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.



November 21, 2024

A Homily on the Consolation of the Mother of God: On the Beneficial Effect of the Temple of God on the Soul of Man (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)


A Homily on the Consolation of the Mother of God

On the Beneficial Effect of the Temple of God on the Soul of Man

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, it is with indescribable joy and delight that we have just glorified the Intercessor of the Christian race, the Most-Blessed Virgin Mary, who was vouchsafed to be the Mother of our Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. The Most Holy Virgin Mary, as you know, was given to the Temple of God as a three-year-old Maiden, where She remained until Her maturity. In the Temple of God, under the guidance of pious priests and other righteous men and women, as well as invisible instructors – the Angels of God and the Lord Himself, She acquired those spiritual and moral qualities that made Her the Mother of the incarnate Son of God.

Her upbringing in the Temple made Her so wise in the Lord, so pure and holy, that the Most Holy of Holies did not hesitate to fit into Her virgin womb, to borrow His flesh from Her pure blood, and, after His birth, was brought up under Her holy guidance. This beneficial influence of the Temple on the upbringing of the Most Holy Virgin Mary leads to the conviction that the churches of God have a very important educational significance for every Christian. And if we really pay attention to the influence that the churches of God have on the formation of the mind, the development and disposition of the heart and will of Christians, then we cannot but recognize in the churches of God the best and highest educational institutions. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
 

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