On the question of the methodology of teaching history of non-Christian religions in theological schools

The article is an expanded version of a report given at the scholarly and theological conference “Theology and Religious Studies” held at St. Petersburg Theological Academy on October 28, 2019. The article shows that the confessional-oriented approach is an adequate methodological perspective, taking into account both the orientation of theological schools and a request for self-identification of Orthodox religious studies in the context of the diversification of religious disciplines in accordance with trends in the paradigm of meta-modernism. The methodological problems of teaching the history of non-Christian religions are also considered in connection with the views of the outstanding religious scholar of our time, Jacques Waardenburg. At the end of the article, the basic principles for the development of a confessional-normative methodology for teaching the history of non-Christian religions are formulated as intended guidelines.