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, 2014

The Top 25 Most Popular Mystagogy Posts of 2014


Below is a list of The Top 25 Most Popular Mystagogy Posts of 2014. These were posts from 2014 only, and do not reflect posts of previous years nor from my other websites. Personally I find it to be an interesting list filled with surprises, and it shows what drove most people to my website and reflects their interests. Like previous years, the first three received more than double the page views of all the rest. Thank you all for visiting over the past year and for your support, and I hope to provide even better more compelling material for the coming new year. Please continue to support this ministry to widen our audience with even more compelling posts, and if you haven't given financially to this ministry in 2014 please do so today by clicking on SUPPORT THIS MINISTRY. I thank you in advance and a blessed and joyous New Year to all!

1. In 1903 a Photo of the Virgin Mary Was Taken on Mount Athos (16,527 views)

2. The Panagia, the Life-Giving Spring (9334 views)

3. Orthodox Bishop Answers 4 Questions on Science and the Theory of Evolution (8981 views)

4. A First Look at the Holy Light (Holy Fire) of Jerusalem 2014 (4364 views)

5. A Conversation With Elder Ephraim of Arizona (4001 views)

6. "Religious People Are Dangerous ... God Protect Us From Them"

7. The Risen Christ: Logic on Trial

8. The Mutually Exclusive Goals of Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew

9. Concerning the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches

10. Icon of St. Innocent of Moscow Begins Weeping at Khabarovsk Orthodox Seminary

11. Divine Eros According to Saint John Chrysostom

12. Elder Paisios on How to Deepen our Experience of the Feasts of the Church

13. Palm Sunday in Orthodox Culture

14. She Also Was A Mother

15. As We Prepare To Celebrate Pascha

16. Did Only One Thief Insult Christ on the Cross?

17. "Tell My Brethren..." (An Exhortation to Priests for Holy Week)

18. The "Ladder" of Saint John of Sinai

19. A Fresco of Elder Paisios Talking With Pilgrims in Beroia

20. Dialogue Between an Elder and an Atheist: A Compelling Case for Christianity

21. Which Sea of Palestine Are You?

22. Christ Speaks To Us From the Cross (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

23. The Procession of the Icon of St. George With Horses

24. Saint Lazarus the Friend of Christ as a Model for our Lives

25. Muslims Experience Miracle at the Tomb of Saint John the Baptist 

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