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.



January 12, 2010

Orthodox Extremism: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

This video of Hieromonk John Vasilevski below was given to me by an Old Calendarist who considers himself a member of the "True Orthodox Church". People in the "True Orthodox Church" are Old Calendar extremists who in their paranoid and over-simplistic mentality consider all New Calendarists and those in communion with them to be on par with heretics and in league with the Antichrist in their misunderstanding of the Holy Canons and Holy Tradition. Because these people appear to be very pious and look very traditional and are so focused in their cult-like mentality (something which too many pious Orthodox have fallen for throughout its history over the centuries, ex. Arius and Basil the Bogomil), they have lead many Orthodox astray to be cut off from the communion of the Orthodox Church in their pursuit of an ecclesiology that is in fact opposed to both Holy Tradition and the Holy Canons.

Below is a talk which reveals all of the above clearly. Beware of wolves in sheeps clothing!


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