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.



April 16, 2022

When Saint Nektarios Healed Saint Amphilochios Makris

 
By Fr. Demetrios Kabbadias

With his humility, Saint Amphilochios Makris won the trust of Saint Nektarios. He had been visiting him frequently since then. When Elder Amphilochios became a Deacon, they concelebrated many times.

Their souls were united even more during the last liturgy they performed a year before the death of Saint Nektarios. Their spiritual union became more intense when the Saint instructed him to take a sick nun to her cell.

Another time, due to the crowds in the small hostel of the Monastery, Saint Nektarios arranged for him to sleep in his own cell in the courtyard of the Monastery.

This spiritual friendship and love continued even after the repose of Saint Nektarios.

In 1958, due to diabetes, a dangerous abscess was created in the Elder's leg. The doctor and the nuns were worried about the development of the abscess, when they heard the Elder calmly saying to his attendant:

"Ignite the censer, Sister Agathi, and bring up the relic of the Saint."

He blessed his leg with the sign of the cross and said:

"You, my Saint Nektarios, who heals the world, heal me also, your friend."

The next morning the doctor who came to operate on the abscess found that it had completely subsided.

The Elder gratefully dedicated a church to the name of Saint Nektarios, which celebrates every year the memory of the miraculous Saint.

Source: From the book Γέροντες και γυναικείος Μοναχισμός, έκδοση Ιεράς Μεγίστης Μονής Βατοπαιδίου, Άγιον Όρος, 2015. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
 
 

BECOME A PATREON OR PAYPAL SUBSCRIBER