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.



July 3, 2024

A Short Introduction to the Byzantine Empire (Documentary Hosted by Professor Anthony Kaldellis)

 
 
Professor Anthony Kaldellis from the University of Chicago talks about the Byzantine Empire, the medieval incarnation of the Roman Empire and the inspiration behind the upcoming expansion for Crusader Kings III: Roads to Power.

00:00 - Introduction
01:49 - Constantinople
02:29 - A Shared Agenda
03:31 - A Proper State
04:29 - The Government
05:09 - Dynasties
06:17 - The Emperor
07:43 - Names
08:06 - The Army
09:19 - Aristocracy
10:11 - The Pronoia
10:41 - The Church
11:25 - The Byzantine Legacy

Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy role-playing video game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader Kings (2004) and Crusader Kings II (2012). The game was released on PC on 1 September 2020 and on the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on 29 March 2022 in most regions. The game received generally positive reviews on release, and has sold over 3 million copies as of September 2023.

Crusader Kings III: Roads to Power is the next expansion for the grand strategy game, Paradox Interactive has revealed, and it will be available from September 24th 2024. This new expansion, which is part of Crusader King III’s Chapter 3 expansion pass, adds new ways of vying for power in this ruthless medieval world. Roads to Power will add two new ways to play Crusader Kings III. The first is that of a Landless Adventurer who starts with nothing and builds their reputation through mercenary work. Get powerful enough and you could challenge the power structure of a kingdom, and take over. The second pathway is set in the Byzantine Empire, which is a non feudal system. Here players will need to scheme as a noble in the imperial court against other families in attempt to grab power, and place allies in the strongest positions.
 

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