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 22, 2025

Prologue in Sermons: November 22

 
The Parable of Saint Barlaam about the Life and Death of Man

November 22

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We all, brethren, are well aware that after our death, only our deeds remain for those who will outlive us, bringing either curse or blessing, and only these deeds will we bear on the shoulders of our soul to the judgment of God. Furthermore, we all know that in this life it is necessary to enrich ourselves with that which will accompany us into eternity, namely, good deeds, and that you are the dreadful enemy of yourself if you live as if you were never to die. We all know this well, yet we live as though there were neither God, nor future life, nor anything that exists, ever existed, or will exist. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly remind ourselves of what we know well and continually speak to ourselves about the need to enrich ourselves with good deeds, by which alone we can be blessed in the life to come. In view of all that has been said, we also remind you of what you know well but do not fulfill.

Saint Barlaam, in his Parable on the Life and Death of Man, says the following: "There was a certain great city, whose citizens were accustomed to elect as their king a man foreign to them, from an unknown land, but on the condition that he remain king for only one year. Then they exiled him to one of the uninhabited islands, and there their king perished from all kinds of deprivations. Several kings perished in this way. Finally, in the aforementioned city, a very wise man was invested with royal power. Having learned of the evil fate of his predecessors and of the island to which he was to be exiled a year later, this king sent to the island destined for him a multitude of his faithful slaves, a great deal of gold, silver, and precious stones, arranged everything for his well-being on that island, and when he was exiled there, after a year had passed, he lived on the island in abundance, carefree, and joyful. What does this parable mean? The city is this vain world. Its citizens are demons, luring us to hell with worldly temptations. The kings are the righteous and the sinners. The former enrich themselves with good deeds that go with them to paradise, while the latter have nothing but wickedness and perish in the next life."

What does this parable teach us? It teaches us to remember that our present life is a field in which we must sow seeds, that is, good deeds, for the life to come. Let us sow, and our seeds will grow, bear fruit, and we will enjoy these fruits, that is, the consequences of good deeds, in the mansions of our Heavenly Father. If we sow nothing good here, we will see nothing good in the age to come. In view of this, according to the word of the Lord, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, and where thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:20-21). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
 

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