The article is devoted to the noncanonical Fourth Book of Maccabees, especially the concept of “pious mind” (ὁ εὐσεβὴς λογισμός). An anonymous author uses the terminology of popular Greek philosophy to substantiate the supremacy of the Torah, the Divine law. A “pious mind” is a believing mind that, being wholly devoted to God, sanctions Hellenic wisdom, yet also surpasses it. A comparison is made of the “pious mind” and Wisdom, Hochma, Shekhinah. In the Fourth Book of Maccabees, there is the apology of martyrdom in the name of faith, which was alien to Greek philosophy and ethics, including the ethics of Stoicism. The apology of martyrdom in the Fourth (and also Second) Maccabees books anticipates Christian martyrology.

The article examines the central female image of the 4Q184 Hymn from Qumran. It is tracked out as the archetype of a demonic woman who lives in the Sheol what helps the author of the Hymn to refer to the specific historical events in a metaphorical form using literary allusions to the book of Proverbs. The artcle also developes I.D. Amusin’s approach which focuses on the Hymn in the context of the Qumran commentary on the book of Nahum (4Q169) where Pharisee’s teaching is criticized. It is suggested that the possible prototype of the antagonist in the Hymn was Queen Salome (Shelomzion) Alexandra (76-67 BC) for during her reign the Pharisee teaching became the leading one.

The purpose of this article is to show how the Acts of the Apostles and the Didache characterize Jews who believed in Jesus and Greeks (including Greek-speaking Syrians) who already called themselves Christians, in the period preceding Paul’s missionary journeys, which began ca. 46 AD. To achieve that, the author sets outto consider various aspects related to the mission of the former to the latter in the period spanning the decade from ca. 35/36 to ca. 46 AD. Special attention is paid to the argumentation showing that Didache acts as the first monument of the Apostolic mission to the Gentiles, which appeared ca. 36 AD, but not later than 43 AD. Here one can find an evidence of what the author characterizes as the ipsissima doctrina Jesu (the authentic teaching of Jesus) and the disciplines of the early Christians.

The article is devoted to the study of Haugeanism in Norway, Grundtvigianism in Denmark, Laestadianism in Sweden and Pashkovites in Russia as “revival” movement linked to Pietism, as well as the place of the charity, economics and politics in those movements. The social and political causes of the emergence and functioning of the religious opposition in the above countries are analyzed. An important regularity is noted: in the countries of Northern Europe the leaders of the intra-church opposition, coming from the lower classes, could have become a political elite. At the same time, a significant part of the leaders of the “evangelical movement” in Russia originally belonged to the overworld. The author analyzes social ideals of the opposition movements, methods of their implementation and the reaction of the official church and the state to such activities.

The origin of the notion sobornost’ (“conciliarity”) which first became known from the Russian translations of the theological works by A.S. Khomyakov was enigmatic in two respects: it was unknown who was the author of the term and the notion and what was its original meaning either. The article argues, that the author of the term was Yuri F. Samarin in 1863 (or slightly earlier), and that the original meaning of the notion sobornost’ was defined by means of an analogy with the Slavophilic notion obshchinnost’ “(communality”). Thus, the “conciliarity” denoted a certain principle of the Church unity, having “an inner kinship” (Samarin’s wording) with the principle of consistency of the peasant community.

The aim of the article considers the evolution of narrative about the famous Scottish archaeologist William Mitchell Ramsay (1851-1939), who vindicated the trustworthiness of the Acts of the Apostles. Within the context of the early - 20th century conservative Protestant apologetics Ramsay became an iconic figure of the repentant skeptic, appointed by the Divine Providence to demonstrate the literal inerrancy of the Bible. The author traces the development of that narrative in the apologetic works of conservative Protestant authors in 1910-1940 and names the main stages and key figures highlighting also the perception of Ramsay’s works in the science of that time.

The article is devoted to the preservation of Orthodox traditions was safeguarded in the Soviet time, in particular to religious life in the NorthEastern Moscow Region during the period of mass closure of the churches in 1930s-1940s. The research draws upon the materials from the Schelkovo Archive, the Central State Archive of Moscow (TsGA of Moscow) and the Central State Archive of the Moscow Region (TsGAMO), which keep documents on the closure of churches in the Shchelkovo district, as well as the author’s fieldwork - interviews with members of the local church parishes in Mavrino, Ryazantsy and Fryanovo, to the northeast outside Moscow.

New translation of the hymn from Qumran collection (4Q184) is accompanied by cultural and historic commentary, which considers the latest research of the source