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.



February 14, 2022

The Parable of the Hound and the Hare (St. Paisios the Athonite)


By St. Paisios the Athonite
 
Man runs as long as he lives to find Christ, and never stops. Running he does not feel fatigue, but joy.

To make it clear, I will give you one example: a good hound, smelling a hare, does not stand near the hunter, but takes off, runs and looks for the hare. It runs, then stops for a while, sniffs the air, runs again. It cannot stand still. Its mind is busy with how to find the hare. It doesn't look around. For the hound, there is more joy in running than in standing still. Life for the hound is about running and searching.

This is the kind of sobriety we need to have. Our mind must constantly strive towards Christ, because He is our goal. And we, although we have taken the trail, although we know the road, we know where to go in order to meet Christ, we often stand still, we do not move forward. If we did not know the way, then our standing still would be justified.
 
 
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