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.



July 29, 2013

Boy Who Survived Fatal Bus Crash in 2003 Now A Deacon


April 27, 2013

He survived the tragedy in Tembe, in which 21 students were killed, and to thank God he became a deacon and took the name Makarios.

April 13, 2003 - "Black" Sunday - 21 innocent souls aboard a bus were "lost". On the same bus rode a young man who for his good fortune managed to survive.

It is a day that has scarred his soul. The years passed and the student grew.

Today this young man was ordained a hierodeacon by Metropolitan Panteleimon of Beroia, who celebrates his name day, taking the name Makarios. It is an act of gratitude to God and an offering for the life he continued after that fateful afternoon.

The ordination took place at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Beroia, where a hierarchical Divine Liturgy took place for the feast of Saint Panteleimon.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

For more on the bus crash, read the news report from The Sydney Morning Herald on April 15, 2003 titled "21 teenagers killed in school bus crash".


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