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 29, 2020

Kollyva Art in Honor of the Holy Innocents

 

The kollyva art photographed here was done in honor of the Holy Innocents at the Monastery of the Prophet Elias in Erythres. Kollyva art is a monastic practice that goes back many years in which a Saint or a Church Feast is depicted to honor them. This particular kollyva art was offered by the monks to the nuns at the nearby Monastery of Holy Infants in Thebes for their feast in 2018. It depicts the Birth of Christ up top with the gruesome slaughter of an infant below as Rachel weeps for the dead children, with four slaughtered infants ascending to heaven as first martyrs on Christ's behalf. An interesting side note is the use of a wooden semantron as an elbow rest as the monks perform their task.



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