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.



August 21, 2020

A Video Tour of Some Byzantine and Greek Sites of Pontus, Platana and Trebizond


This documentary was filmed on August 15, 2020, which was the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, and begins at the first Divine Liturgy at Panagia Soumela in five years, having been recently reopened again after restoration work. After showing us the restored monastery, it then moves on to sites in Platana, such as the 19th century Greek elementary school and the newly-restored 14th century Church of the Archangels. 2,000 Greeks lived here a little over a hundred years ago, but today it has a population of about 110,000 Turks. In Trebizond they visit the old Church of Hagia Sophia, which today functions as a mosque, as well as many other important sites of Byzantine and Greek history in the region (Villa of Kapayiannidis, Panagia Chrysokephalos - Fatih Buyuk Camii, Tomb of Maria from Livera, Saint Eugenios - Yeni Cuma Camii, Mimarlar odası, Kanuni Anadolu Lisesi, Boztepe, Soğuksu).




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