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.



May 13, 2019

An Exciting Week Ahead for the Mystagogy Resource Center


Dear Readers:

Christ is Risen!

In the beginning of Great Lent I made some exciting announcements about certain updates and expansions of the ministry of the Mystagogy Resource Center coming within a few months. Over the course of the next week, I will dedicate my time normally reserved towards writing and posting to rolling out these new updates and expansions.

As a reminder of what will be coming in the next few days, four new websites will be added to the platform of this ministry. One of them is exclusively for a book I am translating titled The Salvation of Sinners, written in the 17th century by Monk Agapios of Crete. Another website will also be exclusively for a book I am translating, titled Know Thyself, written by St. Nektarios of Aegina in the early 20th century. These two books I consider timeless classics of Orthodoxy and essential reading for Orthodox Christians in the 21st century, so I will attempt to translate each one in their entirety and make them available. The third website will be devoted to unique Youth Ministry material and resources for both adults and children. Lastly, I am going to have a website exclusively devoted to my own personal thoughts on various subjects.

In addition to this, as I noted a few months ago, since this ministry has now turned ten years old, and the total number of posts on this website alone has reached over 12,000, I have added subject links to the top of this site to be able to more easily find and access articles. I will be going through every single post I made since 2009, editing them, updating them, and deleting what may no longer seem relevant. This will also be necessary when I roll over this website into a newer and updated website, once funding becomes available.

With this being said, it is also that time of the year, a few weeks after Easter, when I must request your financial help to keep this ministry alive and thriving. I usually like to do this after the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, because these women came to submit their offering to Christ even at a time when all hope seemed to be lost. Here at the Mystagogy Resource Center, monthly memberships and annual donations have dropped, making it a bit more difficult to devote the time I need to create content worth visiting, but I am really hoping things will begin to turn around this month, especially now in such a thriving economy. So if you are in any way benefited by this ministry, and want to express your appreciation and see it expand and grow to its potential, please consider a contribution today, whether it be as an annual gift or a monthly subscription ($60 a year / $5 a month, or whatever you are able). Thank you in advance.

With love in the Risen Christ,

John Sanidopoulos

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John Sanidopoulos
PO Box 320284
West Roxbury, MA 02132




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