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 7, 2019

Consecration of the Church of the Theotokos in Kouratoros

Balaban Aga Mosque

The Synaxarion of Constantinople has for commemoration on December 7th the consecration of the Church of the Theotokos in the Kouratoros (Curator) district of Constantinople, near the Taurus Forum. According to the Patria, the foundation of the Church of the Theotokos in the Kouratoros is ascribed to Verina, the consort of Emperor Leo I the Thracian (457-474). Two other churches dedicated to the Theotokos, Blachernae and Chalkoprateia, were also built under the patronage of Verina. Along with the Martyrium of Karpos and Papylos, the Church of the Theotokos in the Kouratoros was built to resemble the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and was therefore circular. Enshrined within this church were the sacred relics of Saint Lazarus the friend of Christ together with his sisters Mary and Martha, which were translated to the Monastery of Saint Lazarus under Emperor Leo VI the Wise in 900. Some believe the present Balaban Aga Mosque is the Church of the Theotokos in the Kouratoros, because it stands in the area where the church is said to have stood, but the mosque is hexagonal and likely was just a monastery library or a building for some other use during Roman times probably associated with the Church of the Theotokos in the Kouratoros.



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