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 26, 2013

Testimonies of Miracles Following the Repose of Elder Justin Parvu


By Archimandrite Demetrios Athanasiou

In the Romanian website Blog de Dogmatică Empirică, there is a testimony from Professor Marian Maricaru regarding miraculous events that followed the venerable repose of Elder Justin Parvu at the Monastery of Petru Vodă in Moldavia. Comments below this article by other witnesses confirm the details of these events.

As we know, the blessed Elder reposed on Sunday 16 June 2013 and was buried on Thursday 20 June 2013.

According to the testimony of witnesses, the body of the Elder showed no rigor mortis, which also occurs with Athonite monastics. The skin of his hands were soft, even four days after his repose, and an unusual fragrance came from his relic. Even those who were initially skeptical of the myrrhgushing, saw at the embrace of his body drops of liquid from which derived an exquisite fragrance coming out of the hands and forehead of the Elder.


The entire atmosphere of the funeral was resurrectional. Nowhere could be seen a resemblance to the grief of people at death. The tears of the people were tears of joy and not sadness. The body of the Elder itself, with his venerable form, made you feel the joy of the Resurrection. According to Professor Marian, he had never felt this at any other funeral.


Another source reports that following the repose of the Elder, during the night of Sunday the 16th towards the 17th of June 2013, tears came from the eyes of the Elder. The Monastery invited a team of doctors to interpret this event, but none were able to give a scientific explanation.

Lastly, the website http://www.ziartarguneamt.ro reports on a woman who was demon possessed being healed after she was brought to the relic of the Elder. The video is below, which may be disturbing for some audiences:



Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos
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