tie beams that support the wooden roof, is completely painted. These frescoes are of particular interest since they represent a mixture of Palaiologan and local native art, blended with Italian Renaissance influences. The painter was Philippos Goul, a Hellenized Syrian Orthodox with good education. Even though his mastery of each style is different, the general impression is pleasant and sometimes quite impressive. In his representation of the Nativity of Christ, he enriched each relevant scene with new items. The Magi are depicted twice, climbing the rocky hill and offering gifts to the newborn Christ.


The Cypriot folk painter Parthenios (1790(?)-1848(?)) left an exuberantly plentiful amount of work, especially in the Paphos region of Cyprus, in both mobile icons and frescoes. In the Monastery of Panagia Chrysorrogiatissa he executed the frescoes in the blind arches above the entrance of the main church, as well as a representation of the Nativity of Christ in the apse of the Prothesis (1790). He also painted the icon of the Nativity of Christ with the Veneration of the Shepherds, who are depicted twice.

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