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 17, 2024

Homily on the Anniversary of the Accession to the Throne of Tsar Nicholas II (St. John of Kronstadt)


A Homily on the Beneficence of the Tsarist Autocracy, Delivered on the Anniversary of the Accession to the Throne of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor NICHOLAS ALEXANDROVICH, October 21, 1896, in Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, in Kronstadt

By St. John of Kronstadt

“For the kingdom is the Lord's; and He shall have dominion over the nations” (Ps. 21:29).

In the entire universe - in all worlds, visible and invisible to us, no matter how great and countless they are - in all this wondrous, wise, beautiful, living world mechanism, one wise, omnipotent, personal, beginningless, all-good, and all-unifying Power is clearly noticeable, which gave to all this infinite and varied mechanism unity, order, wonderful harmony and beauty, generally the same everywhere, constant and unchanging. On the earth we inhabit, in all animate and inanimate creations, the diversity and unity of genera and species in animals and plants, the unity and harmony of actions, customs, morals, instincts and general manifestations of life are also noticeable. For example, with the onset of autumn, migratory birds in long lines, under the control of their foremost leader, like a column leader, stretch into the air heights to warm countries. With the onset of spring, they again fly in the same lines, also under the control of the advanced ones, to us for their livelihood and their trade and for the breeding of others like themselves. Bees and ants work together, under the control and guidance of the queen or king, preparing food and shelter for the winter; annual plants wither and disappear, but their species in the seed and embryonic state remain unchanged and, at a favorable, warm temperature, send out their shoots again and develop into the same beautiful and living forms as last year. In everything - small and great - in the flow of the stars and the actions of the elements, in all plants and animals, one all-creating, all-life-giving, all-decorating, all-ruling Hand of the Invisible Creator and Provider is noticeable. This same all-ruling Hand rules over all nations, the entire human race; appointing kings and deposing, and in the place of some raises others. This also elevated the New Tsar to the throne of the Russian Kingdom, the branch of the recently deceased Tsar-Parent. “By me," says God, "kings reign and rulers decree justice” (Prov. 8:15). The king is the image of God on earth, the Ruler of the universe. “Listen, kings, and understand; learn, judges of the ends of the earth; take heed, you who have multitudes and are proud before the nations: Dominion has been given to you from the Lord, and strength from the Most High, who will examine your deeds and test your intentions” (Prov. 7:1–3), cries the wise one, a king to those like him.

Therefore, all the faithful are obliged to treat the Royal authority with reverence, according to the right and law of the Divine, and to obey the King not only for wrath, which is terrible especially in an Autocratic King, but also for conscience (Rom. 13:5), as the Apostle teaches, that is, according to each one’s own conviction in the sacred duty of obedience to the Tsar, as the prevailing one entrusted to the peoples for their good, for their creation, and not for their ruin, as the Leader and Leader of the People. The Tsar autocratically rules the people, as the image of the sole power of God, as the image of the King of Kings, as the Head of the State, this great political body, coherently organized and united by a single Head. All powers in the State, like radii in a circle, relate to the Sovereign as their center; or all people in the State, like fractions, receive one denominator in their King. The Sovereign in his Kingdom, like a soul in a body, communicates harmony of direction and action to all members of the great political body.

Our Orthodox Church constantly prays to God, the Almighty King of Kings, for the salvation and prosperity of the Earthly King in everything, and for the subjugation of every enemy and adversary under His feet. You see, brethren, that for Russia, unity of power and autocracy in the State is necessary and is the greatest good for it, just as in the world of God there is unity of command and all-power. Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good" (1 Pet. 2:13–14). – "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto the Gods the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
 

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