The article publishes the Syriac translation of two homily for Christmas, which are part of the «Commentary on the Gospel of Luke» by St. Cyril of Alexandria (CPG 5207). The first of them is published for the first time, and the second is published with clarifications and using more sources. The edition is based on two manuscripts Damas. 12/19 and Damas. 12/20 from the Damas collection. The introduction provides an overview of the manuscript tradition and previous editions of the «Commentary», provides information about the newly found Syriac manuscripts that supplement its text, discusses the textual tradition and the general content of the published homilies. The publication of their Syriac text is accompanied by a translation into Russian.

This publication is the first translation from German of the afterword to D. Bonhoeffer’s book «Nachfolge» (Discipleship), written by Martin Kuske and Ilse Tödt, publishers of the fourth volume of «Dietrich Bonhöffer Werke» (the second collected works of D. Bonhoeffer). This publication presents the last two parts of the four that make up the afterword. They address the following issues: the publication of the book «Nachfolge» and early reactions to it; the development of the ideas reflected in the «Nachfolge» in Bonhoeffer’s late theology; late reactions to «Nachfolge». A brief review of the bibliography on this topic is offered. The translation is supplemented with commentaries.

The article considers the controversy over the famous argument of Severus of Antioch, compliant to the general formula of which the confession of two natures in Christ taken as common natures of deity and humanity necessarily entails agreeing with that the incarnation of Christ signifies the incarnation of the whole Trinity in the whole humankind, namely, the incarnation of each of the hypostases of the Trinity in each human being. This argument was responded by Johannes of Caesarea in his «Apology for the Counsil of Chalcedon». The focus of the article is a detailed analysis of the given argument, the reciprocal argumentation of Johannes of Caesarea and Severus’ reply to his objections in chapters 17–19 of the book II of the treatise «Against impious Grammaticus». Besides, the topical area of the research includes studying the issue of conceptual frames of Monophysite and Chalcedonite theology wherein this Severus’ argument receives its theological and polemical significance, discussion over the historical context of its appearance and the reaction on it in the Chalcedonite camp, as well as some issues of its reception in the consequent tradition of Monophysite disputations.

This article touchers on one of the main problems with which married life of a person is associated. The author covers in detail the aspects of the teaching of the Ancient Church on the holiness of marriage and childbearing, pays special attention to the description of the mechanism of the lust impact on the human nature, and comes to the conclusion that it is possible to resist lust in marriage only with the gracious help of God, which teaches the true abstinence based on the dominance of the moral beginning in the human soul.

The purpose of this article is to investigate what role the hesychast tradition assigns to focusing attention on the navel and what warnings in this regard it makes, based on the references to this in the treatises «The Method of Sacred Prayer and Attention» St. Symeon the New Theologian and the «Triad in Defense of the Sacred Silent» by St. Gregory Palamas. To solve this problem, the method of comparative analysis of ascetic terminology and interpretation of the hesychast fathers is used in describing the practice of fighting thoughts when performing the clever practice of the Jesus Prayer. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that the prayer method with focusing attention on the navel was used by hesychasts at the final stage of heartfelt prayer before the admiration of the mind for spiritual contemplation. This practice was intended for those who had already had the initial experience of true contemplation and whose mind had acquired the ability to distinguish between true contemplation and false. The method of sacred prayer was not intended for novice prayer books, whose heart had not yet been opened and whose mind had not been united with the heart in the Jesus Prayer.

The article provides the most complete review of the surviving manuscripts of the «Book of Union» by Mar Babai the Great, concludes that all later copies depend on one protograph, and clarifies its dating. A brief history of the discovery of the lost fragments is also given, their critical text based on two manuscripts (Cambridge Or. 1317 and British Library Or. 9379) and translation into Russian are published.

In the fifth and sixth issues of the journal «Apocrypha» there were published articles in French and English. Richard Baukham in a publication about the «Apocalypse of Peter» presents a hypothesis according to which this text is associated with the uprising of Bar Kokhba. François Bovon explores a supposed quotation from «Acts of Paul» by Origenes. The same apocrypha is considered in the work of Ann Brock, who explores its genre originality. A little-researched Syrian manuscript with apocrypha, including unknown ones, is presented to the public by Alain Desremaux. The article by Remy Gounelle is devoted to the reconstruction of the apocrypha «Narratio Iosephi»; in the following article, he also highlights the problem of using apocryphal sources in the «Golden Legend». Simon Mimouni tells the story of the genre «Life of Mary». Catherine Paupert continues to work on the classification of apocryphal subjects in the ikonography of the Savoy churches. From the point of view of apocryphal plots, Marek Staroveysky presents the study of the Byzantine tragedy «The Suffering Christ». Irena Bakus publishes and comments on the first Latin translation of the Protoevangelium of James. Christian-Bernard Amfo puts forward a hypothesis that «Gospel according to the Jews» served as a source for the Gospel of Luke. Rene-Georges Coquin explores the Coptic «Apocryph of Jeremiah» in Coptic-Arabic and Garshuni manuscripts. Robert Faerber conducts a comparative analysis of two Old English homilies on the Easter. The concept of midrash at the theoretical level is analyzed in the article by Martin McNamara. Bernard Outtier explores the motives of the Assumption in two homilies attributed to St. John Chrysostom. David Pao discusses the genre problems of apocryphal works on the example of «The Acts of the Apostle Andrew». In Madeleine Scopello’s article, the description of Mani’s life in the «Acts of Archelaus» is considered as a correlate of the polemic with Manichaeism. Isabella Ullern-Weité discusses the very concept of «apocrypha» with the involvement of philosophical hermeneutics. The last article of the sixth issue is a description by Witold Witakowski of the Ethiopian story about the miracles of Jesus Christ.

«The Journal for the Study of the Old Testament» is one of the leading scientific journals in biblical studies. In this bibliographic review we will consider all the publications of the journal, contained in issues from № 15 to 18; all these 4 issues came out in 1980. Especially the interesting articles should be marked on the following topics: book of Enoch, features of biblical etymologies, historical nature of the Joseph and Moses narratives (№ 15), Brevard Childs, canonical approach (№ 16), function of Psalms, eschatology in the Book of Daniel: analysis of some episodes of the Song of Songs, the beautiful and the barren in biblical type-scenes (№ 17), a convergence in recent Old Testament theologies, role of biblical research, Aramaic in the Bible, politics of security of the king Solomon, ancient narrative stratum about the king Saul in 1 Samuel (№ 18).