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.



September 1, 2024

September 1: The Beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year


By St. Justin Popovich

The First Ecumenical Synod decided that the ecclesiastical year begins on the first of September.*

For the Jews, the month of September was the beginning of the new civil year (Exodus 23:16), the month of gathering fruits and offering a sacrifice of thanks to God.

During this celebration, the Lord Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth, opened the book of the Prophet Isaiah and read the words: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk. 4:18-19; Is. 61:1-2).

This month of September is also notable in the history of Christianity because in it the Emperor Constantine the Great won a victory over Maxentius, the enemy of the faith of Christ, and that victory was followed by the freedom of the Christian religion throughout the Roman Empire.

For a long time, the civil year in the Christian world was counted with the ecclesiastical year from the first of September; so it was transferred to the first of January first in Western Europe, and then in Russia during the time of Peter the Great, and in other Orthodox countries.

- From Lives of the Saints for September.
 
Notes:
 
* Some liturgical scholars assume that the custom of celebrating the Indiction by the Church was established in the 4th or 5th century. Nevertheless, the oldest relevant testimonies about the liturgical celebration of the Indiction as the beginning of the ecclesiastical year are found only in the 8th century, in the writings of Saint Theodore the Studite. [Translator's note]
 
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center: 
 




BECOME A PATREON OR PAYPAL SUPPORTER


Patreon!