ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY THEN AND NOW: The First Miracle of Saint George Karslides

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.

November 4, 2019

The First Miracle of Saint George Karslides

By Monk Moses the Athonite

In the village of Sipsa at that time there was someone who was seriously sick, who for eight months his soul would not depart from him. One day the Saint said:

"You have a sick person here and you never brought me to see him?"

Then they raised up the Saint [he was disabled at the time] to take him to the sick man's home.

After the Saint greeted everyone, he approached the sick man in particular and said:

"Why did you give a false promise and a false testimony?"

The sick man had lied about giving money to someone to buy an animal, which was free of charge from the state. The Saint ordered that they should go and bring back soil from the grave of the deceased, whom the sick man had deceived, and they placed it on him.

The Saint, after confirming that he confessed his sin, read the forgiveness prayer, and after ten days reposed peacefully in the Lord.

This was the first miracle, according to the villagers, that the Saint performed in Sipsa.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.