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.



May 2, 2010

Clean Water in Boston and the Samaritan Woman


By John Sanidopoulos

"Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." - John 4:13-14

A few points of reflection entered my mind this morning as I contemplated the theme for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. These are in light of the following two news stories:

First, last night I received a phone call from the City of Boston to not drink the tap water because there was a pipe break. 30 towns in the Boston area were told to avoid tap water, or have it boiled if it must be consumed. When I went out to get some bottled water, the place I went to was all sold out. The latest news is that the leak has been identified and repairs are underway.

Second, I read this morning that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is getting bigger and bigger and may be coming up the East Coast - which could possibly mean more water issues here in Boston.

In light of today's theme and Gospel reading for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, and the whole period of the Pentecostarion in general, these news stories really bring home the Gospel passage above in a very practical way - much like it was for St. Photini when she heard this message from the Lord as she was drawing up water at the well.

Beyond this association, it also helps me reflect a bit on how the situation is around the world where drinking water problems are very common. I've been without water for about 16 hours or so, but I at least have other beverages to drink as I await the repairs - namely some iced tea I just bought at Dunkin Donuts (for which, as I think about it, hopefully they did not use tap water). My point is that we have it pretty well here in America where drinking water usually is not an issue for us.

My last point is that despite my iced tea, I'm actually craving some regular drinking water. The only thing I have to say about this is that I only wish I could crave the living water the Lord Jesus offers as much.

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