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.



September 24, 2020

Saint Thekla and the Bubonic Plague of 1630 in the Italian City of Este


The first Cathedral in Milan was originally dedicated to the early Christian martyr Saint Thekla and the beautiful Baroque church of Este, near Venice, is still the most important church in her name to be found in Europe. It was here that in the 1630s citizens prayed to Saint Thekla during a violent outbreak of bubonic plague that killed 50,000 people in Este and the surrounding area. Some years later, in 1758, Este’s priest, Marco Marchetti, commissioned a moving portrait of Saint Thekla from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, a key exponent of Venetian Baroque painting.
 
In just twelve months, Tiepolo created an imposing altarpiece measuring 290 square feet that decorates the altar of Este’s Cathedral to this day. It was installed on Christmas Day, 1759. Saint Thekla herself is featured in the painting as she intercedes with the Eternal Father to ask for the liberation of Este from the plague. Some moving scenes include a young girl sitting by her deceased mother standing against the town of Este and its surrounding hills. 


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