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, 2018

The Best of December 2018 by the Mystagogy Resource Center (MRC)


Below is the monthly review for the month of December of the ten most popular articles from the previous month on johnsanidopoulos.com, then all the posts made on the other websites of the Mystagogy Resource Center.

JohnSanidopoulos.com

1. Seven Men Who Tried To Paganize the Origins of Christmas But Failed

2. Origins of the Icon of the Nativity of Christ

3. The Singing Emperor Who Was Murdered in Church on Christmas Day

4. "I Grew Up With Saint Porphyrios"

5. The Institution of Autocephaly in the Orthodox Church

6. The Debate Over the Declaration of Autocephaly in a Church

7. When St. Iakovos of Evia Celebrated Christmas in the Forest

8. Daniel the Stylite and the Stylites of Constantinople

9. When Saint Savvas the Sanctified Shamed a Lion

10. The Controversy Over the Bathing Scene in Nativity Icons of the Holy Mountain


HoneyAndHemlock.com

1. The Orthodoxy of Maria Callas: 12 Facts

2. Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as a Reimagining of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

3. Christ at the Castle: Papadiamantis’ Tale Captures the Genuine Spirit of Christmas

4. "Massacre of the Innocents" (a silent film from the 1910's)


Bio-Orthodoxy.com

1. The Views of Orthodox Theology on Bioethical Issues (2 of 6)


Eschatologia.com

1. The Prophecy of Abba Ischyrion

2. Last Things First: The Eschatological Community of the Parish


Daimonologia.org

1. Christ Antiphonetes: The Icon That Allegedly Could Foretell the Future

2. Why Monsters Haunt Christmas in Europe but not America

3. The Cultural Impact Of "The Exorcist" (Released December 26, 1973)


OrthodoxyAndWorldReligions.com


Erotapokriseis.com


NewMyriobiblon.com


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